O.R.B.

by Strategy First

Product Features

• In this stunning 3D real-time strategy game, you must pick one of two races who survived the aftermath of a brutal intergalactic war. They are now empires in their own right, and battle for control of the known universe.
• Your goal is the creation, defense and conquest of the various O.R.B.'s (Offworld Resource Base) dotting the solar system -- from here you'll advance on the enemy
• Experience incredibly realistic interplanetary physics with moons, orbits, asteroid belts, debris fields and more
• Develop complete strategic campaigns with everything -- unique units, massive spacecraft, and cinematic space battles between worlds
• Interact with massive space objects and use the extensive ordering system

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005A9W7
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 19, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,616 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

O.R.B. is a 3-D, real-time strategy game that pits the forces of two planets against each other in an epic struggle for control of the vast asteroid belt that circles their planets. Within the concentric rings of the belt are the precious resources that both planets desperately need to thrive. Millennia ago, an empire spanning the galaxy collapsed after a long and brutal war. In the Aldus system, two orphaned races slowly evolved on two separate planets. Both races believed that they were unique and alone in the universe. They were soon to find out that they were wrong.

Enter the fray as one of two fully developed races with unique campaigns and strategies. Immerse yourself in O.R.B.'s environment--a living solar system with planets and a vast asteroid field where danger and opportunity lurk. Shape the world and the fate of your race by building secret bases inside them. Engage in epic fleet combat with a wide variety of vessels and specialized units, including orbital shock troops, mine layers, fighters, jamming units, probes, and massive capital ships. Enjoy a unique downloadable campaign editor and tools, complete with the ability to script your own cutscenes. Launch explosive battles with up to eight players in cooperative and head-to-head multiplayer mode.

Product Description

O.R.B. takes you an ancient grudge match between two competing alien empires -- you must lead one of them to victory! The deep-space action gets even hotter in explosive eight-player multiplayer battles Engage the enemy in epic fleet combat for control of the O.R.B.'s!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts the Strategy back in RTS, July 12, 2004

By 

Nicolas Green "Starving Poet" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: O.R.B. (CD-ROM)

We shall eat naught but rocks, and live within the dust. Such sets the stage for Strategy First's first space RTS - O.R.B. Off-world Resource Base blends the three-dimensional RTS feel inspired by Homeworld with the tactical challenge that S.F. is known for. I must admit, having played nearly all well-known RTS since Dune 2, this game was the first to challenge me on normal difficulty.

Gameplay:
I'm really a ground-pounder at heart, so I always approach space RTS' with a little trepidation. O.R.B. was able to guide me into the interface with a number of tutorial missions that explained the most basic aspects to moving in 3 dimensions, and mining in the Aldus System. The interface is quite intuitive, making viewing the entire map to looking at the hatches on your interceptors quite easy. Learning how to interface with the world is easy, it's learning how to skirmish that will take some time to perfect.
Unlike ground-based FPS where battles rely on numbers to tactics, O.R.B. relies on wing formations and dog-fighting - especially when you are facing equally capable foes. Once you get a feeling for what ships are good against what enemies, you should be off to a good start. As your ships get larger, your tactics will start to resemble naval engagements rather than aerial ones, and that adds to the fun.
The story in O.R.B. is much better than I had expected to find in an RTS. The two campaigns play off each other, so the enemies you fight in one, will not necessarily be the enemies you fight in the next. It is a much better improvement than the standard formula of play side A and kill side B; play side B and kill side A. It's safe to say that once you get into the story, you'll want to know what's going to happen next.
Finally, since the game has a fairly large tech tree and limited resources (it increases the challenge - that's a good thing!) your tech carries over from one mission to the next. There are also missions where your fleet carries over, so you will want to focus on preservation rather than high kill and death ratios. The highly limited resources also means that there will be times when you'll have to make the effort to capture enemy vessels just in order to scrap them. It really requires planning so that your enemy starves himself before you do; even then odds are you'll spend every last credit you earn on every mission.

Graphics:
Nice and sharp, just as I'd expect in a space sim. The close zoom doesn't reveal any lazy modeling, and though they lack ultra detail, it saves the system when there are a hundred units swirling around your screen. The only slowdown I ever had was when I tried to camera inside an explosion, but that was because I was trying to stress the engine. Beyond that, the only gripe I can think of is the short distance at which your ships zoom into green dots on your screen. Yet that is more of a design issue than a gaming one.

Sound:
Space is silent - I'm usually too zoomed out to hear the gunfire, so all I ever ended up hearing were the ever persistent alarms and various cues. Your ships do talk to you, but it's in some alien language, so voice acting is... un-judge-able. The music is spacey, reminds me of background music to MOO 3, but again it's exactly what you would expect from a space sim. In truth, that's not a bad thing. No points off here either.

Overall:
It's quite clear that the goal of this game was to make you think about your tactics, rather than letting you pick one unit to build a thousand of. Each ship has its function and you need to learn when and how to use them. The manpower limits and highly limited resources all add to this game in a good way that will offer a challenge on any difficulty level.
The only downside is the lack of multiplayer community available for it. The few times I loaded up gamespy to check for games I rarely ever saw more than 1 or 2 people bumming around in chat. If you are looking to play this online, it would behoove you to have a friend pick up a copy as well.
If you only buy games to play online, well then this might not be the best game to spend your money on, but if you like single play, or just don't have access to a good stable connection, then I highly recommend O.R.B as being one of the best and most challenging RTS' to hit the market in a long while.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Give this game a chance, July 27, 2004

By 

L. Jorgenson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: O.R.B. (CD-ROM)

I liked the reviews before I bought the product, but after playing the game I think some people missed the point in their reviews. I have to say that although my overall rating of the game was 3 stars, it was a real value. You just can't go wrong with a $10 product. Still, there were some things that worked, and some things that didn't - and knowing about these things might help you decide if even $10 is too much.

What worked?

The graphics were beautiful, just as many reviews described, and they helped to suspend disbelief and allowed deeper immersion into the story and game. The story was excellent. Great attention was paid to that aspect of the game, and it shows. Game play on normal setting was challenging enough to cause a few loads from a saved game position. All in all, when a couple of tickets to a movie cost as much or more than this game, and provide 4 hours of entertainment versus 10-40 hours of game time, this game was a real value.

What didn't work?

The game is extremely linear. There is a beginning to the story, and an end to the story, and precious little freedom to rescript the story. The good news is that the story is good enough - and game play challenging enough - that the restrictions are bearable. Still, any game that has a technology tree and then tells you exactly when and where you can climb it has done gamers a disservice. If programmers are going to do that to us, the very least they can do is provide very detailed information in the manual about what we're developing. That way at least you've laid a key out there to make us feel like we can escape your shackles - even if it is an elusion. Speaking of the manual, it could use a little help, but the story portion is worth it. What can I expect for $10, right? My game never offered me covert operations either, but then that may only be available in multi-player mode. Finally, the interface wasn't bad, but it wasn't a delight either. I spent the vast majority of my games in 2-D mode, because it provided me with the clearest information. Clear information is a vital commodity in real-time games, so I had to reject the beautiful 3-D mode in favor of the more practical 2-D setting.

I stick to my assertion that there is more than enough good material in this game to make it worth the meager purchase price. Just don't expect paradise.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 3-D space RTS done right, December 28, 2002

By 

"_v_jean-luc" (Davie, Fl. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: O.R.B. (CD-ROM)

This game has so much strategy with its space bases, rotating asteroid fields, secret bases built inside asteroids. massive scale. Two unique playable races (yes there are subtle differences that add up to major strategic edges in various areas). The SP campaign starts off kinda slow (as do most rts SP) but the later stages of the first campaign and the second campaign are truly outstanding. The skirmish AI is well done and challenging. In fact this game is very challenging at every level. The developers are very active and responsive to the fanbase and are currently working on the minor fixes as well as future updates that will include new vessels and added features. The graphics are absolutely spectacular. Well worth the ...[undisclosed dollar amount].

All in all a great game destined to get even better.