Black Prophecy: The Sky Is No Longer The Limit

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Black Prophecy is developed by gamigo a studio that is based in Germany, and it is the first Sci-Fi Space MMOG. This game provides a lot of action-oriented gameplay which can be played from a third-person and first person perspective.

 

Story

In the 26th century, mankind has expanded across the galaxy, yet only a few of its colonies are controlled by Humans. The true rulers are the cybernetically enhanced Tyi and the biogenetically perfected Genides. Their striving for total control over all human species drives them into the territory of an ancient alien race that does not tolerate other cosmic civilizations: the “Restorers”.

 

There are currently three factions in this game. The Sapiens, Genides and the Tyi are human races with different technologies and the last two are known as superhuman species. The sapiens however are biologically and cybernetically unaltered human beings. Sapiens have been classified as second class citizens by most intergalactic colonies. The Spire exists as the only space station still under Sapien control, which is where the player’s journey first begins. Later in the game the player gets to choose the faction he wants to join, whether it be Genides or Tyi.

 

Character Creation

The character creation in Black Prophecy gives you a lot of options to pick from. You can change everything! There are some presets you can choose from and you can chance the Ethnology of the character you are creating. You have 3 sliders that will help you create the desired race you want. Then there is the Age, Weight and the hilarious Gravity option.  You can also decide to create your character from scratch if you head over to the Expanded tab. In the expanded tab you have much more ways to make your face more detailed and to customize the desired look of your character. In the special tab you can pick tattoos and gadgets such as piercings.

 

 

 

Tutorial

Black Prophecy probably has the most detailed an adrenaline filled tutorial in MMO history. Between various pilots (all voice-acted) yelling at you, explosions going off, missiles flying left and right, and you being thrown right into the middle of it, you can expect to leave this tutorial feeling rattled and ready for more.

 

 

The space ship I was on was being attacked by a fleet of space shuttles. I was ordered to arm the turret on the space ship and destroy any enemy space shuttle that I encountered. As I was destroying these space ships like flies I got a warning on the radio that torpedos got launched and were heading for the ship. As I was trying to destroy these fast speeding torpedos a huge Battle Ship confronted the space ship I was stationed on. My order was to destroy every weak spot on this ship such as turrets, radars and scanners. When I destroyed the last weak spot the Battle Ship turned into a huge fireball and exploded. After we fended off the first wave of enemy shuttles, I could take off the first ride in my own fighter craft! After a brief moment to accustom myself to the controls of the fighter, a second wave of terrorists struck the space station and the action continued!

 

 

Graphics

The graphics of Black Prophecy rival any F2P MMO ever produced hands down. There are plenty of options to change the quality to make the game playable for everyone. I couldn’t run the game on the highest graphics unfortunately even though I have a monster computer.

 

Gameplay

To control your ship you can use the WASD keys along with the Q and E buttons to make a barrel roll. Aiming and shooting is done by using your mouse. However there is a travel time for your weapons and you have to aim in front of the target in order to land a shot. In order to click on items in space or go to your menu bar you can press Space to open up your user interface.

 

 

It is also possible to upgrade your ship with all sorts of upgrades, like a cockpit, wings and an engine. There is also room for 4 turrets. There are all sorts of weapons which can be built into your ship such as cannons, lasers, guns, energy beams, flamethrowers and missiles. Some of these weapons require multiple slots or are specialized in taking different mechanics down, so you have to build your fighter wisely with a goal in mind. This frees the game up drastically from class stereotypes as you can be any variation of artillery, tank, close range dps, and support given enough time to gather the necessary parts for these roles.

 

 

There is a skill tab in Black Prophecy that lets you put skill points in several options. These options determine what your character does and what level modules your ship can equip.

 

 

If you are sick of doing quests or ran out of them there is an option to do Missions as well. You are able to do these missions alone, with a party or even with your clan. Inside of every station, there is an option on the right side of your screen called Mission Terminal. In this terminal you can filter missions based on PvE or PvP and difficulty level with 5 degrees of difficulty.

 

 

PvP missions are only available in the hub sectors after the prologue. These missions consist of you and another member of your faction going head to head against 2 members of the opposing faction.

 

You can also play a Quickplay match. A Quickplay is an arena-style matchmaking feature in Black Prophecy to allow people to queue up for a quick skirmish. This is much more common due to how convenient and casual it is.

 

Clans

In Black Prophecy it is possible to form or join a clan. To form a clan you would have to be level 14 or higher and have a purse of 20,000 corons. There is a possibility in the game to get your own clan sector. The requirements for this clan sector are to have at least 10 members in your clan and have 200,000 corons in your clan account. As a commander of a clan you can build a station in your clan sector with different features such as a dealer, a hanger, a mission terminal and a constructor.

 

 

Crafting

Crafting requires blueprints which you are able to get through missions. These blueprints tell you which crafting material is required to make the desired object. Once you have gathered all the materials you can head over to the constructor tab in a station and start the crafting. Crafting actually takes real time to make and depends on the item level.

 

Cash Shop

In Black Prophecy there is a cash shop. In this cash shop you can buy items such as Paint, Ship upgrades and different sorts of packages. There are different packages such as Experience Bonuses, crafting packages and a combat package. It is also possible to buy a skill point reset and item upgrade via the cash shop. The real money currency in Black Prophecy is called KKS also known as KK dollar.

 

Conclusion

I didn’t want to compare this game to Eve but it’s rather inevitable. I have played EVE Online off and on but didn’t feel like I was a strong enough person to have some impact in the game. Black Prophecy however is more casual and doesn’t take ages to actually achieve something. Eve Online is not alone anymore, Black Prophecy is a really well polished game that has a lot of features to offer.  However Black Prophecy is still a newly minted game lacking in end game content and some ship customization options. But this will surely change in time and Black Prophecy is a must try for every sci-fi fan that likes to fly his own space shuttle.