In EV: Nova, you start out as pilot of a small shuttle. By trading goods and performing missions, you gain money to buy improvements and new ships and you gain reputation that allows for longer, higher paying missions. There are many small missions and six major story lines. The small missions are fun, but the one major story I've been through was annoying, tying you into a sequence of missions with no ability to deviate, no ability to update your ship, and no way back into the regular game at the end.
The game is thoroughly addictive, the controls are generally good (though I changed many of the standard key settings that had me jumping all over the keyboard), and the graphics are very nice (2-D, top view). One thing that keeps the game interesting is the variety of missions - some are only offered on a particular planet, some require a specific type of ship, and some require a proficiency in combat. One annoying aspect of the game is the inability to clear your reputation. Each planetary system you visit has an opinion of you. If you accidentally fire on the wrong ship, you can turn a whole planet (or a series of them) against you with no means of salvation.
A demo of the game is available for free. Ambrosia makes it very easy to expand, so there should be a lot of additions to keep the game interesting and give it a lot of replay value.
I was expecting a lot from the 3rd installment in this series. I was a bit disappointed. Granted, there are a lot to explore and a lot to accomplish. However, it seems to me that the game wasn't improved that much. Sure, the graphics have been souped up, but the storylines are pretty much the same, which is a bit disappointing. You're still have to start with a lowly spaceship and try to climb in this space world, pretty much like in the 2 first releases. Again, depending on some factors and decisions you take, I would say maybe too early in the game, you get some missions that will lead you to some rewards, and more dangerous missions.
My biggest problem, however, is with the unregistered version of the game. Ambrosia still calls the game "shareware". To me, it's more like "crippleware". At some point in the missions you are assigned, you have to register the game in order to get to the next one. That's not what I call "shareware". A shareware has all the functionality, but has some nagging screens and reminders to force you to register. Worst, I didn't learn about that "limitation" until I read a few messages posted on the Usenet, from users that were stuck at the same place I was and were suddenly offered additional missions when they did register. That kind of pushed me away from the game, and after playing it a little while longer, I left it there and didn't play anymore. I did register the first and the 2nd release, but haven't for the 3rd, because the game became boring.
On the "plus" side: improved graphics and visual effects.
On the "minus" side: only a repetition on the previous 2 releases. The unregistered version doesn't offer all the functionality of the registered version. There are no warnings that, at some point, you need to register in order to proceed, or you will stay there.
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