I love outer space, and I’ve always wanted a successor to Noctis (one of my favorite sandbox games ever, which I will definitely have to write about soon). While not exactly similar, Pioneer reminds me of the free form exploration of Noctis. Or rather, it could if I ever learn how to play it.
Should you chose to being life on Earth you start in a futuristic Los Angeles, on a space shuttle docking pad. I banged nearly every button on the screen as well as all of the ones to control my ship trying to take off, to no avail.
It turns out you have to ask for launch permission. A nice touch. I get my permission and take off.
I immediately head for the depths of space in search of – what else? – the Moon. I fly by it three times at extreme speeds because I don’t have the grasp of the zero-g propulsion and steering. Pioneer is one of those games that utilizes a realistic-esque burn-coast 6-degrees-of-movement space control scheme, so what do I do? I max my thrusters and fly way, way way past my target.
Turning around for the fourth time, I try to use these guiding lines to get to the moon. They actually help me stay on course. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve slowed down and started using the time compression system, either.
It’s the moon! I’ve made it! Now I want to coast in low and see the canyons for myself.
This, despite it’s appearances, was the last thing I saw on the Moon. I crashed so hard I plowed into the ground and buried myself in it’s surface.
Thanks. Thank a lot.
Pioneer has a fun concept behind it and there’s apparently a massive universe to explore. I’ll have to put allot more time in with the controls to see it all, though. Check it out for yourself and chime in in chat with your experiences.
