The Collection Chamber: BANG! GUNSHIP ELITE (a.k.a. BIG BANG)

DETONATE YOUR SENSES

You've never experienced anything like BANG! Gunship Elite. Incredible rendering techniques, a real-time 3-D universe, expansive galaxies, aliens, asteroids, mammoth vessels, aggressive fighters and powerful weapons, make this the action game your universe is clamoring for!

BANG! Gunship Elite.
Everything Else is a Waste of Space.
19 missions across a jaw-dropping, real time 3-D universe
Never-before used rendering techniques and particles systems drench this game in amazing special effects and realism
High-performance Collision Detection System for unequaled gameplay
Adaptive AI adjusts to each player's skill level
An arsenal of weapons from a basic blaster to the devastating Titan's Hammer
High-speed battles with different alien races
Over 30 minutes of 3D RealTime video sequences
Up to 1600x1200 Resolution supported, depending on video card
Challenge your friends in Multiplayer mode over the Internet or Local Area Network (LAN) with IPX and TCP/IP

~ from the back of the box

Ah, Bang! Gunship Elite. What a name to name a game. It's as if they compiled a list of onomatopoeias and chose the loudest one. That being said, the Parisian developers at Rayland Interactive chose to go one further for the European moniker by christening it Big Bang. With all this noise of a name going on, it's understandable that this game had a rough time even before it saw the light of day. The original publisher dropped the game casting doubt on the fledgling games company before Red Storm Entertainment stepping in to save the day. So, did this game deserve saving?

Well, it's no Star Wars epic, let's put it that way. The story of Bang! takes place in a future where humanity's in a bit of a kerfuffle. The player dons the role of a starfighter pilot, charged with saving the day in the middle of a galactic war. And that's pretty much it. It's about as deep as a puddle. There's no grand narrative to sink your teeth into, just enough of a backdrop to keep you focused on the action. Even the game's cutscenes, which consist of dry narration over sexy in-engine shots of spaceships doing nothing in space, aren't exactly exciting. It's an exact contrast to the gameplay.

The level map screen. You'll go in with the weapons highlighted at the bottom of the screen (left).

End the stage by flying through the portal when it opens (right).

Bang! Gunship Elite is not-stop balls-to-wall action. There's none of that painstaking micromanagement that other, more hardcore space games insist on. No, this is about dodging incoming fire while steadying your aim to fight back all the while making sure you don't get blown to bits. The controls are simple enough - the keyboard handles acceleration and weapon selection while the mouse aims and shoots. The lock-on system can be a little finnicky, auto-targeting the nearest enemy regardless of where they are. Dogfights ensue with a kinetic energy that feels manageable. I've played many a discombobulating flight-sim, so the fact that I never found myself turned upside down is a good thing here. There's also an impressive variety of enemy ships, from agile fighters to lumbering freighters. However, the simplistic nature of the missions does begin to wear thin after a while. It's fun in short bursts, but the repetition will likely settle in when playing for long stretches.

Many tasks revolve around typical space-sim fare like dogfights, escort missions, and the occasional "go here, shoot that" objective. Variety is not Bang!'s strong suit, though they do offer up a decent enough challenge. The key is to collect power-ups. New weapons, health or shields are often left behind by defeated foes and are collected by simply flying over them. Some are even essential to complete a mission. For example, in order to defeat a target enemy, you must attack it with a certain weapon. While only available via randomly dropped icons, the variety of weapons are decent. It's always fun to see ships disintegrate thanks to your Phase Shift Cannon.

Visually, the game doesn't look half bad for its age. Actually, it's quite impressive. The ships are decently detailed, and the space backgrounds are vibrant and distinguishable, even if they are essentially wraparound images. Levels are also filled with other objects and obstacles that define each stage. Asteroid belts provide cover in one stage, while huge space stations loom over you in another. For a game that didn't exactly break the bank in terms of budget, the environments hold up reasonably well. Upscaled and viewed through a widescreen patch, its impressive visuals are even more apparent. That being said, there is one minor niggle playing this way - on that's barely noticeable unless you're a stickler for perfection; the guns. In 4:3 the booming blasters circle the HUD as if attached to your ship, In widescreen, they float around it like those disembodied hands in a virtual reality game. It doesn't gameplay one iota, and I didn't notice it until much later in the game. It's my preferred way to play.

Collect new weapons and ammo by picking up floating pods left behind by destroyed enemies (left).

You current weapon roster is displayed on the top left of the screen (right).

As for the audio design, there's a good mix of sounds that go boom... or bang as the case may be. The soundtrack is orchestral and epic, playing a not insignificant role in elevating the action on-screen. It's only really the voice acting that lets the side down. You only get to hear dialogue during the exposition-heavy narration at the beginning of each mission. The script prattles on for too long without saying much. I guess they're attempting Captain Kirk's star-log entries in Star Trek, but it ends up being more like a bored teenager's book report. Serviceable, maybe, but universally skippable.

Despite this, Bang! Gunship Elite is an enjoyable little romp. Being more of an arcade experience, it doesn't quite have the staying power of its more famous contemporaries like StarLancer, but it does offer a decent time for those in search of an easy-going space sim. Unfortunately, the game came at a time when the genre was awash with titles that did what Bang! tried to do, but bigger and better. In short, if you're after something to dip into for an hour or so, Bang! will entertain you. But for anything more, the limited variety and repetition will likely make you set it aside in favour of something meatier.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses dgVoodoo to run on modern systems with with CDAudio Proxy, for CD Audio emulation. Quick Reference Card and Keyboard Commands leaflet included. MP3 Soundtrack included as a separate download. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 160 Mb. Install Size: 232 Mb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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