Evochron Alliance is a non-linear space-sim in the same spirit of games like X3: Reunion; it makes strong promises about offering new choices and gameplay styles to players in a manner not atypical of other competing titles. While the game is loosely classified as an “indie” game without the benefit of a large-name publisher backing it, that hasn’t slowed down Starwraith 3D Games one iota from releasing and actively supporting this intriguing title.

The game focuses on a number of major factions, but most notably is a wide-spanning entity known simply as “The Alliance”. This group is suffering constant attacks from a new alien race called the “Vonari”, besieging shipping lines and causing chaos in the local sectors. The game itself takes place in a newly-colonized sector of space called “Evochron”, where you start out as a fresh-faced mercenary with a ship, a gun, some credits. From there, the challenge is to find ways to build up assets, upgrade equipment, get a stable cash flow, and even hire crew members – all in the name of becoming the biggest guy on the block with the most expensive toys. Well, that, and beating the game’s secondary campaign mode.

Evochron Alliance segments the free-form and campaign gameplay modes. Free-form single player is where the bulk of the game takes place, as this is the only mode that actively tracks all of the faction and contract-related elements of the game and provides the ability to expand and upgrade. If you want to get into a little storyline and plot advancement, you must close out of that session and save your game, and then switch over to the “Campaign” mode.

This automatically imports your pilot / ship data from the existing save, and then puts you into a scripted mission. There are about ten missions in total. The campaign honestly isn’t too bad given the game’s scope and actually provides some very intense battles due how the combat system works – but this needs to integrated a little more smoothly with the regular free-form gameplay, rather than having it yank you out of that mode any time you are ready to move on to another mission.

But on the subject of the combat system, this is actually where the game shines. Evochron’s implementation of a Newtonian physics engine is spot-on. The game’s craft are all inertia-based, and this means having a full-bore HOTAS control is essential to get the best gameplay experience. The mouse / keyboard defaults are remarkably friendly and intuitive – but you will not get that same “bad-ass Starfury pilot” feeling without a flight stick.

Meanwhile, the combat mainly boils down to trying to out-maneuver your opponents long enough to punch a hole in their hull before you die, but the AI is surprisingly persistent and handles itself well. The only major loophole is using afterburners to achieve a higher-than-normal speed, then suddenly cutting the thrusters and switching off the automatic inertial-dampening-system (IDS) so that you can float freely. The AI never tries to match your velocity, and so you can safely make passes at them this way while they single-mindedly fly after you.

You never feel truly safe in Evochron Alliance. Sure, for the most part, if you keep to friendly sectors and stay out of the way of most ships, you should be fine – but as soon as you move into more hostile territories, you find yourself constantly under siege. This makes things even more challenging, as the game keeps the universe going even while you are docked at a station… to the point where you can even be attacked while docked, with the only option of hastily closing out of the trading menus to try and make a quick getaway. It certainly makes things more interesting, if a bit frustrating at times.