User Reviews (11 - 21 of 39)

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Ever heard of a game called Escape Velocity?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Well I must say that from the various Dreamcast review sites I've checked out, this game is probably the ultimate Dreamcast sleeper. At this rediculously cheap price any Dreamcast owner worth his salt should pick this beauty up. However, for those of you who also happen to own a Mac computer, you might be excited to know that Armada bears a striking resemblance to a masterpiece called Escape Velocity by Ambrosia software. This little known game (in the PC world anyway) actually created this addictive style of gameplay, and is shareware to boot! Go to www.ambrosiasw.com to check it out. Regardless though, please don't pass on this game because of it's lack of 3D graphics and seemingly old-style gameplay. It's actually a refreshing game that involves you like no other (with perhaps the exception of Escape Velocity) and will leave with a silly grin on your face as you realize that you picked this up for a mere twenty bucks. ;-)

Armada-4 people

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: November 26, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Armada is a good game for people who enjoy growing a character (RPG-style) and new game types. My brother and I both thought it felt like playing Ultima On-line, sort of. It is not an on-line game, but I read somewhere that it was supposed to be but Sega had some problems getting the on-line part of Dreamcast ready in time. I would give it 4 stars if it had on-line play. The graphics are just ok but not great. I much prefer Soul Calibur graphics. Armada is very cool in terms of being non-linear like original NES Zelda, multiplayer, and easy to play for many hours (though my little brother plays much more than I do). It is fun to keep playing because when you die, you still keep all the money and items but you appear back where you started. The story is pretty good but there are some words I do not understand. I like all the voices of the people on the planet where you start. The voices change when you finish quests. I actually like this game second best (not as much as Soul Calibur). I am glad the game is original and interesting.

Entertaining for a while, not much replay value

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: July 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Initially, I was very excited by this game. The 2-D action of rotating a ship and using a thrust button to move was familiar from old arcade games; the graphics were kind of cool; there looked to be a huge game world to explore, with hidden artifacts; backstory given from the perspectives of several different races; protecting friendly ships on journeys into deep space; a variety of special weapons to choose from.

However, a number of things about the game quickly deflated my enthusiasm.

* Combat got to be monotonous - you could mix things up a little bit by playing different races, some of which you need to use different strategies for. However, even that gets old quickly.

* As you play, you won't see much new in the way of graphics - new planets that you'll find are less interesting looking than where you started, and about all that you'll see that's new are some different ship designs. After a while, there's absolutely nothing new to see.

* The game world turns out not to be so deep or interesting. You'll get tips that a base or planet exists at certain coordinates, but later on you'll get sent there anyway on a quest. About all there is to the game world is the farther away from the base you go, the harder the enemies get; and on any given planet, you'll find a distinct type of enemy ship.

* The backstory sounds interesting at first, but starts to come down to "there's a blah ship at blah coordinates that seems to be coordinating the Armada activity, go destroy it." You go blow it up, and are then told "that only seems to have made the Armada mad, this blah ship is now threatening blah base, go destroy it." Various plot teaser elements are never followed up on. The actual end of the game is distinctly unsatisfying. The storyline given is that the Armada will now leave humanity alone; however, to keep you playing, you can still go out into space and fight all the same old random enemies. So, is the big threat to humanity over or isn't it?

* There's no variety in the impromptu missions. They all amount to escorting a computer-controlled ship to some coordinates, and blasting stuff along the way. To make matters worse, the destination never makes any sense, it's just some random location. Once arrived, the escorted ship just starts flying around blasting stuff until it gets blown up. Talk about futile! You spend as much time on those missions as on anything, and they make no sense and have nothing to do with the plot.

My experience with the game was initially exciting and intriguing, but quickly turned to monotony; from there, it became "ok, well, I guess I'll try to finish it". The end came fairly quickly, and after that the thought of continuing to play to beef up my ship seemed mind-numbingly boring.

A surprisingly good game despite simple graphics...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

At first glance, Armada doesn't look like much. On first impression, it looks like your run of the mill space shoot-out, with slightly more complex controls. Give it a chance, however, and you'll find yourself playing it more and more than the 'fancier' games for the Dreamcast.

First off, the universe that Armada takes place in is huge, and changes throughout the course of the game as you complete missions. You discover new worlds, hidden starbases. You go on search-and-destroy missions deep in the heart of space. You bring supplies to exotic starbases.

What elevates this space shooter, however, is not merely the plot elements (which serve to help keep you interested) but the strong multiplayer mode. Additional players can jump in at any moment, either from a saved character on a VMU or as a new character. This team element makes for exciting gameplay in some of the titanic battle scenes that occasionally occur. Up to four players can join in at a time - so far we've only played with two. But having two players definitely magnifies the enjoyment of this game immensely.

In short, this under-rated game, while not as visually spectacular as a lot of other Dreamhouse games, is a powerhouse of replayability, full of surprises and interesting exploration.

The most creative fun game for the DC

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 24, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I just recently bought Armada without even renting it because of all the good reviews it has gotten, and i must say i am VERY HAPPY with it. The graphics are excellent as well as the depth and replay value. It is also a lot of fun with more than 1 person. This game lets you roam freely throughout planets and space letting you do what you want to do, and really just sitting around and destroying other ships is a lot of fun! It does have RPG elements in the game but mainly you are to blow up the bad guys with a little bit of strategy. All together this is a wonderful game worth buying the instant you see it.

Welcome back old-school

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Finally, a return to old-school, 2D, top-down shooters. Add in RPG elements and 4-player action, and what more could you want?

So I thought. Armada was one of the three Dreamcast games I got for Christmas, and it is the one I have played the least (the others being Toy Commander and Tokyo Xtreme Racer). At first, it was fun, but it was also hard because I was so low-level. The problem is that it takes a very, very long time to gain levels. This trend is also in the buying parts element of the game: the parts are very expensive and it takes a long time to get enough money to buy upgrades. The whole game gets tedious and boring quickly.

In all fairness though, this game was meant to be played multiplayer over the Internet, but because Sega's network was not ready in time, this feature was removed. Therefore, the game is much more fun when you play with other players (it supports up to four). I have not yet been able to get three people to join in a game because everyone wants to play Soul Calibur or Crazy Taxi instead, so I'm missing out on the best part of Armada. This could be why I lost interest quickly.

In summary, if you enjoy shooters, have the time and patience to mindlessly level-up, or have some friends who are willing to play it with you, you should enjoy Armada. Otherwise, you might want to give it a rent. It's not a bad game; it's just mediocre.

Just OK.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: January 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I was excited to play Armada upon recieving my Amazon shipment, but that only lasted for just so long. Initially the game was fairly engaging, as it's pretty much universally fun to zoom around in space and blast evil aliens into dust, and on top of that it looks pretty cool. Unfortunately that's about as deep as this game ever gets. All this talk about it having RPG elements is basically this: as you kill the baddies, you earn credits and experience points. Earn enough exp. points and your ship gets stronger, and the credits buy you new weaponry and gadgets. Sounds cool, but the execution is lackluster to say the least. The extra weapons don't make a whole lot of difference and don't look very cool. Also, you can buy many but only four may be equipped at a time. The most frustrating thing about Armada however, is the fact that as the levels go up the enemies don't change a whole lot, they just get harder to beat and more numerous. If it's only kind of fun with 10 enemies on the screen, what makes it better with 30? Nothing in my opinion.

Rough Around The edges, But Very Fun Nonetheless

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 05, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Having only recently started playing the game, I thought it would be interesting to share my views. I would agree with other reviewers here that Armada is something not seen before on the Dreamcast - or perhaps on any other console. Its unique attributes are both its greatest strength and (initially) its greatest weakness. If you purchase this game, don't give up after 30 minutes of play time. What at first seems impossible and illogical gradually becomes intuitive. The developers would have been better off providing a more detailed manual or perhaps a tutorial system ,but for those gamers who enjoy learning and exploration, Armada should provide a joyous experience.

Wish for old atari/nes/snes shooters?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Old schooler's rejoice! This is the holy grail for space shooter fans! Intense 4 player action. Fun on one player, too. However, if you want new and innovative, you might want to try before you buy. The only thing keeping this game from 5 stars is lack of online play. Hopefully Armada 2 (cross your fingers) will do for shooters what Everquest did for RPGs.

One of the best games forDC

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After finishing Zelda I wanted an RPG to keep me occupied and Armada filled that gap.The thing that's probably the best thing and the worst thing at the same time has to be the addictivity.The first time i got the game I didn't sleep for 4 days.You can choose from 6 races in this game(i prefer the VORGAN)The multiplayer and the detail is amazing.It is a must buy, the best idea sega ever had since Sonic.

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