Battlestar Galactica may be gone, but perhaps a bit of its music can live on in Dark Void's McCreary-created score. Bear was the sole composer for Battlestar after the miniseries, and is currently employed doing music for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. What makes such an accomplished composer want to work on Dark Void? It's all about the love.

"When I got the call from Capcom to work on the music for Dark Void, I jumped at the chance to do it, considering my love for Capcom games." said McCreary. "I have been looking for the opportunity to compose a game score for a long time, but I've been waiting for the right one. Dark Void's epic story and unique gameplay drew me in immediately and I have had a lot of fun working on the project."

Seeing as McCreary's work is easily worth $60, Capcom officially no longer has to worry about whether or not Dark Void is actually fun to play.

Crecente-looking MySpace image courtesy of Bear's official website.

I mean, you've got to fill it with something. It's not like the show will magically continue next week. It's over. Well, aside from an epilogue TV movie and a spin-off/prequel series. But aside from those? It's over. Meaning that you're going to have to get your Galactica fix from somewhere else, and while board games or, uh, fan fiction might appeal to you, you're more likely to be interested in some games. Games like these ones.

Ones To Play

Beyond The Red Line

A total conversion of classic space shooter FreeSpace 2, BTRL was given a "Mod of the Year Award" in early 2008 from scene juggernauts Mod DB. It's pretty great. At least, the demo is pretty great; as with most mods, finishing the job seems to be a lot harder than starting one, and the full "game" is yet to be released.

But you'll enjoy what there is. The demo lets you fly a Viper in three singleplayer missions, as well as engage in a spot of multiplayer (though opponents may be thin on the ground so far away from release), and for a mod built atop such an old game, it looks fantastic.

BTRL is for the PC. It's free, you don't need a joystick to play, and you don't need a copy of FreeSpace 2, either, as this is a standalone title.

Fleet Commander

If being a Viper jockey isn't your thing, you may want to investigate Fleet Commander, a mod for Relic's brilliant space-based real-time strategy title, Homeworld 2. Unlike BTRL, there's a lot of gameplay on offer here, from short campaigns to multiplayer to skirmish battles. There are even four factions available, with both sides from both the original series and the 2003 re-imagining present.

A word of caution, though: that extra content comes at a price. I've found Fleet Commander to be more than a little shaky, with frequent crashes to the desktop and sound issues. Still, that's just me: your mileage may vary.

Fleet Commander is also free (it's a mod, after all), but unlike BTRL, you'll need a copy of Homeworld 2 to play this one.


Ones To Look Out For

Diaspora

Along with those two playable mods above, there are two more worth keeping an eye out for. This one's called Diaspora. Seems there was a bit of a falling-out amongst the developers of BTRL, with the result that a few of them broke off and started work on this baby, yet another Galactica mod of FreeSpace 2. At this stage it's not playable - and with a demo not planned, it may well never reach that stage - but you can find out more info by clicking on the game title above.

Fleet Commander: Crysis

I have serious doubts whether this will ever come out, such is the ambition on show, but in the interests of optimism, I'll give it a shout out. The same people behind Fleet Commander have begun work on this, a Battlestar Galactica game based on Crytek's CryEngine 2. Yes, the Crysis engine.

Not only are they aiming to replicate Viper and Raptor combat, but they're looking to replicate it both on planetary surfaces and in space. Oh, and there'll also be FPS combat sequences as well. Oh, and some strategy elements. Oh, and some RPG stuff as well.

Sounds like they're biting off more than they can chew.

Ones To Avoid

Funny. I've just recommended two free mods you can play, two free mods to keep an eye on, and not a single official product. Even though there have been two recent games released to tie into the franchise.

One is a game released by Sierra in 2003, for the PS2 & Xbox (clip to the left). Based on the 1978 series, it was...OK, for the time, but as far as space combat games go it's pretty basic. You'll get far more enjoyment out of BTRL.

The other is an Xbox Live Arcade game, released in 2007. It's a top-down arcade shooter, and is as awful as it is pointless. Avoid at all costs.

Helfer, a former supermodel and now an actress, is "Number Six" on "Battlestar Galactica" and was also General Kilian Qatar in Command and Conquer 3. So, she's got the chops to talk to gamers and sci-fi fans on their level. But I'm sure they'd listen to her read a phone book, too. Fortunately, she'll be giving a perspective on "how advancements in visual computing are impacting the entertainment industry," according to an NVIDIA release.

Attendees of NVISION, the conference, may also meet Tricia at the NVISION 08 GeForce LAN event — where attendees bringing their own computer can participate in the attempt on a Guinness World Record by playing PC games non-stop for three straight days. There will also be a Girl Gamer Zone "dedicated to all female gamers who wish to play together and support female gaming."

The conference is in San Jose from Aug. 25 to 27. I'll try to infiltrate the Girl Gamer Zone. I'm a former San Josean so, I know every local custom, can speak their language, blend in, just like Marcus Brody. I might also need some phone numbers for fact checking later, you know.

NVISION 2008 [NVIDIA]

Raptor's Revenge At Kewlbox [Kewlbox.com]

And it's totally free. And it's Battlestar. And it's Mass Effect. And I have to change my pants. Now register quickly because my theater is already booked full.

Register Here [scifi]

The Eye of Judgment (PS3)
Battle to the death with cards and a camera.

Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
The great game with a terrible name!

Painkiller: Overdose (PC)
Once a mod, now a for real game.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Ratchet and Clank return with another outrageous weapons arsenal.

Clive Barker's Jericho (PC, X360, PS3)
Control a team of psychic soldiers against legions of the undead.

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (X360)
Fighting planes are fun!

Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)
Mega Man returns!

Conan (X360, PS3)
The legendary barbarian graces the 360 with his twitching muscles.

Battlestar Galactica (X360, PC)
Downloadable game based on the uber popular TV series.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (PC)
Age of Empires III spreads it's reach to the Asian Dynasties.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
All new revamped Castlevania action!

In multiplayer, combatants fight in arena team deathmatch, Cylons vs. humans. Each ship is tiny on the screen, whipping around quickly and firing short-range guns or heat-seeking missiles. And that's the game.

Oh, there is a single-player element that is supposed to have somewhere are 8 hours of gameplay ranging several missions. Considering the limited spectrum of the basic combat (even with occasional powerups on the map) the real achievement here is how Battlestar Galactica the show—creating immersive, creative sci-fi operating on a shoestring budget—will have fans buying the title in droves.

My personal favorite part of the hands-on: the handler explains pitches me on the crazy good AI. Then he showed me what he meant. I shot at a Cylon ship. It followed me behind an asteroid.

Maybe I'm being unfair you say? Maybe I'm just a deranged fan who has hijacked a popular video game site, crying about anything less than a fullblown Mass Effect Battlestar Ultra Platinum Sprinkled In Gold And Fairy Dust Edition with photorealistic Cylon cleavage?

Well, that would be true. But Battlestar Galactica XBLA failed to meet even my most meager of expectations.

If you just can't wait for the Battlestar Galactica game to make it to Xbox Live this fall, you can content yourself with this BG theme and picture pack now available on XBL. It's available in all Xbox regions so that geeks from around the world can all share in the Battlestar Galactica goodness. Like all themes and picture packs, this one is available for the low, low price of 150 Xbox points. If you'd like to take a peek at what your getting, check it out on DashboardThemes.com. Flynn De Marco

Theme and Pictures: Battlestar Galactica Pack #1 [Major Nelson]

Reader Matt sends us a note that the Sci-Fi Channel announced today that a one-hour summary of the Battlestar Galactica series is coming to the Xbox 360 next month. Battlestar Galatica: The Story So Far will hit right before the premiere of season 3. The special is also goin gto be hitting iTunes... strangely, I don't see any mention of it coming to the PSP. Brian Crecente