E.S.S Mega

E.S.S Mega is a video game in the simulation genre developed by Coktel Vision and published by Tomahawk originally released in 1991. It is currently playable on DOS.

Probably the most obscure game ever made by quirky French developer Coktel Vision (Gobliiins, Lost in Time). E.S.S. Mega (also known as European Space Simulator Mega) is a lackluster space shuttle simulator that strives to strike a balance between realism and gameplay, but fails to do so.

To be sure, the game has a lot to offer. There's a lot of eye-catching 3D modeled graphics that make Virgin's venerable shuttle look like a kindergarten coloring book. There is a lot of information in the game's space database and quite a bit of gameplay depth. In contrast to the mission-based structure of Shuttle), E.S.S. Mega is a long campaign similar to Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space, but with emphasis on micro-level decisions (e.g., how much fuel to carry) and then macro-level space program politics.

First you'll outfit the space shuttle with cargo, crew, and power. Then you will launch it, fly it, and land it on a shuttle. When your shuttle is in Earth orbit, you'll send up and maintain satellites, and build and manage a space station. All in a day's work.

While the various parts of the game are well thought out, the game as a whole comes across as a repetitive and dry simulation that won't hold anyone's interest for long. The game is fairly linear, in the sense that once you try all the options, there is no wiggle room to try a different approach. There are only one (or at most, a few) combinations of cargo, crew, energy, and other options that will succeed, and it lacks random elements that make Buzz Aldrin challenging.

Overall, it's worth a look for space fans, but only for its historical interest as one of the rarer space simulations.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.