Write-Up
Write-Up:
Gaming today is a lot more than just first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. There are tons of other genres out there that don’t seem to get the respect they deserve, and space simulation games, I feel, are often greatly overlooked. Thankfully, Kalypso Media and Ascaron Entertainment have brought a PC port from 2006 to the Xbox 360. It seems odd to port a 4-year-old title, but I can probably count the number of space simulation games for the 360 on one hand, so hopefully it will draw some attention to the genre. Released on July 20th for $40, or for $10 on Steam for the PC, DarkStar One brings us everything a great space simulation game should, including action, adventure, smuggling and bounty hunting, all in a completely open world. Whether you’re a die-hard space mercenary or a noob among the ranks, let’s jump right in, here’s DarkStar One.
There is actually quite a bit going on in DarkStar One and you are kind of caught in the middle of it. The game takes place far into our future when it’s been discovered that the galaxy is in fact populated with various alien species, 6 of whom you will interact with on your adventure. A great Galactic War concluded some 40 years ago, but tension is once again rising, putting all of the races on edge, defending their boarders from potential attacks.
You play as rookie space pilot Kyron Jarvis, getting news that his father has been killed due to a sabotaged ship. Kyron’s father’s life work was spent on an experimental ship called the DarkStar One, which utilizes ancient artifacts to make it powerful and even transform it’s appearance over time. The DarkStar One is then passed to Kyron who takes the opportunity to utilize the powerful spacecraft to try to figure out who killed or took part in the sabotaging of his ship and who ultimately was responsible for his father’s death. To hunt this person down, Kyron is going to need to travel through the game’s 300 star systems and win the favors of those would have information for him, as well as run into new companions eagerly willing to assist. From here the game is rather open, leaving you uncountable ways to accomplish your goals. Will you become a pirate, smuggler, bounty hunter, mercenary for hire or just a humble trader? The path is up to you.
Along the way Kyron will perform various tasks like smuggling goods onto stations, destroying rebel battle cruisers and becoming involved in intergalactic conspiracies, all while dealing with lies, deception and a little love. It’s not an epic story like you’ll find in something like Mass Effect, but it’s good enough to keep you playing the game.
Being that there are something like 300 different systems for you to visit, and that you’ll have to hop around to all of them, potentially multiple times, it’s likely that DarkStar One will take you something like 30 hours to complete, and it’s got great replayability as you can go through the game as various careers; but the entire game is single player. There is also something like 10 different difficulty settings that can be changed on the fly, ensuring that everyone has a shot at finding a manageable game-play experience.
Travel throughout the galaxy is done through a map system where you can see the systems that are currently available to you. The DarkStar One has a warp drive that is capable of traveling certain distances and the majority of your time will be spent earning money to continually upgrade this drive to allow you to reach further destinations and usually you’ll need to make several jumps to reach your end destination. In addition, you’ll need to gain keys from various missions or from story-driven events that will allow you to access each system. This may seem pretty repetitious to some, but that’s kind of what space simulators are about.
Initially I was quite disappointed with the controls. I was really anticipating playing this because I was certain I’d be able to use my 360 flight stick and throttle and low and behold, there was no support for custom controls or controllers. In fact, the controls are quite awkward, that is, until you realize why they are that way and get used to them. The DarkStar One does not behave like a typical flyer, it can move in all directions and even strafe, which doesn’t really make sense to utilize a typical flyer button layout. Normally I would expect that if I turn the thumb stick that the craft would roll, but instead, it actually turns left. So once you can get beyond the quirky controls, things start to get a bit easier.
Along with trying to hunt down your father’s killer, you’ll need to upgrade the DarkStar One with various enhancements like afterburners, capacitors, energy systems and tons of weapons and equipment, but more importantly, you’ll need to collect ancient alien artifacts scattered throughout the galaxy which upgrades the look and feel of the ship, as well as upgrade it’s hull, wings and engines and allow you to equip more guns and turrets. When you find enough artifacts you are taken to a tech-tree screen where you choose which upgrades you want to utilize. The DarkStar One also has a plasma cannon system that is upgraded with each artifact that makes it a brutal killing machine.
Each system has a trade station where you will pick up various missions or escorts, as well as trade or smuggle goods and purchase and sell equipment. The systems will be run by one of three galactic governments all of whom you will maintain a reputation with and if you get too friendly with one you can expect negative consequences with others, like not being allowed to use their trade stations or being attacked on sight.
I played through the game as a mercenary and bounty hunter so most of my time was spent in actual combat. To survive beyond the first few missions you need to learn to control your ship and fly in all the crazy directions so as to avoid attacks from your foes. Energy and shield management are a huge factor in your success as well. You’ll need to transfer energy from various shields to different shields, or transfer energy from your weapon systems to your shields and vice versa, all while simultaneously trying to attack your enemies.
Over time things get pretty repetitive though, even when tackling the story missions. I found that this was a better game when I played for an hour or so here and there instead of tackling all day sessions.
Being a 4-year-old game, DarkStar One was bound to have some dated graphics. The ship textures are very simple, yet bright and colorful, and the space backgrounds are very static and kind of bland. Every now and then you’ll see a pretty space environment, but for the most part, you can just tell you are looking at an old game. The sound effects are spot on for what they should be and the voice acting is decent, but everything is just very generic. You’ll notice the same voice acting and one-liners for all kinds of different people, and the same character portraits, animations and ship designs are repeated pretty much everywhere in the galaxy. The game’s soundtrack has 90 minutes of pretty good music which is nice though, as if you’re going to be spending 30 hours plus on this bad boy, you better have something good to listen to if the visuals aren’t that dazzling. I’d probably have to say that presentation is certainly this title’s weakest aspect. I can’t comment on the PC version of the game as I played the 360, but I can’t imagine things look that much better.
DarkStar One is actually pretty good for what it is. With there being so few space simulators for the Xbox 360, it was a blessing to get my hands on one that does a pretty good job at it. For $40 you get a good 30 hours of entertainment on your first play-through and it actually has great replayability if you want to try out a different career style like smuggling or bounty hunting. The graphics obviously are dated and certainly don’t show off the processing power of the 360, but the game is relatively fun to play, that is, once you get over it’s wonky controls. The soundtrack is pretty good and the voice acting is decent, given that the one-liners are repeated quite often, but the desire to see how your ship is going to perform after each upgrade kept me coming back for more. Obviously this type of game is not for everyone, but for those looking for a good space simulator, much like the original Wing Commander titles, this is certainly one to check out. What’s the best space simulator you’ve ever played? Leave your questions and comments below!
Developer: Ascaron Entertainment
Publisher: Kalypso Media
Platform: Xbox 360, PC
Price: $39.99
Review Video: http://www.youtube.com/ZeitgeistReview
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**This title was provided to me free of charge from the publisher to review for you.
