Games - Conquest: Frontier Wars

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	Games - Conquest: Frontier Wars

Conquest: Frontier Wars is a Real Time Strategy engine created in 1999 by Ubi Soft, Fever Pitch Studios and Erin and Chris Roberts. Conquest was a very innovatively-designed game, with many new aspects unique to the Real Time Strategy genre. Unlike most other Real Time Strategy games, Conquest's campaign levels were played out on multiple maps, linked with wormholes.

Bases could be constructed on planets in any system, but not before the player had secured their supply lines between systems. Supplies played a vital part in offensive operations, as each ship carried only a limited amount of supplies, which were depleted as weapons and special devices were used. Ships with fully depleted supply stores were then rendered completely ineffective until they returned to a supply base for reloading. For this reason, players could not maintain the momentum of their assaults in enemy-controlled systems unless their fleet was accompanied by supply vessels.

Conquest featured a number of Admirals in the single-player campaign, which functioned similarly to hero units. In single-player skirmish and multiplayer games, Admirals acted essentially as leader units. Entire squadrons of other ships could be grouped with an attached Admiral shuttle; this endowed the Admiral's combat bonuses upon the entire fleet and allowed the player to better control their forces.

Unfortunately, the game was not very popular when it first came out, though it stayed on the market for some time. UbiSoft continued to support the game with a number of patches and a multiplayer gaming service, but the game never truly gained large numbers of players. The release of modding tools to the community did not make much of an impact, as they were fairly ineffective and difficult to use.

In July of 2004, Warthog Studios announced that it was developing a sequel to Conquest: Frontier Wars, titled Conquest 2: The Vyrium Uprising. In addition to the original three races, the game will feature a new, fourth race, the reptilian Vyrium, and will also feature polygonal 3D environments and particle effects. At this time, the game currently is without a publisher or release date.

Storyline

Conquest's storyline is set several hundred years in the future. Following a series of internal conflicts, mankind has colonized a few star systems linked to our solar system by wormholes, and the small Terran Navy is in the process of exploring several new worm holes. Arriving in the Tau Ceti system, the TNS Andromeda, under the command of Admiral Tacweather Hawkes, is caught between a small, fast, unidentified alien spacecraft and its pursuers. After the Andromeda is destroyed in a collision with a massive alien warship, you, as the anonymous "Commander" are ordered by Admiral William Halsey to investigate. With the help of Captain Thomas Blackwell, you begin exploring uncharted wormholes in order to discover what happened to the Andromeda.

After learning that Admiral Hawkes escaped the destruction of the Andromeda and has been taken prisoner by the unidentified alien race, dubbed "Mantis", you penetrate deeper into hostile territory in order to rescue him. Soon, Earth and its navy find themselves embroiled in the middle of a Mantis civil war, with the usurper Queen Ver'Lak fighting her sister, Warlord Ker'Tak. Fearing for its own safety in the face of the massive Imperial Mantis fleet, Earth assists Ker Tak in the fight. In response, Ver Lak assigns her chief Lieutenant, Warlord Malkor, to hunt down and destroy Earth.

During a dangerous mission to rescue Mantis warlords still loyal to Ker'Tak, Captain Blackwell's corvette is lost in a rogue black hole while scouting beyond an uncharted wormhole. In spite of this tragic loss, Halsey and Ker'Tak order a large-scale offensive against Malkor's supply lines in the Orion Arm, assigning Admiral Benson to assist you. Benson is a good soldier, but is hardly pleasant to work with, as she fully blames you for her friend Blackwell's death.

Blackwell turns out to be very much alive, however, returning in a critical moment with yet more alien reinforcements. The rogue black hole turns out to have been a passageway to Celareon space, and a meeting is soon arranged between the Terran Admiralty and the ruling council of the energy-based Celareons. The territory of this advanced species sits astride the raging Mantis Civil War, and the conflict threatens to engulf their systems.

The two races agree to an alliance against Ver'Lak's forces, but the meeting soon reveals a surprising and dangerous development. Admiral Halsey is shown a data transmission, sent from the heart of Terran space to the Mantis, which was also intercepted and recorded by the Celareons. Vital information on Earth's location and defensive systems has been leaked to the Mantis by a Terran traitor, prompting a massive investigation to discover who has betrayed humanity to its enemies.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Conquest: Frontier Wars ]

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