... or "the perils of changing publishers".
First warning: This game uses Starforce copy protection technology. Just so you can factor that in before buying since it's not mentioned on he box.
Perimeter: Emperor's Testament is an expansion pack that (partially because noone bought the first game outside of Russia) does not require Perimeter itself.
Since Perimeter is pretty unknown I'll start with a quick description of the basic gameplay: It's kind of an RTS but it had many innovative twists in the original (which of course are still present in the expansion). You start with a "Frame", a big base building that can fly if supplied with power (in practice you won't do that outside of campaign missions requiring it). The Frame produces builder units and terraformers although you usually start out with the maximum number of those. In order to build anything you have to terraform the land, which means flatten it. That's easy, just click on the terraform tool in the toolbar and paint the area you want terraformed. The selection is persistent so you always add to or substract from the current selection. Once the land is flat you can build stuff on it. You'll need generators that project an energy area around themselves in which you can then place buildings (the frame has a large area as well). The energy area's size also determines your influx of the only ressource, energy.
The buildings themselves are unit factories and labs, the latter can be upgraded to allow access to the more advanced units and defensive structures. Building is done with a centralized approach a la C&C, you click on the building in your build bar, place it and it's built by your builders (by shooting energy packets in the direction of the construction site). You can have only one building of each type in production at the same time so if you want to build another factory you have to wait until the first one is finished.
Generators can project a defensive shield, the titular Perimeter, that blocks almost all projectiles (there is a special unit called the Extirpator that can bypass the shield but it requires many expensive lab upgrades to get) and deals heavy damage to enemy units trespassing. The Perimeter isn't as useful as it may seem, it eats a lot of energy and prevents the defensive structures in its range from firing but it allows you to temporarily shield an area from enemy fire until repairs or build orders complete.
Units are nanomorphs, you produce three types of basic units (which are pretty useless by themselves except for the techs that repair units nearby) and morph them into larger units. Those can take anywhere from 3 to 63 basic units for a "recipe". Basic units are produced in a few seconds each. In theory you can morph your units into other units depending on the situation but the tight unit limit of 250 (which counts basic units) pretty much forces you to allow for only one or two unit types in your mixture. Production is problematic as well since you have to order the quantities of basic units by hand instead of saying "I want three tanks" which means you have to calculate the necessary amounts in your head. Units are weak compared to defensive structures which allows very defensive play (and if you manage to take down the defense watch in amazement as the Perimeter goes up and you can't do much without Scumers or Extirpators while the enemy rebuilds). Attacks often even devolve into building attacks since the howitzer building can shoot at enemy base (while other turrets will ignore enemy buildings within their range) and doesn't fall under the unit limit.
During attacks the terraformed terrain is often damaged so your terraformers should always remain ready for repairing that since buildings continuously take damage if the terrain under them is uneven. That can be used to your advantage, destroy the enemy terraformers and it'll take only a slight damage to the terrain to break buildings.
The energy ressource is the biggest problem in the game. The more territory you control the more ressources you get and the ressources are used for absolutely everything. When energy runs out you're screwed because of the game's distribution priorities. Unit building has such a low priority that you can easily end up being incapable of mounting a propr defense against artillery because your builders are wasting all your energy on repairing damage to buildings (which is automatic and cannot be prevented). Frame moving also has a very low priority but fortunately that's rarely required.
Which brings us to Emperor's Testament (finally).
The change in publishers means lots of changes for the game as well. First it doesn't come on a DVD anymore and the manual is only available in PDF form. Grrr. Then they've changed the localization. The new ingame voices (at least in the german version) are total crap. The announcer tries to speak like a robot which will grate on your nerves after roughly five seconds. They even forgot translating some of the samples (e.g. "terraforming completed") If you have the original game at hand you can copy the sound files over to make it bearable again. The cutscene voices are as "why do I have to read this stupid script" as before but it seems somewhat fitting considering all the speakers essentially claim godhood for themselves.
Gameplay changes weren't many, the "new units" promised on the box are essentially clones of older units with the new "electricity" theme, which comes with its own lab and turret. There's the Efflair, which is a souped up version of the Gyroid, a laser gunship. It's twice as expensive as the older unit and is better all around, significantly more hitpoints, can target buildings now, does a LOT more damage, etc. The second is the Impaler, an electro version of the Leamo. Somewhat cheaper (you can get 1.5 Impalers for a Leamo and have some spare units), lower lab requirements (one lv. 2 vs. one lv. 3), less armor and a much bigger gun. Seriously, I've attacked with a Leamo group and then changed it over to Impalers, the things did 2-3 times as much damage. They can even attack terraformer drones. The Conductor is the biggest annoyance, it's a clone of the Scum Heater which is supposed to be Exodus-only so the Exodus loses one of their exclusive units.
The new turret is more interesting than the units, it's like a big, mean laser turret with lots of hitpoints (it can take almost as much as a lab, perhaps they wanted to use these to make howitzers less effective as you practically need artillery units to take them down if you can't hit their generator) and a much higher cost (500 energy) that can attack generators as well, making it an early-game alternative to the howitzer.
The biggest difference however is that the Harkback are gone. Yes, you heard that right: They dropped one of the three playable factions, leaving only Exodus and Empire. I'm not sure whether to consider that negative, however, as the Harkback were severely unbalanced in the original (Scourge Demons. 'Nuff said.) and you'd have to make a "no Harkback" rule in multiplayer anyway if you don't want red demons ravaging your base from across the map.
Bilance: Four units, one lab and one "defensive" structure (Harkback superweapon) gone, three units, one lab and one defensive structure added.
It wouldn't be Perimeter without new annoyances: Now units and turrets no longer autotarget buildings that are being constructed. Wouldn't matter much in other games but in Perimeter's howitzer duels it can turn the tide of a battle if you don't watch it at all times. The enemy can build a howitzer while your howies just sit there and wait until it is complete and able to fire before attacking it. Same problem with electro cannons near the frontline that zap your generators (though howitzers can't destroy those effectively anyway). Means you should have artillery and Extirpators ready for any engagement of the bases since howitzer battles have become less reliable even in situations which they should normally be able to cope with.
The new campaign is nothing to write home about, just like the original game the missions start out difficult (because the enemy has a full blown base and high level labs while you still build your first generators) but usually there's a trick to the mission that makes it trivial to win once the initial assault is fended off. The campaign still unlocks the maps for skirmish (I'd open the Perimeter.ini and set AllowMultiplayer=1 so all maps are available in multiplayer, otherwise you are restricted to three tiny maps) and now contains many island maps where land is scarce. While your terraformers can make land out of water with little problems it takes forever and the stupid pathfinding that makes units run into water doesn't help. Since you're restricted to howitzers and planes when separated by water it's best to build a land bridge to the enemy (at least the computer) and send in ground or underground units.
If Perimeter wasn't enough for you and you want new maps and units, go for it, otherwise stay away. If you haven't played Perimeter and wonder whether Perimeter or ET is the better choice, go with Perimeter itself. More maps and less annoying voice acting for half the price.
Topic: Perimeter: Emperor's Testament... (Read 2644 times)
