Armada - n.
1 : a fleet of warships
2 : a large force or group usually of moving things

"Each day we remain on Earth increases the probability that the human race will cease to exist. If we honor our ancestors, we must surge outward from our birthplace and populate the universe. The journey to space is the quest life everlasting."
- President Sarah McAllister, EarthGov, 3092 A.D.

Thus began humanity's great exodus from Earth, and the death of the human race. Earth, our mother, surrounded us, fed us, and protected us. She made us. After the tribes of humans departed from her bosom, they underwent a transformation over the course of 10,000 years of survival and evolution.

The Earth-born tribes endured great hardship as they traveled to distant reaches of the universe. An armada of biomechanical aliens actively hunted down these early human star travelers. Shortages of food and oxygen brought many travelers to the brink of extinction.

Six of the Earth-born tribes rallied in the Nexus Cluster. When the six races formed the Alliance, many separate traditions came together to create a stronger unity. Nomad power, Drakken guile, Terran engineering, Vorgan science, Scarab stealth, and Eldred killer instinct combined to halt the advancing Armada.

You are born to a glorious era of hope and reunification. As the captain of a starship, your growth and your triumphs champion the cause of all the Tribes in our war against the Armada.

This is the introduction to Metro3D's original Armada game for the Sega Dreamcast. The company announced a sequel shortly after the release of the original, and it was scheduled to hit the PlayStation 2 in 2001, but development issues have pushed the title back on numerous occasions. Now, armed with a name change and coming to both the PS2 and Xbox, Armada 2: Star Command is set to release this fall.

Star Command takes place about 1000 years after the first Armada. The initial Armada attack was unsuccessful due to your superior technology. However, before they left the Armada deployed a beacon. Now, the beacon has brought a whole new enemy of biomechanical aliens into the war. It's your job as Governor of your frontier post, to take command of a ship and develop safe-havens throughout the region.

Armada 2 contains many similar aspects to its predecessor. Once again you'll choose from six different races - Terran, Nomad, Eldred, Drakken, Scarab and Vorgan. Each race has their own set of unique abilities. Both the Xbox and PS2 versions of the game will support up to four player co-op, or eight player online combat. With an overhead viewpoint, you'll pilot your ship throughout a vast universe, moving from planet to planet taking out the alien invaders. Destroying alien ships will do more for you than simply moving on in the game. Each time you destroy an enemy or complete a mission, you'll earn experience points. Just like an RPG, the more experience points you gain, the higher your ship's level will become, and the more powerful it will be. Destroyed ships will also reveal Ultra-Tech, which basically serves as money in the game.

Take your Ultra-Tech to space stations and trade it for new weapons and items. Some of the various items include: multiplied damage, armor upgrades, enhanced movement and sensors, the ability to salvage more Ultra-Tech, better research for new weapons, an item that seeks out Ultra-Tech and possibly the best addition of all, an auto-pilot item. This would allow you to place your ship on auto-pilot and leave the game alone. Your ship would then fly around and level itself up. Some weapons will require practice before they can be used efficiently. Much like the Rail gun in Quake, you won't be able to just pick it up and start taking out aliens. Weapons will also feature different types of damage. Some will cause your enemies to disintegrate. Others, like mines, may cause proximity damage. Later on in the game, you can even visit a museum with dated weapons from the original Armada.

Star Command will feature over 1.2 million different items in all. You'll be able to customize your ship to fit your exact needs. Up to four weapons or items and be actively in use. If you want a faster ship, equip items related to speed and engine power. Care for a more offense approach? Tack on four powerful weapons and start blazing. It's your choice.

The graphics in Armada 2 will be very similar to the original. As mentioned before, the game will contain the same top-down view as the original except now you'll now find real-time landscaping and cloud effects on planets. In addition, Metro3D has added enhanced bomb effects and explosions during battles, and dissolve effects when ships are hit with certain weapons. Players will also find left over debris after destroying alien ships, along with lingering dust particles. Metro3D has also added cinemas for boss attacks. Something along the lines of a boss opening a hole in space and beginning the attack from there.

Metro3D will be making full use of the analog buttons featured on the Dual Shock 2. Certain weapons will have a varied effected depending on how hard your press the fire button. Other weapons or items may charge at a different pace depending on how much force you place on the button. This adds a new element of strategy that wasn't found in the original. Charging and using weapons takes power from your ship's engines. With the ability to control how fast you charge something, you'll have more freedom to hunt down alien bosses while preparing your offensive strategy.

The game will also have a uniqueness all its own. Every time you load up a new world, the game will be different. It randomly generates the universe when you first begin the game. Then as you fly to the outer reaches, planets and events are also randomly generated. What this means is that every time you play a new universe or travel further than you did the day before, you'll encounter a completely new game play experience. Plus, you and your friends will each have your own individual universe. A weapon or item that's extremely rare in John's universe could be found everywhere in Mike's universe. Star Command does feature structured events and missions to keep everyone on the same timeline, but the location of planets, bosses, weapons, items and space stations will all be unique with each new universe. And just like the original, your ship is separate from your universe. You can level up your ship in one universe, save it, then start a completely new game with your high-powered battle cruiser. Or go one step further and take your ship (via memory card) to your friend's house. Enhancing the replay value even further is the fact that the game holds five different endings depending on how you play through it.

Armada 2: Star Command seems to be leagues above the original thus far, when you add the online element it takes things even further. Online, you will find custom challenges and more randomly generated worlds for you and up to seven additional players to battle through. Players may have to defeat a certain boss or go on a mission to acquire a specific item. Clan-based play will also be heavily featured, as clans will be ranked by how well they complete these missions, among other things. They may even go as far as to make online exclusive items and weapons. Therefore you won't have access to a certain weapon unless you get online and hunt for it throughout one of the online worlds.

The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game are due to release this fall. As long as no other delays come into play, this game looks to be eons above the original Armada. It has the potential to become one of the big sleeper hits of the holiday season. We'll have a full review of the game as soon as possible. Until then, check out a detailed description of the races to help familiarize yourself with the game.

Since many of you may not be familiar with the original Armada. Here's some background information on the various races that featured in the game:

Terrans - The Terrans remained on Earth until the Great Armada Invasion of 4057. Biosphere colony ships set course for the Nomad's last known destination: the Nexus Star Cluster. Many generations of Terrans lived and died during the centuries long journey, but Terran engineering and ingenuity kept the travelers alive. The struggle for survival forged the previously decadent Earth-dwellers into a society of rugged and forthright frontier explorers. Today, Terran military technology is second only to Nomad hardware in terms of power and is without equal in the domain of precision engineering and overall sturdiness.

Eldred - The Eldred were born of the Scarab Disunity of 8470. Eldred society is comprised of strict matriarchies where dominant females control 5-10 subservient males. The Eldred joined the Neutral Zone Treaty and Cease Fire Accord upon the first sighting of the Armada. Continued sentient rights violations prevent the Eldred in gaining full membership in the Alliance. However, the deadly Eldred cloaking and field-disrupter technology makes them an essential ally in the war against the Armada.

Nomad - Nomads boarded the first sleeper ship to be launched from Earth 10,000 Standard Years ago. They sought to escape a life of mistreatment as space miners, soldiers and servants. The Nomads choose not to live terrestrially because they were genetically engineered to optimally survive in zero-g environments, at low pressures. Since the Nomads do not live in the worlds they exploit, they tend to get the best resource utility out of their colonies. The Nomads produce ships optimized for combat, sparing little room for creature comforts or reserve life support.

Drakken - The Drakken Empire was born of 300 sleeper ships sent 10 years after the first Nomad exodus. Earth Government offered all violent political felons amnesty is they would volunteer to participate in an experiment: they would be sent through the first observed foldspace phenomenon near Andromeda. After the felons took over the ships and imprisoned their captors, they discovered that they had all been part of a new Nomad project to create a deep space survivable human. They formed the Dome Colony on a dead moon and fought to survive with limited resources. Whether the project was flawed or failed due to the intervention of the test subjects is unknown, but after 1000 generations the Drakkens exhibit none of the classic Nomad adaptations. Their sleeper ships held Earth's most advanced bioengineering tools and data which helped them survive despite the lack of Nomad traits. The Drakken were able to flourish in a largely dead area of space by breeding a hierarchy of food-grade humans capable of converting solar radiation into nutrients through a process similar to photosynthesis. Today the orgiastic flesh pits of Drakken are a dim memory kept alive by the greenish skin tone born by many modern Drakken citizens. While their history did not produce advances in raw firepower, Drakken scientists created technology that is uniquely adaptable and configurable. Drakken ships possess an almost magical versatility in combat.

Scarab - The Scarab departed from Earth with the Terrans, but in 200 million smaller seed ships. The Scarabs strictly regulated their brains through implants and formed colony mind groups. The Scarab respected Terran autonomy and did not impose Unity upon them. When the Scarab discovered that the Nexus Cluster held many wormholes as well as the long separated incarnations of humanity, most Scarabs hurried to join their distant cousins only to find themselves trapped in the slimy grip of the Armada. The density of wormholes meant that great distances, diverse data, and dislocated gene pools could more frequently interact and therefore enhance the multiplication of data. The Scarab Unity employs its data to construct technology that emphasizes stealth over firepower, in order that they may continue to gather intelligence unmolested.

Vorgan - The Vorgans were the first to arrive in the Nexus Cluster, long before the Armada was known to exist. The Vorgan people are genetically distinct from other Earth-born races in that they posses an auxiliary communication organ. This organ produces and receives a range of alpha-wave modulations that constitute the Vorgan language. The Vorgans excel in science and quickly solve any unforeseen problems that battle groups encounter during their battles with the Armada.