Outpost 2: Divided Destiny (0)

Overview

Outpost 2: Divided Destiny is a loose sequel to the original PC game, Outpost. Outpost 2 is a real time strategy game with a focus on aspects of city management simulation differing from the original Outpost which was a full city simulation game.

Backstory

Prior to the events of the game, Earth is wiped out by Vulcan's Hammer, a massive asteroid. A starship, Conestoga, is constructed in the last hours of humanity on Earth and the few survivors escape to the vast reaches of space. Centuries pass as the Conestoga travels through the galaxy while Earth's last survivors sleep in suspended animation. The Conestoga A.I. searches continuously but passes nothing but unsuitable worlds until finally, their supplies are near depletion. Freshly awakened by the Conestoga A.I., the survivors make the choice to land on the nearest habitable planet, a barren, hostile, and nearly airless planet they name New Terra. Upon landing, the survivors found Eden, the first colony on New Terra.

A few years pass on New Terra as the colonist build a life. The Conestoga eventually crashes from its orbit around New Terra and the colonists decide to pursue the goal of terraforming New Eden into a more hospitable world. A splinter group of colonists reject this idea preferring to adapt to the harsh environment of New Terra instead. The disagreement builds and eventually the splinter group leaves Eden and establishes a new colony named Plymouth.

As both sides continue their own agendas, communication between Eden and Plymouth is maintained through a single communication satellite. Eventually, as Eden announces they are on the eve of terraforming New Terra through a newly developed bio-agent, Plymouth retaliates by permanently deactivating the sole communications satellite. Both colonies are now alone, hellbent on pursuing their own agenda.

On Eden's side, early test of the bio-agent are performed deep in a fault line that connects Eden to Plymouth. The bio-agent has the ability to break apart oxygen bonds, originally meant to terraform New Terra, but inadvertently increases the rates of natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes and lightning storms). After an explosion occurs at one of Eden's advanced labs, the bio-agent is unleashed (now completely out of control) and the colonist of Eden are forced to evacuate and flee. The bio-agent, now dubbed The Blight, is revealed to be fatal to humans and can devour Eden's vital boptronic (biological) computers. The situation now going from worse to terrible, the colonist of Eden must continually flee from the The Blight as they search for a way to survive.

On Plymouth's side, a nearby dormant volcano has becomes active and the lava flows force the colonist to evacuate. Their flight is worsened as the increased frequency of natural disasters continually threaten their progress. During their flight, the colonists at Plymouth soon discover that New Terra will pass through a asteroid belt. New Terra, having virtually no atmosphere, has no defense against asteroids and will soon be completely uninhabitable.

As both colonies seek to build a spaceship to flee New Terra, both discover there is only enough essential components for only one spaceship. Now, in addition to finding a way to survive the numerous threats to their life, Eden and Plymouth soon find themselves in conflict with each other in the struggle to escape New Terra.

Gameplay

There is more of an emphasis on colony management in Outpost 2 than other real time strategy games. The performance of the colony relies heavily on colonists' morale.

In general, Eden's research is more advanced, resulting in more advanced structures and stronger military units. Plymouth structures tend to be more stable, providing a more stable morale while their military units rely on speed and tactics.

Campaign

The campaign starts with the choice of picking which colony to control. Either choice leads to a similar situation, imminent disaster. Novellas, written by J. Steven York, detail the plot between each campaign mission. The novellas follow two characters, Axen Moon of Eden and Emma Burke of Plymouth.

Most missions involve you juggling research to climb the tech tree, maintaining colonists' morale, and making sure you have enough supplies packed away so you can evacuate before the inevitable flow of The Blight or lava washes over your colony.

Colony

A colony game is a long term game with specific win conditions such as build and launch a starship or destroy a rival colony.

Multiplayer

There is two to six player multiplayer where the objectives are either military domination, resource obtainment, or objective completion.

Plot

Regardless of which colony the player chooses to command, either storyline details the continued flight from the Blight or other natural disasters while seeking to gather the necessary components to build a new starship. The discovery of the still functioning sentient A.I. from the Savant computers absorbed by The Blight plays an important part of the plot. Axen Moon and Emma Burke eventually with the aid of the A.I. unite to create a superior starship and whichever side the player is on allows the children of the opposite colony aboard as well.