Star Control®: Origins

As another reviewer said, this is a game you can jump in, play 30 mins or 3 hrs and it is fun. Quite a nice break from a lot of overly complicated space games. Battles are super simple, exploring is simple... the game is pretty basic. But that's what I enjoy about it. If you are lookng for a very involved 4x game, just be aware this is not that.

So I finished the game and let me start with the Cons. I do not like the lander's mobility on plants. Having played those bouncing racing games on my phone, I about broke my keyboard several times, in frustration, in how easily it is for my lander to flip and turn 180 at painfully critical times. Even with all the enhancements, it can feel like driving a spring loaded ball of flubber. The locking on to landing zones is very unnecessary as I have not found one planet with two landing zones. I'm fine with the re-entry window guidance, but that need to lock on to a landing site is a worthless requirement. I like having options to build the most powerful fleet ever, however this would come at the total expense of my main ship having much bite. I didn't like having to choose between my flag ship being very powerful or having a fleet of ships with a lot of bonuses. Yes, the main ship and fleet bonuses stack, with your main ship, but the stat's on the top right are painfully misleading and didn't give me any over all feel for how my battles would turn out. There is a similarity to Star Control 2's story line. Big looming evil, fractured races, you unite them to fight the bad at the end. But like watching Star Trek Deep Space nine and Babylon 5, you'll love them both for different reasons. Now for the Pros I never enjoyed alien dialog, this much, since Star Control 2. They really hit a home run in the conversations and the unique way races present themselves. Compared to the awful New Masters of Orion alien dialog that tosses in every human quip, SC:O does a fantastic job. The universe difficulty scales to how far out you go from Earth. This does help when trying to figure out how powerful you need to make your ship, as well as managing your resources. The game ends, but you can continue. So when you win the game is still playable. You'll almost never run out of ships. There are always ships on some planets. Overall, I think it was worth buying and playing.

Nostalgia is a a tricky mistress. It can make a bad game or break a good one. Case in point, Star Control Origins; a fun game bent on exploration and story telling with excellent writing, hindered by the fact that old people were angry it wasn't like the original series from 1993-1996. Seriously. That's the issue. If you look at the reviews breakdown you will see that the overall rating is 2.9, but verified owners rating is 4/5. But I digress. A short description would be to say this game is Sunless Skies low-stakes. In the game you play as Earth's exclusive exploring ship commander, Terrans being the new kids in the universe. You will meet many interesting species and interact with them in all sorts of ways. To give away too much would be to spoil the pleasures of discovering things yourself. And there are quite a few things to discover, with most events and conversations beautifully dialogued. I will say this, absolutely get this game if you enjoy good writing and humorous games. At times, i feel like i'm playing a game written by Terry Pratchett. Honestly I don't remember when was the last time that a modern game made dialogue feel like such a reward. Being low-stakes i also urge players to pick exactly what dialogue option they want. The gameplay itself is a bit bland; you can be mistaken for looking at the ship battle system and saying 'not for me, thanks' but it can grow on you; and also fights can be auto resolved with upgrades. Honestly it's a small price to pay to get to the good parts. Another minor problem is that when you get later into the game, it puts more importance into fleet battles. I recommend playing it on Easy so you don't have to faff around too much with it. Also I wish the ship officers had a bit more importance to them. Some are useful and provide passive buffs to you, but others are there just to give flavour text, which can be hit or miss. Looking at you, Mu'Kay. Overall i highly recommend this game if you enjoy good writing.

Lighthearted and fun. This is typical relaxing game, you sit down and after 5 minutes you know everything you need to know about the game, and yet it is strangely engaging. I have been searching for this type of game for a long time. I have never played the original so maybe I am not burdened with high expectations (also there apparently was some kind of legal dispute considering this game) but I find this game to be fantastic. There is enough story to satisfy people who are looking for a narrative and enough freedom to keep sandbox crowd happy.

Being a fan of the original Star Control 2, I had high expectations on this one. Sadly, I was disappointed as Star Control Origins is just... meh. I'll start with the good before turning to the bad. Sound and Music Well crafted and consistent with the game world. A bit repetitive but don't we all listen to our favourite songs more than once? Graphics OK-ish. The first few visits to planets left a lasting impression. Sadly, the more you play, the more you'll realise that everything looks the same and there is heavy reuse of assets. Sometimes, the 3D part of the game stutters and revelas performance issues. Gameplay The battles are fun at first even though they get boring quite fast. The enemies are just cannon fodder once you upgraded your ship a bit. What made me furious: Most ships you can get hold of just suck in comparison with your main ship. So all the variety that made SC2 so great is lost here. Gathering resources on planets is just boring after a few systems and there is nothing to find there anywhere - you don't need much money to finish the game, the resources are all the same everywhere and abundant. Story "Haven't we met before?" - The overall story is very simple. Meet aliens, form alliance against evil dudes with big helmets, a little twist, defeat boss enemies, done. Some of the aliens are quite charming, others forgettable. Sadly, the whole population of the alien people seem to consist of just two individuals, repeating the same lines over and over again. Quests This is the weakest part of the game. Bland go here, go there, fetch this, deliver there stuff. The main quest line is really not worth mentioning but the side quests are worst. It feels like they added some side quests as tech demo / examples but the vast majority of systems is just... empty. With the exception of the occasional crashed ship that always triggers the same dialog. Overall Unfinished. The game lacks content, lacks polishing, and has bugs that never got fixed.