Smugglers 3

In the third part of the award winning Smugglers series you can play a greedy trader, an ambitious bounty hunter, a ruthless pirate, a mix of those or one of many other professions. Backed up by a crew of different kinds of crewmen (like droids or mercenaries) you can visit more than 75 planets in 25 systems in your attempt to gain favors with one of the four factions in the known galaxy.

Smugglers 3 places you in one of four factions. Each of the factions has different objectives and weapons. Playing through the game, one of your main goals is to trade goods with the various planets that you visit. This will help you to build up your funds so that you can buy better weapons and a better ship. In addition you will undertake missions that will help to increase your standing within your faction and win you medals of honor.

You do in fact have action battles in the game. However, the battles consist of you and an enemy in a turn based conflict that shows you both ships, a proximity meter and the special weapons that you each have available. These battles work very well to put you in control of all the important factors of the battle without making you get too tied up with minute details.

Smugglers 3 scores big points for providing such a rich storyline despite a few grammar problems that show up in the text. The story draws you in with constant updates as to where your faction lies in regards to the conflict and encounters with other star vessels that help make you feel as though you really are engaged in the conflict. The game also offers amazing depth and development as you continue on, hiring crew and accepting ever more perilous and complicated missions throughout multiple star systems.

The graphics in the game are done quite well and do a wonderful job of keeping you interested in the systems, weapons, and peoples in the game, though they are not the newest 3D graphics available. Each of the characters and screens is very well-rendered, and I think most people will be pleasantly surprised at how well the game looks as the screenshots don't really show it off very well. The sound is rather scant, but what is there is exceptionally well done. It helps provide a good backdrop for the game without becoming over-powering or annoying.