Rebelstar: Tactical Command

[Kolzig]

Hey, does anybody remember Rebelstar, Laser Squad, Ufo: Enemy Unknown (also known as X-Com: Ufo Defense) and Laser Squad Nemesis, the classic turnbase strategy games?

Well it seems that the developers of these great games, the brothers Julian and Nick Gollop have developed a game for Gameboy Advance called Rebelstar: Tactical Command and it's coming out soon!

NAMCO’S REBELSTAR: TACTICAL COMMAND™ GOES GOLD

From the Makers of X-Com: Fight for Mankind’s Freedom in this Sci-Fi Turn-Based Strategy Game for Game Boy® Advance

08/04/2005

SANTA CLARA, CA., (August 4, 2005) – Global video games publisher Namco Hometek Inc. announced today that Rebelstar: Tactical Command™, a nominee for GameSpot's “Best of E3” on the Game Boy® Advance, has gone gold. Developed exclusively for the Game Boy Advance by Codo Technologies, the team behind the legendary X-Com and Laser Squad series, Rebelstar: Tactical Command is a turn based strategy game that puts the player at the epicenter of a human revolt against alien oppressors. Rebelstar: Tactical Command will be available at retail chains across North America this September.

“Developed by the team behind X-Com and Laser Squad Nemesis, Rebelstar Tactical Command has an unmatched turn-based strategy pedigree,” said Jeff Lujan, business director at Namco Hometek Inc. “The game expands upon traditional strategy gameplay with true character development, fully destructible environments and a compelling science fiction premise, delivering the most full-featured handheld strategy experience for gamers everywhere.”

In the year 2117, the Earth has been overrun by a terrible alien scourge known as the Arelian Empire. Controlling mankind through fear and intimidation, the Arelians have brought countless suffering to mankind, abducting all humans once they reach the age of 30. A new recruit named Jorel joins a group of rebels in their struggle to reclaim the world for humans, driving the Arelians back into the deepest, darkest reaches of space.

Rebelstar: Tactical Command lets players control their own squad of rebels. Using a turn-based combat system, players will be able to devise unique strategies to achieve victory, such as flanking opponents, utilizing the game's fully destructible environments to destroy cover and using lines of sight to their advantage to perform sneak attacks. As they fight their way to freedom, players will be able to develop their characters, outfitting them with new weapons while cultivating unique skills. Players can also battle head-to-head against their friends with a single cartridge in competitive hot seat multiplayer mode.

Rebelstar: Tactical Command is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB. For more information on Rebelstar: Tactical Command visit http://www.namco.com/games/rebelstar/.

About Namco Hometek Inc.

Namco Hometek Inc. is the U.S. consumer division of Namco Limited, a Tokyo-based world leader in the high-tech entertainment industry. Based in Santa Clara, CA, Namco Hometek Inc. is an award-winning video games publisher for next generation game consoles. Namco has created some of the industry's greatest video game franchises: Tekken®, SOULCALIBUR®, Dead to Rights®, Pac-Man World™, Ridge Racer®, Time Crisis® and ACECOMBAT™.

For more information about Namco and its products log onto www.namco.com.

###

Rebelstar: Tactical Command is a trademark of Namco Hometek, Inc. © 2005 Namco Hometek, Inc.

™, ® and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo.

The game has destructible enviroments just as in all the earlier games and the gameplay sounds like it's the same according to some previews of the game in various sites.

So here's a few sites about this exciting game for those who are interested:

Official site:

http://www.namco.com/games/rebelstar

http://www.gamespot.com/gba/strategy/rebelstartacticalcommand/

http://gameboy.ign.com/objects/738/738202.html

http://gba.gamespy.com/gameboy-advance/rebelstar-tactical-command/610562p1.html

I had no idea that a game such like this was in the making and it has already went gold only a few days ago. This goes straight to my top 5 most awaited games list.

There's a trailer available at for example Game Trailers

[Steve]

The game has destructible enviroments just as in all the earlier games and the gameplay sounds like it's the same...

I can't understand why these guys would want to keep making the same game over and over for 15 years.

[Lechimp]

Too bad it's not for the DS, it would have been perfect for that system.

[vimes]

I can't understand why these guys would want to keep making the same game over and over for 15 years.

You could say that about any reknown company, you know.

[Kolzig]

Too bad it's not for the DS, it would have been perfect for that system.

Yeah that same idea came to my mind when I started reading the developer diaries etc.

Touch screen interface would've been a superb selling point for game like Rebelstar.

[Steve]

You could say that about any reknown company, you know.

... if that company is id Software.

[loonyboi]

... if that company is id Software.

Oh, come on. That's not true and you know it.

You might not like the games they make, but they're at least different. These guys have been literally remaking the same game for all these years. As in, minor improvements in interface, but otherwise pretty much the same.

You can't tell me that Doom 3 is the same as Wolf 3D is the same as Doom 2 is the same as Q3A, etc.

[Metalmickey]

Repetetive or no, this news has made me happy. I've loved all those old Gollop spawned progeny. Rebelstar back on my Amstrad CPC was amazingly deep for its time, the entire game played out across just 1 mission, 1 map. You could find coffee tokens and 'apply' them on vendor machines, and even all the non-interactive objects had unique properties as far as cover provided, armour, health, etc was concerned. All the named characters on the human side had significantly different skills and oh god damn I could go on forever The fully automatic grenade launcher rifle spewing out 3 round auto bursts and literally tearing the map apart was one of the best weapons ever, even if was extremely unwieldy and decidedly suicidal in all but the best circumstances. Damn, must stop before I start talking about Laser Squad and all the later ones...

[CanarDuck]

You might not like the games they make, but they're at least different.

These guys have been literally remaking the same game for all these years. As in, minor improvements in interface, but otherwise pretty much the same.

Games made by Id are different from each other? Can you perhaps elaborate? If you mean technical and incremental improvements, then maybe I see what you mean, but apart from that the gameplay has stayed pretty much the same, hasn't it? And on the other hand I could rave for hours on how many improvements and new ideas there were between Rebelstar and Laser Squad, then Laser Squad and XCOM, then XCOM and XCOM:Apocalypse (the last title in the series actually written by the Gollops).

Anyway, this is a moot point. These games, all of them, remain as fond memories for some of us, while for some others it's rather the Doom-Quake-Wolfenstein series. Why not.

And they did, actually, produce something (slightly) different: Lords of Chaos, which I even preferred to Laser Squad on my late Amstrad CPC. A brilliant mix of strategy à la Rebelstar and of fantasy RPG, sort of. I've actually always been sad that they didn't expand the idea in sequels and on more advanced platforms like they did for Rebelstar. I could easily stand having more of that instead of FPSs as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, their last piece of brillance: Laser Squad Nemesis

(http://www.lasersquadnemesis.com). It's more of the same, and yet completely different. The gameplay has been totally streamlined (no objects, inventory and actions, more focus on just strategy), and is order-based, which to an outsider may seem a minor change but actually makes everything different. Give orders and feel the surge of adrenaline as you press the send button and see how they play out on the field. And it's also multi-player, except I don't have time for that now that I'm a grown-up. Too bad, really.

[Steve]

My feeling is that the difference between the Strog and the Hell Demons in Doom vs. Quake is no greater than the difference between the Aliens and the Other Aliens in X-Com vs. Laser Squad Nemesis. Ever since the first Doom, id has been refining the same game in generational iterations.

[lailoken]

I agree with that, but Quake3 Arena was a totally different thing and to me a milestone in gaming.

[MrChlorophyll]

I wonder what it would have been like had there been no Q3 engine to pimp off to be used in umpteen thousand different games.

[Steve]

I wonder what it would have been like had there been no Q3 engine to pimp off to be used in umpteen thousand different games.

or doom or quake or quake 2 engine, for that matter