When I had the chance to see these components combine together in an online match, I could definitely say the result was nothing less than epic. Initially wary of the public’s disposition, I joined up with a friend of mine while we used a private voice chat channel through Steam to co-ordinate. However, we eventually tried shouting commands out to other players on the server, and soon frantic shouting for a bomber escort or gunship attack became common-place. The ease in which we were able to rally a group of unrelated players together into a combined fighting force made it apparent there is still a passionate interest in sci-fi oriented releases like this, and fills me with hope that we’ll see more things like it in the future.

Between the gratuitous explosions and fancy special effects, as well as the fast-placed Newtonian space combat and the desperate ground battles, Eternal Silence provides a very well-rounded and engaging multiplayer experience that is incredibly unique to today’s industry, and is a concept I sincerely hope takes off on a more commercial level. Like any release, this mod does have its share of imperfections – fighters tend to jump and skip around quite a bit, even under low-lag conditions for example, and astonishingly there are only two maps at the time of this writing, though with more on the way in the future. I recommend downloading this mod, if only for the opportunity to polish off those old Tachyon flying skills and put them to use in some of the most intense space combat you’re bound to see in the Source engine.

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