Gameplay
The player takes on the role of a mercenary lander pilot, looking to make his fortune while travelling on the interplanetary cruise ship Drake's Exception while it makes a historical voyage of visiting each planet of the solar system in turn due to the rare event of all the planets aligning. As the Drakes Exception stops at each planet, the player is able to take on missions tendered by various people and organisations. These missions are delivered to the player via a series of emails. The majority of missions on offer require the player to find the entrance of an underground complex, gain entry and locate a particular object which then must be brought to the surface by the use of the ship's tractor beam. When an object is being towed, its weight and momentum directly affects the handling of the Player's ship. Coupled with the various obstacles present in most missions, such as moving machinery, defensive turrets and armed ground vehicles, making your way to safety becomes a lot more difficult especially when you factor in limited fuel and the Player's inability to drop the cargo at will and re-fuel. There is at least one occasion where is not true however, as during the 'Macbeth colony' mission there is a fuel pod in the latter stage of the level where the cargo can be placed beside it, allowing the Player to re-fuel and more importantly, bring the cargo with them from the beginning of the mission rather than leaving it and then backtracking later on.
On successful completion of the mission the player is paid and the money can be used to purchase new Landers, parts, ammo and the bare necessities such as fuel and shield recharges.
If the player performs well or performs a special action in certain missions then alternate missions are made available. It is not uncommon for players to complete the game multiple times and end up finding new missions. There are a total of 29 missions it the game (not including the two training missions) but only about 22 are played in a single run.
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