Colobot
Review
Colobot is a particularly unusual game. At it's core the game actually doubles as an educational tool, don't let this put you off though! The entire game can be played without the educational aspect. Some of the game play is similar to the currently popular Kerbal Space Program: In Colobot you play the role of an astronaut who is tasked with exploring the galaxy to discover a new home for humanity. This is accomplished in a linear fashion, you explore the pre-set planets, not the actual universe itself! To help you on your travels you can build 'bots', a range of machines created for a variety of different purposes that can collect resources, attack enemies, raise shields etc. Unlike the traditional RTS formula this is played out from a third person perspective, you personally interact with buildings and objects rather than observing from a god-like perspective which provides a nice change. The educational element of the game is achieved in an ability to program your bots using basic programming language (which is explained in the game) to complete tasks automatically while you do other things, as said at the start though it is possible to complete the entire game without doing this although I recommend giving it a go, it's easier than it sounds and quite rewarding!
The fusion of an un-conventional RTS and education genre certainly make for originality and I can't think of many other games that actually achieve it this well while still providing a game that's actually fun to play. Having said that the re-playability is questionable, if you complete the game you can go back and re-play any of the levels in a sandbox type environment (although not all maps contain the resources to make this worth while!). If however you re-install the game and have to start from the beginning for a second time the game play does become rather linear and monotonous as you cannot skip the earlier levels.
Surprisingly for it's age the game runs fine on Windows 7 with minimal changes needed to run, some modifications are explained in the installation section below. The visuals do look a little dated and weren't brilliant to start with, textures are rather simple and some of the maps feel more like a box than a planet although the particle effects do succeed in creating an attractive extra terrestrial environment. The sounds are not particularly exciting, there are some good ambient sound effects that set the tone but no memorable backing tracks. The sound effects do all the right things but again they're fairly generic, the astronaut makse a particularly interesting noise when he is hurt!
Overall a quirky and different game, worth playing if you haven't before although don't expect to be blown away by the story line or visuals. Definitely worth a try if your a fan of Kerbal Space Program.
Ratings
Originality Re-play Value Compatibility Visual Quality Sound Quality
8/10 6/10 9/10 5/10 6/10
Total Score
68%
The fusion of an un-conventional RTS and education genre certainly make for originality and I can't think of many other games that actually achieve it this well while still providing a game that's actually fun to play. Having said that the re-playability is questionable, if you complete the game you can go back and re-play any of the levels in a sandbox type environment (although not all maps contain the resources to make this worth while!). If however you re-install the game and have to start from the beginning for a second time the game play does become rather linear and monotonous as you cannot skip the earlier levels.
Surprisingly for it's age the game runs fine on Windows 7 with minimal changes needed to run, some modifications are explained in the installation section below. The visuals do look a little dated and weren't brilliant to start with, textures are rather simple and some of the maps feel more like a box than a planet although the particle effects do succeed in creating an attractive extra terrestrial environment. The sounds are not particularly exciting, there are some good ambient sound effects that set the tone but no memorable backing tracks. The sound effects do all the right things but again they're fairly generic, the astronaut makse a particularly interesting noise when he is hurt!
Overall a quirky and different game, worth playing if you haven't before although don't expect to be blown away by the story line or visuals. Definitely worth a try if your a fan of Kerbal Space Program.
Ratings
Originality Re-play Value Compatibility Visual Quality Sound Quality
8/10 6/10 9/10 5/10 6/10
Total Score
68%
Where To Get It
It is apparently still for sale on the developers website: Epsitec. This is where I originally bought it from as the game never secured a major publisher however I'm sure odd copies will still be available on Amazon, Ebay and the usual channels.
Installation Instructions
Install the game from the CD following the standard installation procedure, after installing the recommended patch below you then need to right click Colobot.exe in the installation folder go to the compatibility tab and enable 'run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME' and tick 'disable visual themes'. The game should then run with no problems.
Recommended Files
Patch 1.8: Highly recommended, this patch includes all previous patches which include some extra features including new levels and buildings and expansion of the coding system.
Alternatively get it from the official website.
Optional Files
User made levels and documentation for creating these levels is available at the official website. Programming guidance is also available but only en français.
Recommended Files
Patch 1.8: Highly recommended, this patch includes all previous patches which include some extra features including new levels and buildings and expansion of the coding system.
Alternatively get it from the official website.
Optional Files
User made levels and documentation for creating these levels is available at the official website. Programming guidance is also available but only en français.
Links to other sources
Official website - Basically unchanged since first set up, still fully functioning
Polish community site - The game has a large following in Poland, the site is in English and contains an active community, useful for asking questions and sorting problems
Polish community site - The game has a large following in Poland, the site is in English and contains an active community, useful for asking questions and sorting problems