Classic Amiga and PC Games: Frontier Elite II

If there was one computer game that defined my youth..

It was Frontier: Elite II.

Frontier:Elite II was a vintage computer game written by David Braben and in my opinion, it was an excellent way to lose yourself for months if not years! Initially published by Gametek in 1993. It is the first sequel to the earlier game Elite. The Elite franchise was a series of games in which you traded and fought through the known universe. The game systems that it was initially available on were for the Commodore Amiga, the Atari ST and the PC home computers.

I originally used to play the game on my trusty Amiga and even now, I have fond memories of the game. The game allowed you to choose whether or not to align yourself with the democratic Federation, the uncompromising Empire or to keep yourself independent of both of these galactic superpowers. If you sided with one you found the other power would take a dim view of your presence in their territory and from that point on, progress was a bit more of a struggle.

Frontier remains fairly true to the style of the original Elite, the open ended game play and realistic physics in the accurately modelled galaxy offered a wealth of experiences. There is no straight forward plot within Frontier; instead the player explored space freely while trading legally or illegally. You could choose to run missions for the military, transport seedy or respectable passengers from system to system, mine distant planets for precious materials, track down bounties on other renegade pilots or even engaging in piracy or corporate assassination. There is no overall inbuilt aim to the game so the player must set his own goals. When the player achieves their goal, it is often a good idea to save your commander file and try a different area of the universe to succeed in.

In Frontier, the player begins his quest for supremacy in the year 3200. Here he assumes the role of Commander Jameson, having inherited one hundred credits and an Eagle Long Range Fighter from your grandfather. He sets you up to earn your own inheritance via your own cunning and endeavour, If you truly want to succeed a hundred credits will not last long! The key to success was building up your ship and equipment such as shield generators. With enhanced weapons,shields and engines, your power within the game became greater. Personally, I used to sell off my craft's missiles and used the money to buy cargo which was desperately needed in the next system. I would jump the short distance and cash in my cargo for a profit before trying the reverse trip with valued trade goods in the former system. A few good trade runs allowed some useful credits to amass in your account.

As I previously said, the universe was there for you to explore and enjoy. The game was authentic and the level of astronomical detail was there for all to see. There seemed like there was a billion star systems in this game to explore. All of the systems keep with the current theories as to how a solar system should look and act. A lot of time and love had obviously gone into the detail, and the manuals and associated maps you received with the original game really added to the gaming experience. There are numerous ships available for you to own and command. Some ships had engines that allowed greater distance for hyperspace jumps, while other ships may have multiple gun turrets and missile pods. The type of ship you used was influenced by the style of play you wished to adopt. If you wanted to make your fortune by trading or carrying passengers it was best to ditch your Eagle long range fighter and get a ship with more hull space. If piracy, assassination or running errands was your ideal game play style then keeping the Eagle or upgrading to superior ships such as Cobra Mk III were a good choice.

If you like the look of this old classic and have part of a lifetime to kill, I really recommend this game. Jumping out of hyperspace to the "Ride of the Valkyries" is a small thing which makes me smile even now. There was nothing more satisfying than seeing an opponent destroyed by your laser cannons and watching his debris drift away. If I was feeling aggressive I would jump to a lawless system and wait for the lowlifes of the galaxy to pick a fight, it really was fun to blow people to pieces.

This was the first game I played which was not a platform game and definitely the first game which encouraged me to form strategy for fighting and trade.