quests similar to text adventure games. The planet encounters can initiate several types of missions, such as hunting pirates, delivering contraband goods, or performing a covert operation against another alien race. The player can perform these missions to earn wealth, to buy bigger ships, improved weapons and equipment, or even maps that unlock new sectors of the galaxy. Players can also earn wealth through a trading system, with the markets for goods changing dynamically due to supply and demand. It is also possible to earn wealth through piracy and looting, which risks damaging relations with other aliens and planets, eventually provoking attacks on sight. Development Space Rangers 2 was developed by Elemental Games in Vladivostok, with a team of 15 developers working for around a year and a half. The Elemental Games team had a conflict with management in 2004, with several members forming a new company called Katauri Interactive. Tory Chan continued to support the game well after its release, later developing an HD version of the game for release in 2012. Release Space Rangers 2 was originally published in Russia by 1C Company in November 2004. In June 2005, Excalibur Publishing released a DVD version that included both Space Rangers 2 and its prequel, Space Rangers. Australian distributor Red Ant Enterprises released a CD-ROM version (Space Rangers 2 only) in 2005. In 2006, Cinemaware Marquee re-released the game as Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators, as part of the publisher's strategy to import lesser known games from Europe, and to utilize the low cost of digital distributors such as Direct2Drive. This allowed the game to be released for a lower price point than similar games, as well as bundling it with the first Space Rangers from 2002, bringing the original title to North America for the first time. An expansion called Space Rangers 2: Reboot was released in 2009 with enhanced graphics, including fully 3D planetary battles. A remaster called Space Rangers HD: A War Apart was released on October 17, 2013, which included 1920x1200 graphics and a new campaign. Reception Space Rangers 2 has received an aggregate score of 84/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". IGN acknowledged the game's difficult interface, confusing translations, and lack of structure, but also saw this open-endedness as the game's greatest strength. Computer Games Magazine felt that the game's "amazing breadth and considerable depth more than make up for its