Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients offers a lot of new content for players. There’s a new race, the Scavengers, which is available to play as or against. There are also three new monster races; the Talon, Hezog, and Overlord join the roster for galactic domination. Any of these three races can suddenly appear on any planet (including already occupied ones) making them unpredictable and very dangerous. Space stations are a new strategic structure which you can help defend for your allies or destroy those of your enemies. New components for your ship are available, including new chips to be fitted into them. There are nineteen sub-races that can be unlocked, new quests including the Drox guild quest, and the responsibility of guiding the evolution of persistent galaxies. Of course, you have the Ancient invasions, but let’s get a better understanding of this race.

Before the Drox ruled the galaxy, before they were even sentient, there were older races now known as the Ancients. Using their Operatives, the Drox crushed and enslaved most of these races. The rest fled known space. When the Drox turned on their own Operatives, the Drox were utterly destroyed. Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void, never knowing the menace waited. Seizing their chance, the Ancients are invading to take their rightful place in the galaxy, as rulers! Thirsting for revenge, the Ancients can’t harm the extinct Drox, but they can crush the next best thing, the Drox Operatives.

So what we have here is a good old fashioned case of revenge, and the Drox Operatives are only a conduit for the Ancients’ rage. Ancient ships emerge at any given time, and will stop at nothing to destroy a Drox Operative. The Ancients have the fastest ships by far, making them very hard to keep up with. Their armor and weaponry make them near impossible to kill, unless you have an upgraded ship and/or allied races to fight by your side.

For this review, I decided to play as the new Scavenger race. Their ships are well-rounded  focusing on both defense and damage. The addition of the three new races makes diplomacy even more challenging, though the Talon tend to be a bit more diplomatic in comparison to the Hezog and Overlord. The latter two are extremely aggressive, adding an extra layer of difficulty to an already challenging game. They can appear suddenly, wage war at a moment’s notice, and are strong and relentless. Things can escalate rather quickly.

Overall, there’s a lot to like about the expansion. One of my favorite features is that it supports the use of a gamepad. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but for space battle it’s my preferred method. A good combination of diplomacy, exploration, and upgrading your ship is essential to being a successful at the game. At times the game borders on the realm of challenging and frustrating, but overall Drox Operative: Invasion of the Ancients is a great first expansion. The original game and expansion can be picked up for around $30, and I recommend it. You can pick up both games as well as Soldak Entertainment’s other games here.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a PC copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

“The Ancient enemies are back! Can you defend the Drox Operative Guild and younger races against the Invasion of the Ancients?”

From the sound of that ominous warning, it looks like there will be more trouble afoot in the universe of Drox Operative. The wonderful people over at Soldak Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing an expansion to their widely-coveted Drox Operative, the space RPG/dungeon crawler/RTS mashup. The game released to a significant amount of fanfare, and since then it has been gaining a rather large fan base who all have nothing but praise for the game and its odd, yet uniquely appealing mix of genres. I myself am a fan, as I had previously reviewed the original release of the game. If you haven’t read the review yet, you can view it here (hint: it was great).

From what information they have released, the expansion will be focusing on the return of an ancient alien race who have come back from an untold amount of time to reclaim what they have lost long ago. The full story goes as follows:

“Before the Drox ruled the galaxy, before they were even sentient, there were older races now known as the Ancients. Using their Operatives, the Drox crushed and enslaved most of these races. The rest fled known space. When the Drox turned on their own Operatives, the Drox were utterly destroyed. Newer races emerged and thrived in the power void, never knowing the menace waited. Seizing their chance, the Ancients are invading to take their rightful place in the galaxy, as rulers! Thirsting for revenge, the Ancients can’t harm the extinct Drox, but they can crush the next best thing, the Drox Operatives.”

Looks like starship captains, rookies and veterans alike will be facing a much larger threat once the expansion is released. I myself am looking forward to seeing what new challenges arise with the new installment in their unique universe. I admit my piloting skills may have dulled a bit during peacetime, but I am sure my trusty ship, the “Space Weasel” and her crew will be itching to conquer any new obstacles they may cross.

Invasion of the Ancients is scheduled to be released in the third quarter of 2013, but for those who cannot wait for the official release, Soldak Entertainment has opened up the shop for pre-orders which grants access to the beta. So pre-order now and begin fighting the new threat to your mighty empire – you even get a nifty 10% discount for being an early buyer. You simply cannot go wrong with that deal. So fire up your starship’s engines and pre-order your copy now.

I will see you among the stars.

Pre-order the expansion at Soldak Entertainment’s store.
Read the review on the original game.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Lately I have been on a space-faring kick and had the urge to pilot a ship and explore the far reaches of the galaxy. As a result I have come upon Drox Operative, an action-based RPG created by Soldak Entertainment, Inc. The game is set in a randomly created galaxy full of dangerous enemies, unique civilizations, uncharted worlds, and the thirst for adventure. In the universe of Drox Operative you are a member of the titular Drox Operatives, a mercenary group who operate in the galaxy as a neutral entity and work to further their own gains. The Drox Operatives have no qualms over how they achieve their goals so you, as their newest member, have total free reign on how to expand.

You are thrown into the game world piloting your own Drox ship and what happens next is completely up to the player. You can scour the randomly-created galaxy wiping out dangerous monsters strewn throughout the area, gain favor with the local civilizations by aiding them with quests, or simply explore and discover strange anomalies and treasures. My career as a Drox Operative began with the christening of my own ship aptly named the “Space Weasel”. From there on I was plunked into a random jumpgate and thus began my journey into the unknown.

The Space Weasel in all her glory

Much like the abyss of space, the beginning of Drox Operative is very daunting. There is a lot of information you must take in right from the get go. The first time you play, a tutorial help-screen begins and I highly advise that you take a thorough examination of the help screens otherwise you will become easily lost. This game can be a bit unforgiving and simply going in blind will cut your adventures very short, very quickly. After mastering the basics, though, will get you into familiar and comfortable territory, as an RPG the mainstay of the game is loot and there are plenty of loot to be had. The items use a color-code system for rarity and grading much like other dungeon crawlers. You can venture out and acquire better equipment for your ship and with experience comes even bigger and better ships, meaning even more quality loot. Be sure not to dawdle too long, though. Unlike most ARPG’s things happen and progress whether you intervene or not. Monsters will patrol the galaxy and feuds between rival civilizations will ensue. Entire worlds may rise and fall without you even being aware of it. You are simply a pawn in the vast universe of Drox Operative.

Anomalies, monsters, incoming missile, just another day for a Drox Operative

You have an end-goal, multiple ones in fact, that you must reach in order to “win” that current galaxy and progress to the next one. Each time you must ensure that the Drox come up on top via whichever method you choose, be it a decisive military win and destroying all those who appose you and your ally, trading goods and becoming rich with an economic win, using brute force and striking fear into the other surviving races so they will not dare oppose you, or simply become a legend and do legendary deeds by vanquishing vile monsters. The choice is yours to make, as a Drox Operative you call the shots and you win how you want to.

Galactic diplomacy, how hard can it be?

The game has a very distinct feel about its gameplay, it plays a lot like a traditional dungeon crawler and yet has a bit of Civilization or RTS mashed into it. An odd mix, but it certainly does work and has its own unique allure. If you have an itching to pilot your own starship and explore, plunder, destroy, or what have you, Drox Operative will certainly not disappoint. My space-faring career may have just started, but the Space Weasel and her crew will soon be feared by all as we aim to be the top Drox Operative.

Great Game!

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

Visit the developer’s page
Demo or buy the game

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.