'Black Market (Beta)' Blows Us Away With Space Combat and Cosmic Commerce

Usually, flash games are known for punchy bursts of quick n'dirty, button-mashing gameplay -- but sometimes we crave more than a short fix. That's the theme for this week's crop of browser-based strategy games: these titles force us to juggle a multitude of complex tasks and intricate systems, each rife with addictive experiences. Of course, the hardest part of playing will be getting back to work...

Descended from PC space-trading games such as 'Elite,' 'Privateer,' and 'X,' 'Black Market (Beta)' deftly combines economics and combat within a detailed sci-fi setting. Gameplay consists of commodities trading and ship-to-ship combat, as you travel from planet to planet, buying and selling goods. You can use your steadily increasing fortune to upgrade the ship's arsenal; and the ever-improving weaponry (like missile power) allows players to take on ruthless space pirates fully-loaded. Battles with the pirates are fought using a simple point-and-click interface that, while not particularly complicated, keeps the game moving at a brisk pace. Superbly presented, the game wraps itself in fantastic graphics and a fleshed out backstory. We'd write more... but we really should get back to it. All those fusion cores and luminars aren't going to sell themselves.

Gallery: Black Market

'Black Market (Beta)' Blows Us Away With Space Combat and Cosmic Commerce originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.switched.com/2010/10/21/black-market-beta-blows-us-away-with-space-combat-and-cosmic/

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