Blue Planet: Age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius is the first campaign of the Blue Planet trilogy.
General Info
Author: Darius
Missions: 22
Features:
- New music - 3 entirely new tracks with full tabling and synchronisation, plus further tracks that are event-triggered
- New ships - To reflect the next generation of GTVA technology. There is also a new race to discover along the way.
- Storyline-based action - Telling a unique story set within the Freespace universe, with its own characters, life-changing events, setting and themes
- Custom communication ani's - Giving new faces to Command, characters and ships
Director's Cut Features
- Full voice acting from a talented semipro cast
- Brand new skyboxes by HerraTohtori
- Wingman personas for Corey and Taylor
- Nameplates for the 14th Battlegroup and other Terran ships
- Overhauled missions, including balance tweaks, skip buttons for long dialogue sequences, and re-directed cutscenes
- New and revamped effects and textures
- New HTL vishnan models courtesy of the Ancient-Shivan War team
- A brand new interface
- Dozens of new techroom entries, including all warship turrets and new Intelligence entries with secrets of the Shivans and the post-Capella GTVA - as well as portions of 'The Rift' and 'Project Nagari', previews for War in Heaven
Status: Released
Required:
- FS 2 Open 3.6.10 INFERNO or later
- Media VPs 3.6.10 (with Patch)
Part One of the Blue Planet trilogy
Description
As the 14th Battlegroup, led by the GTD Orestes, prepares to lead the GTVA's return to Sol, young pilot Samuel Bei finds himself once more under his estranged father's command. As the two Beis grapple with the open wounds of an old tragedy, the greatest journey any human being has ever undertaken opens before them: a sojourn across universes and beyond death itself, as the destiny of the human race and the secrets of Shiva hang in the balance.
As Samuel Bei, you will guide your elite task force through a harrowing journey - a desperate flight through a nightmare of burnt rock, cold fire, and horrifying visions, drawn inexorably onwards by the pull of your own fate. Fight exhilarating battles(including the legendary Forced Entry) alongside new Terran warships. Give up your humanity and your life to protect those you love in one of the most immersive, emotionally engaging FreeSpace stories ever told.
Player Comments
The first part of Blue Planet is excellent to play and well worth the download and the time. If any criticism can be leveled at it, it is that it tries to compress too much story into too little campaign; but this is a minor quibble compared to the enjoyment of the end product. - Ngtm1r 04:15, 14 June 2008 (CDT)
Blue Planet could be simplified as a hardcore and more enjoyable version of the main FreeSpace 2 campaign. The Age of Aquarius campaign is arguably one of the hardest ever made for a FreeSpace 2 mod, but it is also probably one of the best. The infamous "Forced Entry" mission, in particular, has been known to frustrate players unable to complete it, and delight players who eventually do pass it. The same could be said for the mission "Keepers of Hell", albeit to a smaller extent. The plot twist at the end is one of the last things most players expect to come from the GTVA, and it pretty much sets an optimistic tone for War in Heaven. Of special note is the custom music that Darius uses in Age of Aquarius, which helps to convey the mood of each and every mission. -- Androgeos Exeunt 08:39, 14 March 2009 (UTC)
Blue Planet has an intangible, ethereal atmosphere of mystery and grace that somehow emerges from the combination of music, gorgeous new ship designs, and beautiful cinematics. Transcend and Windmills showcased Freespace's ability to tell compelling stories in non-traditional genres, but, in my opinion, Blue Planet is the first real step forward in the traditional military-space-opera style of Freespace storytelling since Derelict. By incorporating cinematics, music, and character into an adventurous and dramatic plotline, Blue Planet achieves a level of cinematic intensity that makes most other campaigns feel stodgy and traditional. It has its flaws - seat-of-the-pants plotting and some grandiose heroic dialogue - but these are a consequences of its ambition, not its failings. In my opinion, it stands alongside Transcend as the best Freespace campaign in existence, and while its story and characters are more straightforward, it never sacrifices gameplay in the way that Transcend often must. -- General Battuta 04:24, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
