I’ve always been surprised that the “space-game” genre hasn’t taken off more in the industry. Despite evidence of a recent upwards trend with releases like Sins of a Solar Empire, there still isn’t as much attention given to this area of gaming as there could be. And why not? The interest definitely seems to be there, and if there’s any evidence of this, it’s in the release of a cool, underrated little mod for the Source engine known simply as Eternal Silence.

Probably the first eyebrow-raising aspect is how this thing is officially defined as “a Cinematic Multiplayer Space Mod”. This might seem a little unusual for a mod based around a first-person shooter engine with networking code that certainly wasn’t built with space combat in mind - but impressively, this team has managed to pull off quite a convincing space drama. The mod works by combining first-person and space-sim action elements together into an intense battle for strategic dominance. The average map has two fleets stationed in deep space, pelting each other with long-range beam fire and directed missile attacks. The players of each team must spawn up in the hangar of their respective battleships, hop in their fighter of choice, and blast off to attack the enemy fleet.

But this mod offers more than just frantic space battles. Thanks to the shield generators and escorting corvettes each fleet is equipped with—very little progress can be made in destroying the enemy’s main capital ship until a number of objectives are completed. Players first must focus on destroying the anti-air corvettes in an enemy fleet, and then need to land in the hangar of their main battleship. From here, it’s a switch to a more conventional form of run-and-gun first-person combat to seize control of the enemy battleship’s hard points from the inside; eventually gaining victory once total domination is established. A team can also win by simply knocking their opponent’s shield generator offline, and then pounding their main battleship externally until there’s nothing left.

What makes this mod stand out is how well the space combat has been implemented. Combat is in full 3D, and feels a lot like the classic Novalogic game, Tachyon thanks to the Newtonian physics implementation and the “Cut thrust” button that can be held down to drift in a given direction, allowing you to strafe targets with ease. This leads to some terrific space battles that make you feel like you’re playing the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica, juking and dodging between missiles and gunfire, while trying to line up that perfect salvo against your opponent.

Things are even more interesting when taking into account the different types of spacecraft available, ranging from single-seat fighters and interceptors, to heavy bombers and gunships that have optional gun turret seats for multiple players to ride in. The developers even went to the length of implementing a custom joystick axis-binding system, to allow hardcore enthusiasts (such as myself) to set up their overpriced HOTAS configuration with ease – but don’t let this set you off too much, as spacecraft are still very flyable with a basic mouse and keyboard.

Thankfully with all of the effort on space combat, it’s good to see that the production staff hasn’t skimped on the ground combat portions. Two classes can be selected – a basic Soldier, or a Hacker. Soldiers get the widest selection of weapons (including heavy machine guns, flame throwers, and anti-ship weapon that is especially useful for hangar defense), while Hackers get a basic SMG (or sniper-styled railgun) and a handy hacking tool. Hackers are fairly flimsy and easy to take down from a Soldier’s point of view, but get a cool trick they can use with the SMG, where they can drop it like a tripod and control it remotely. Hackers also help take over portions of a ship faster, making them a key component to victory.