Darkstar One

I seem to be a bit "tainted" by the Freelancer bug... If you managed to play Freelancer back in 2003, then you understand why everyone here is going on about Freelancer and how Darkstar One doesn't quite hit the mark. If anything, this would definatly be an entry level space action/trading game...not a sim On the other hand, if this game had come out before or around the same time, i'd have been super impressed! Mind you, when this did originally come out, it was about 3 years after...so right now, we're looking at a 12 year old game as of this comment? Not bad but not great Things that didn't really ticle my fancy was the repetitive station missions that were just there as what seemed like a filler to get you some credits. Also, the trading, very easy to get a grasp of but so very basic ( like I said, entry level), then there is one ship...just one but upgradable...ok I know this isn't X3, it's not supposed to be complex but give us more than one ship. Look, it's ok....cringeworthy story and a bloody long slog that is kind of unescessary. 3/5 stars By the by GoG...Get your act together and somehow find a way to put Starlancer and Freelancer up!

I'd read some good things about this game, apparently it compared well to Freelancer, which I had quite liked, so when I was walking around Best Buy looking for something to scratch the itch and came across it, I picked it up. I was a little nervous about it only having one ship, but I figured the upgrade mechanic would allow for enough customizability to make up for it. Remember: good reviews, the game Freelancer should have been. Bollocks. Whoever those reviewers were, they evidently weren't fans of the greats, or they would have seen Darkstar One for the steaming pile of shit that it is. No open world. No free roaming. No putting the plot on hold and dicking around for a week or three. No trading. Shit, no in-game economy of any kind. No new ships, and no upgrades other than a few minor tweaks and special abilities. The plot stinks. It's linear and uninteresting and does nothing more than drive you from one system to the next. And the dialogue is cheesy and cliche and annoying. The combat... isn't terrible. Fights can be fun at first, but you'll get sick of them soon enough. Forget about complex missions with multiple objectives, fleet battles, or any other niceties. Hope you like dogfighting. Look, I could go on, but there's no point. Just don't buy this game. No matter what itch you're looking to scratch, there are at least 5 better games out there than this one.

Not especially bad, but not especially good either. The dogfighting is really fun, much easier than in Freespace in my opinion. However it is extremely repetitive, so never play more than one hour per session if you don't want to get bored. The awful voice acting (except the main characters that are decent) and the very uninspired story don't help you to get in love with this game. Once again, the dogfighting is quite good though.

This is simply put an average space game, with sub par story writing (that's being nice) The art is ok, the character-animations are really bad.. but comparing with animations back then, it doesn't say much. The worse parts are the obvious engineering mistakes.. like assuming resolutions etc. (which makes art clip, and have repeat edge settings, rather than stretch etc..) Buggy AA shader code, so using it on said higher resolution makes the screen back. Simply turn the AA off, and it should work (and don't start the game thtough Gog galaxy either, you'll have fever problems if you launch the game directly) The ingame map will still be clipped, but you'll see all of it. In short, shitty story, ok game mechanics, unobvious ways to progress in the story (but that isn't necessarily bad... people should learn to stop being spoon fed) Make sure to follow the tutorials, you need to know where the keys are, and what they do. The game will be much more enjoyable when you learn how to control everything. It is not a difficult game to master. Just enjoy the ride instead, and try to ignore the story best you can.

If you hunger for good looking Space simulators, you might want to settle for Darkstar one. I have. But too be honest, it is one of these games that have little to offer beyond graphics. The gameplay is simple, perhaps a bit too simple. All the fights feel exactly the same and with the best weapon in the hands of specific enemies, you'll find that you have nothing you really need to buy beyond the bare basics. You can upgrade your ship in different ways but you end up building up a fighter or a trader. Since the only interesting thing you can do in the game is fight- there's little incentive to upgrade your ship into anything other then a fighter. And that's it. Bland characters and a bland story provide absolutely no interest when they are not annoying as hell. And you find your self just settling into the routine of entering a new area. Note the system plagued by pirates, defeat them at their base take new weapon, collect all upgrades and then watch a boring cutsene so you can unlock a new area and repeat the process. Your better off playing Freespace. At least it has mods. A-Ha.