Monday, May 30, 2011

Artemis

Alright, I'm going to get this out of the way up front: Here's a link to the website.
Don't let the quality of the site fool you, though: Artemis is totally awesome!
Artemis is a video game in which players take on the roles of various bridge officers on a starship. In this way, it resembles but is legally distinct from Star Trek. As a video game, it's a bit unusual in a few ways. For starters, it's a fully cooperative PC game, and as far as I know it's the only one. It's also best played by several people together in the same room. Sure, lots of people enjoy their LAN parties, but here we have a game whose experience is clearly best that way. There are five bridge stations, and up to six can play, including a captain to command the others. While this might sound a bit lame, the captaining thing actually improves the crew's survivability, since it turns what could otherwise turn into a big shouting match into an orderly system of advising the captain and taking orders. And, of course, a projector is recommended for the main screen.
I started out thinking that I'd just go on and on about it, but I realize that, for anyone who hasn't played it or seen it played, most of what I would say wouldn't make any sense. I'd suggest buying a copy BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME and also because each copy has a "bridge license" which is enough to put it on five computers, for all five bridge stations. I also recommend rocking violently from side to side whenever the ship is hit. ;)

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