Description
This is the first episode(four missions) of the Campaign Nubian Conflict. This episode takes place several years after The Great War. This campaign includes full speech Command, Mission Briefing and Debriefing. Since this is a campaign, you will be allowed to progress in rank and be awarded with medals based on your performance in these missions. The full storyline unfolds as you play each mission. NC is a somewhat unique approach in that the story is an on going saga that unfolds over several tours of duty or episodes. We plan on releasing mission packs of three to four missions that push the story on to the next level, as they are completed. Dive in to episode one!

Storyline:
The world of the Nubian Conflict is fleshed out more than any other campaign or mission - in fact, the history and informaion on the Nubian Empire (a partially automomous section of the GTA) is more detailed than the information provided about any race by Volition. The plot of Episode 1 involves a Nubian commander accused of high treason. With well-crafted Command and Mission Briefings, it becomes clear that Something's Up involving the Hammer of Light and a similar Terran group called the Sword of Wisdom. The only plot issues are that what Volition has said makes no mention of the Nubians - an acceptable problem - and that there's no explanation of why the SOW is your enemy, why they would ally with the HOL, and why the acronym for their name is rather piggish.

Balance:
If you ignore the Mission Objectives (I'll explain that in Design), Nubian Episode 1 is very well-balanced. The enemy comes in good-sized waves, and there's always enough weaponry to equip all of your fighters. The Episode 1 missions are a bit easy, but this is to be expected, as more Episodes are forthcoming.

Design:
There are, however, a few things that drag the Nubian Conflict down. Most notable is the Mission Objectives. For example: in mission 3, the PVD Thorum is about to attack GTI Kendari. It must be protected. I expected Primary Objectives to kill the Thorum and protect the Kendari, and Secondaries relating to the elimination of other enemy craft. However, the only primary objective is to kill all enemy fighters. That's all that is required in order to win the mission. The only secondary objective is to destroy all bombers. It's strange enough that on a mission to protect an Installation killing fighters is more important than killing bombers, but why is there no requierment to actually defend the Kendari? Problems like this abound. Rarely are they Primary Objectives what you would need to expell effort to accomplish - in one mission, the Primary is only to scan incoming ships, and destroying any enemies is a Secondary. And even then, the Secondary is granted when several fighters remain. If you simply pretend that the objectives make sense, this is alleviated, but who wants to pretend something that should be there in the first place? <br><br> Also, Nubian comes with a whole new set of sounds. Instead of the standard "Requesting cover!" type exclamations, all of your fighters have new lines, and distinct personallities. You can tell that Alpha 2 in one mission is Alpha 2 in the next, simply because they talk the same and have the same lines, and no one else has them. This is a refreshing change, but it has a few bugs: The Kendari Installation will often say, "coming back to your side now", a line used to mean, "returning to formation". In a final annoyance, the spoken sounds and on-screen messages often don't match up. <BR><BR> Oh yes, one small problem: there is an award available every mission, and they are quite easy to get. A 4-mission campaign should have only one, maybe two medals available, and then only if it is an especially hard campaign. Four is too many - and two of them aren't even available in the main campaign at Medium skill level.

Gameplay:
If you play Nubian Episode 1 as if the Objectives were well-done, you will have a blast. The missions are finely crafted and the plot is without match. However, the problems with the Objectives drag down the campaign immensely.

Other Thoughts:
This could have been the first five-star campaign ever, but horrible Objectives choices ruin it all. I am anticipating Episode 2 greatly. Hopefully, <i>it</i> will be the perfection this should have been.