Space Pirates and Zombies

Overview

Space Pirates and Zombies (or SPAZ) is a game for the PC by MinMax Games that mixes 3 successful genres into one while setting you loose in a galactic environment where a Zombie infestation is taking over the universe. It's up to you to uncover the secret behind this infection.

SPAZ features a persistent, randomly generated galaxy populated by different factions, enemies, missions, items, etc, which gives players a unique experience each time they start a new game.

Gameplay

Seen from afar, Space Pirates and Zombies might look just like another top-down space combat game, but there's a lot more features in this game than meets the eye. The player is actually in charge of an ever-evolving fleet, which subsequently turns the game into an RTS -- you'll issue orders, select ships, apply general fleet AI settings, all by pressing just a few keys.

As you play and win battles, you'll also level up and get access to all sorts of different tech trees, just as you would in an RPG. You find components throughout the universe, use your research points to unlock research abilities, and customize every aspect of your new fleet.

Ships

Much of the gameplay in SPAZ revolves around managing and upgrading the ships in your fleet. There are five classes of ship, determined by size, and different specializations available including: resource mining, fighting, carrying crew and more. The five sizes are: tiny, small, medium, large and huge. The UTA, Civilian, and Bounty Hunter factions have access to a limited number of ship types, while the Zombie and player factions can unlock everything by acquiring black boxes, items dropped from destroyed enemy ships. The player must also have enough Rez and enough room in the hangar of their mothership in order to build ships.

Mothership

The mothership acts as a hub for most of the player's activity. The mothership is used to store rez, goons and specialists and carries and upgrades ships. This mothership is upgraded by completing certain story events throughout the game. It is not used in combat directly, except in a few limited events.

Factions

United Terran Alliance (UTA)

The UTA are present in every system and control the warpgates that provide access to the next system. Player's can choose to co-operate and take missions from the UTA or attack them to gain resources. The UTA are usually in conflict with the Civilians present within the system. UTA bases may stock blueprints, goons and other useful resources. If the player has a hostile relationship with the UTA they can choose to fight their way past the warpgate once they are strong enough.

Civilians

Civilians are also present in every system. Like the UTA, reputation with civilians is local to each system. Civilian bases also stock blueprints and resources similar to UTA bases. Civilian bases come in three types: Mining, Science, and Colony; each of which offer different resources in trade. Choosing to help civilians grants greater access to these resources. Choosing between each faction opens up different opportunities in each system.

Bounty Hunters

Bounty Hunters were introduced post-release in a free expansion to the game. Bounty Hunters "control" systems within one warp-jump of their base and will put a bounty on the player for any UTA or CIV ships they destroy while within the control zone. As a players bounty increases they become more likely to be attacked by Bounty Hunter ships and this can eventually result in the player being forced to pay a toll in rez and goons or face an attack directly on the mothership. They player has several options when trying to lower their bounty, they can destroy Bounty Hunter ships to earn respect (which lowers the bounty), pay their bounty directly at the Bounty Hunters base (which is always neutral to players), destroy the Bounty Hunters base outright, or compete in arena matches put on by the Bounty Hunters, predetermined scenarios which pit player ships against an enemy force; victory in the matches grants players respect, rez, and sometimes specialists. When a player has fully payed their bounty they can earn respect with the Bounty Hunters, which gives players a buffer, allowing them to earn more bounty before being attacked; it can also be spent to put a bounty on the UTA's warpgates, which the Bounty Hunters will attack and open for you.

Zombies

Zombies are the final faction and main antagonists of the game. Their ship classes are diverse and loosely mirror those available to the player's fleet. They use critters to invade enemy ships and increase the strength of their own forces. Zombie ships are divided into two types: Breeders and Killers. Breeders reproduce and increase the Zombie forces while Killers provide the main offensive backbone of their fleet

PC System Requirements

• OS: Windows 7/XP/Vista
• Processor: 2.5 GHz Processor
• Memory: 1 GB Available System Memory
• Hard Disk Space: 250 MB Available HD Space
• Video Card: 256MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card
• DirectX®: 9.0
• Additional: OpenGL: 3.0

Mac System Requirements

• OS: Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later
• Processor: Intel Core Duo Processor (1.8GHz or better)
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 500 MB Free Space