In a better world, we’d already be playing its modern descendants.
I’m not naive enough to think it will suddenly take off.
Hardwar had its shortcomings even in 1998.
It’s abitnostalgia, sure, but not the “what I actually miss is feeling young” variety.
It takes me not to the past, but to a promised future long overdue.
But you’re one of the lucky few to own a ship.
Or rather, a “moth”.
They can’t climb beyond the handful of craters and connecting tunnels that comprise the colony.
The smaller engines can’t even reach some high altitude docks.
But this isn’t just a standard “find the best route and repeat” deal.
Almost everything is made from something else.
Learning the way the various production chains work is a big part of the experience.
A refinery cut off from ore will raise its offering price, drawing traders from the mines to capitalise.
And everyone should be an opportunist.
It’s a world that feels alive.
Shoot a moth down, and nearby scavengers will swarm over to pick through the goods.
It’s an easy system to break.
The AI in particular is still robust for decision making, but struggles with avoiding collisions.
The controls take some rejigging, and its menus are very cumbersome.
Consequently, you improve less with hardware than with your own experience.
Despite the HUD readouts all over these screenshots, this is an aerial combat game all about eyeballing it.
So what if it’s crap?
Everything in Misop is.
Examined the economy enough and you’ll realise everything is built from scraps.
The moths are ungainly, clumsy, beaten up old things made of endlessly recycled junk.
An early plot message has a faction boss addressing the whole colony while casually chilling in his body harness.
It takes itself exactly seriously enough for what is a basically okay plot with a great vibe.
We deserve a modern version, but I don’t mean a remake.
I mean an inheritor.
