XF5700 Mantis - Gameplay

Gameplay

Mantis had an advertising blurb which said "If you liked that other space sim, you will like Mantis!". The statement summed up the gameplay as playing Mantis is very hard to get used to. Using what was dubbed "real physics", the XF5700 Mantis could be flown in space as if it were real space physics, otherwise known as Newtonian physics. If you hit thrust, your craft would glide through space (like a boat through water). It will not change directions readily like in other space sims. 90 missions were loaded into the game. The AI was faulty at times, Sirian craft would always target the player and plot a suicide course against the player rather than trying to kill his/her wingmates. Some missions tended to be repetitive.

Later on, a digitized speechpack upgrade was released.