GAME POW 05.21.09: DAC Hogs
Posted by Sam Pow on 05.21.2009
In this weeks GAME POW, Sam shares tips for the new Star Trek DAC game on XBLA, plus some strategies for Quake Wars!
GAME POW---May 21, 2009
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Hello everyone, and welcome to yet another weeks GAME POW! This week I'm doing some strategies on Star Trek DAC and Quake Wars, yet again. I'm also doing the review on DAC, so check for that soon. Read on!
This week in gaming for Sam Pow: I didn't really play much this week, to be honest. I got both Star Trek DAC and RE Degeneration for review purposes. I did play some DAC, and so far I'm liking it. As for RE, it's…unique. It's interesting the way Resident Evil transitions to an iPhone, and that's all I'm going to say for now. I spent some time with that too. Let's continue with the article.
--------------------------------------------------------------- Star Trek DAC: Fighter, Bomber, and Flagship Tips
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So you've played the new Star Trek XBLA game based on the new JJ Abrams movie, and you're wondering, "Why would I need tips for such a simple game?" But the truth is, after playing the game for a bit, I realized there are some strategies to share that would really help newcomers. Here is a small collection of tricks and ideas for each of the three ship classes.
FIGHTER
The fighter is the most basic of all the ship types, small, fast, and with only a simple blaster with which to destroy your foes. It has medium prowess in speed and durability, but its firepower is the lowest of all three classes. Here are some tips:
> Fly to the side of enemy ships when attacking. Flagships shouldn't be able to react quickly enough, and bombers are helpless.
> Collect weapon upgrades early in the game. The fighter starts with just a single projectile that it fires, but can be upgraded to three, which is much more effective.
> The fighter is the only ship that is capable of efficiently destroying escape pods, so use that to your advantage. Use your boost to catch them if necessary.
BOMBER
The bomber is very fragile compared to the other ships, but offers an especially unique experience. It shoots bombs, which come out of the back of your ship, and explode after a few moments. They have medium firepower, while the bomber itself has both the fastest speed and lowest health of all. Here's some helpful advice:
> Make quick runs through enemy forces. Bombers low health and high speed make them perfect for hit-n-runs. They also use ammo quickly, so try not to boost too often.
> Bombers are best for attacking large groups of enemies due to their escape speed and splash damage. They are highly effective for assaulting nodes in conquest.
> I find the bomber to be the most efficient ship to use with the double ship powerup, so spamming powerups until you get that one may be a good idea.
FLAGSHIP
The flagship is the largest ship in the game, making it a huge target, but it also has the best weapons and durability, making it an excellent defender. Consider these hints:
> Because of its shield strength and turret like reminiscence, the flagship is a natural node guarder in conquest. It is also well suited to assault mode.
> Although slow on its own, when using boost the flagship goes very fast, so use this to cover long distances.
> Remember that wherever the flagships reticule is aimed is where the blast will stop, so aim beyond an enemy to ensure they are hit.
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Well, there are your quick strategies for Star Trek DAC. Hopefully now you have a basic idea of how the games ships work, and can play more confidently. Now, here's a bite-sized guide on the Strogg Hog (fun rhyme) and how to properly use it.
While many may argue that the Cyclops walker is the best vehicle in Quake Wars, I have a very different opinion. I would pick the hog over a Cyclops any day of the week, because the hog has one key advantage over every other vehicle: ramming abilities. When you hold down the left trigger (Xbox 360 version) a shield appears in front of the hog, and it moves faster. This shield allows you to effectively ram enemy soldiers, vehicles, and deployables.
Step 1: Infantry
Infantry are probably going to be the hardest to ram, as they can dodge out of the way easily. Since infantry can actually be killed without the shield up, use the shield just to get close to them, and then put it down and ram them without it. Without the shield you will move slower, plus you will have better handling. You can also go through large squads of enemy soldiers and get many points. Try doing this at the beginning of each level. One especially interesting map to do this on is Sewer. At the beginning, GDF troops will pour out of their base and down the path and onto the bridge. If you immediately jump in a hog at the start, you can easily make it to the bridge and take out entire waves of foes. Then, just wait there and take out group after group until someone eventually kills you.
Step 2: Vehicles
The second part of using the hog will be destroying vehicles. Keep in mind that unlike infantry, with vehicles you MUST be using the shield to destroy them. If the hog is moving fast enough, it can easily plow through and annihilate huskies and armadillos, but titans and APCs make take several hits to destroy. In fact, it's probably not a good idea to attack Titans at all. But if you do, when you initially ram them, just stay on it, as it will cause slow damage. Do not back up and ram again.
Step 3: Deployables
This is probably the easiest step of all. Ramming deployables just means hitting them, backing up, and hitting them again and again until they die. In the case of anti-vehicle turrets, just get an infiltrator to disable it first.
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Hopefully all this should hold you over for another week, when the next column comes. I also wanted to state here that the iPhone column is looking iffy now, as I'm not sure how I would get so many releases each week and be able to play and judge them with other work, so I'm not sure if I'll be doing that. If I did end up doing it, it would have to be bi-weekly or even monthly. I will however say that I am planning a top secret column to go up weekly or bi-weekly possibly in June on. Any details I could provide might give it away. I'm still open to ideas though, so what kind of column would you guys like to see done?
