INTRODUCTION

This isn’t the first time you’ve seen this motley crew. The Federation, ever vigilant, kept the peace in the first Anthelion title by PDAmill, and is back for round two in Anthelion 2, Celestial Vigilance. But not all sequels are bright, shiny, or even worth watching/playing. VGA and WM 5.0 compatibility has been added to the mix, along with a few other perks – but can Anthelion 2 step from behind the shadow of it’s older sibling? Read on for the review.

INTERFACE FACELIFT

First thing you’ll notice in Anthelion 2, is the fact that it’s much more handsome than it’s older brother. This new style permeates the game menus in every way (Figure 1). Even the transitions have been changed. You can still customize your own player profile (Figure 2), although the unlock cheat isn’t the same as the original.

(all images link to higher resolution)

Figure 1: All the menus in Anthelion 2 have received a graphical facelift.

Figure 2: An example player profile.

As one would expect, the controls can be customized (Figure 3) as you please (I prefer inverted controls). Initially, I attempted to play without the ‘Auto Aiming’ feature enabled. But the Dpad on my X50v made this sort of gameplay near impossible. So, in exchange for a small loss of stats, I find things a lot more comfortable with this capability. Be warned, however, that this auto aim doesn’t differentiate between friend and foe. So don’t just hold down the trigger.

Figure 3: Controls for Anthelion 2 can be customized any way you please.

Carried over from the original Anthelion is the unique help interface, which emulates what you might find if you were really reading a ships manual while docked at a space station. (Figure 4). And although it doesn’t accurately reflect the controls you customized, it does provide a good bit of info.

   
Figure 4: As with the original Anthelion, the help screens mimic the web, and are upgraded in the style of the other Anthelion 2 menus.

SHIP SHAPE

And where would you be without ships in Anthelion 2? Floating in the vacuum of space, most likely. But if you like living, three groups of ships can be found in this sequel (Figure 5), the Federation, the Trade Group (pirates, mostly), and the Watchers. As you progress through the game, you learn more about each of these groups, and their individual goals and aspirations.

Figure 5: Three new styles of ship can be found in Anthelion 2.

As far as the ships you can personally fly, there are four. The Merlin, the Owl (Figure 6), the Sloop, and the Brigantine (Figure 7). In Campaign mode, these unlock as you complete levels. In Free Game mode, you can select any one of these four and take on wave after wave of increasingly difficult opponents.

   

Figure 6: The Merlin and Owl ships.

   
Figure 7: The Sloop and Brigantine ships.

The cockpit (Figure 8) in Anthelion 2 has received some graphical upgrades, as has the various bits of space eye-candy that you’ll see while flying about. Your weapons are on the left side (in four bays), your current target and radar in the middle, your speed, shields and hull indicators on the right. You can tap on the screen to activate or modify any of the available controls (or even fly by stylus) as well as using the hardware buttons.

Figure 8: The cockpit view seen in the Free Game mode.

MISSION (IM)POSSIBLE

Anthelion 2 also sports a new story line. You still receive messages from the HQ and your crewmates, but once again, in the upgraded interface. (Figure 9). If you want to replay a mission (after completing it), you can find them under the Free Game choice.

   
Figure 9: The Campaign Messages screen.

Hit the Hanger, select a ship, and you are dropped into space with very little wait. Instructions and messages will appear in the upper left corner as you play, but in most cases, you can get right on with the mission without having to wait for the entire conversation to complete (very important if you’ve played a mission more than once). Hit your Jump button (either hardware assigned or the soft button in the upper left) and you are on your way (Figure 10).

   
Figure 10: The initial mission instructions and the jump to your next destination.

Thankfully, the balance between text and actual dogfighting is comfortable. The action starts pretty quickly with each mission (although some requests are rather mundane), and usually continues until you’ve completed the task. I did find that some missions could be oddly frustrating. I played Mission 3 about seven times before it completed – and even that was pure luck: I had stopped to go to sleep, my X50v turned on for it’s nightly bit and the mission was completed without my help. I was 220km away from the rest of the crew, but when I made the jump home, I received my congratulatory message.

   
Figure 11: A couple of example combat screens.

Having some troubles taking out those enemy vessels with just your lasers? Switch to your missile bays, get a lock (Figure 12), and blast them out of the sky. Just be careful not to hit one of your crewmates.

Figure 12: Locked and ready to fire.

Take too much damage, or even fail to protect or complete your task, and you are either blown to smithereens (Figure 13), or you see the mission failure screen. But have no fear, you can retry the mission again, and again, and again, if it takes you that long.

Figure 12: Boom!

PURCHASING

You can purchase Anthelion 2 directly from PDAmill for $19.95

PROS

• Fantastic eye candy
• Works well even on non-VGA devices
• Free Game mode expands replayability

CONS

• Memory intensive
• Some levels can be quite frustrating
• Auto Aim will lock on friendly targets

OVERALL
IMPRESSION

PDAmill has done an excellent job with this sequel in the Anthelion series. A new story line (with only a couple spelling and grammatical errors), new friends and enemies, and a few new tricks to round everything out. I did find that some of the levels were frustrating to play, but not enough to keep me from coming back to the game later. A worthwhile distraction at the least, and an epic in the making at the most. Taking all things into account, I give PDAmill’s Anthelion 2 the following score: