MMORPG.com Vendetta Online Correspondent, Adam Eldridge, writes this look at the recent changes to the game that have brought in multiplayer ships.

As the saying goes, space can be a lonely place. Even with the occasional cargo hungry pirate or profit conscious traders, space lanes are known for their tranquility; at least until now. With the Vendetta Online 1.80 update, space has become a little less lonely. This update to the game has added new multi-player ships to the universe. These ships allow pilots to enter certain player piloted ships where up to four players (one pilot and up to three turret operators) can fit into a single ship. Turrets are already featured on each capital ship, although capital ships are not available for players to pilot. This new addition to the game promises to add more depth to travel, trade, and combat throughout the universe.

Since Vendetta Online is twitch based, the intricate flight and combat system is one of the main highlights of the game. Pilots must use a multitude of techniques while in combat such as rolling, diving, strafing, changing directions, and altering speeds. All of these different movements shift the direction and flight pattern of the ship, which is important in evading gunfire. Each ship has its own unique weight due to ship type, variant, cargo weight, and weight of weaponry. Since weight alters everything from thrust to spin torque, every flight, space battle, and war is a unique one. With the addition of multi-player ships with player controlled turrets, the combat within the game is even more diverse and complex than ever before.

Read more here.

This is a pretty cool development.  It reminds me of an arcade game that I used to love years ago.  I can't remember what it was called, but the unit resembled a small, walk-in movie theater with a big screen and 4 or so seats for the people playing it.  Each person was a gunner and was competing against the others while at the same time trying to protect the ship while it worked its way through missions.

If this game still runs well natively on Linux, maybe it will be a good alternative for Linux users disenfranchised by Eve discontinuing support for its Linux client.

A truly well-written article. Thanks, Eldridge!

I'll be linking to this article from the Vendetta Online forums, to bring it to the attention of VO's small but rabid fanbase ;-)