Starcom: Unknown Space

I own this game on Steam and I've been playing it since early alpha-versions. I fully agree with MischiefMaker's review. I loved Star Control I and II when they were released (yes, I'm that old) and poured countless hours in them. And I've been waiting for a proper continuation for them. For example Star Control: Origins is a fine game but it still feels lacking in many points. The game is released only for Windows but it works great on Linux using wine/proton.

Comparing to its predecessor, Starcom Nexus: the worldbuilding isn't as good (the universe feels smaller and less desolate, and there aren't any enemies as creepy as the Phage), but the exploration itself is still just as engaging. Some quality of life improvements, but a few downsides (namely that landing on a planet basically mandates save scumming). Combat? There's one good change: you now have a button which automatically fires your plasma turrets at the nearest enemy, including target leading. But the rest of the combat changes are bad. Flak is now basically useless because it needs to build up "charges" which you manually activate, instead of just shooting at any incoming missiles on its own. And then it'll waste its shots firing in all directions instead of at the ordnance which you want to destroy. Missiles, in turn, do less damage and aren't as fun to use. The biggest crime is the removal of the Wave Motion Gun (or to use its proper name, the Axial Ultragun). That was the single most satisfying weapon in the entire game and it's gone. Its "replacement", the forward fixed cannons, are weak and weedy in comparison. Purely because of that, Unknown Space has less replayability for me than Nexus. The space battles are less fun. I'd still recommend this game, but not as much as the first one.

This game doesn't overwhelm you with too much to do like most modern open world and allows content to naturally come up as you explore new star systems. Missions and planetary events are not time sensitive (at least I haven't encountered any at 15 hours in the game) so you can always level up your crew before attempting ones with higher skill checks. As with other RPGs, you can decide if you wish to specialize in a couple of skills or distribute your skill points evenly. The story is interesting and the lines are generally well-written. The banter between crew members makes the game feel a little more alive. There are also a number of factions so it is fun to explore their backgrounds. One of my favorite features is that I can freely mark the map with my own notes. It allows me to keep track of things in my own way. It's a small feature but it just makes the game so much more user-friendly. The ship-building aspect is also designed quite nicely with an intuitive interface. There's a planning mode so that you can plan your ideal ship so you can eventually build it when resources are available. Overall, it's one of the best random finds I had over the last few years and I'll definitely keep an eye on this developer. If you do play this game, do yourself a favor and NOT look up any guides and just explore at your pace.

I'm not certain what exactly I expected beyond some not-too-involved and complex fun and distraction and found myself playing way past my planned bed-time pretty much whenever I started the game.