Star Control®: Origins

The original Star Control II is one of my favorite games of all time. This incarnation somehow manages to take that game and its gameplay and rip the soul out of it without taking advantage of modern tech to improve it. The writing lacks the charm of the original and is awkward in its attempt at emulation. Really unfortunate.

From a person unfamilliar with previous SC games in the series, i can't say if it's "okay" or not in comparison to them, yet there are 3 stars, but its' not a blind shot rating. When i bought this game, i had a middle-end notebook checked system requirements - should run fine, tried running it - 100% GPU load, 30 fps in space, and 15 fps on planets; Time passes, and there is a normal PC with GTX 650 - 100% GPU load, 60 fps in space, 20 fps on planets; More time has passed, and there is 1030 - 100% GPU load, 60 fps in space, 30 fps on planets; Even more time passes, now i have 1050 TI - 100% GPU load, 60 fps in space, 30-55 fps on planets. Didn't even change the graphic prefrences, just left them be (only resolution). Something is telling me that it's nothing hardware related, just poor engine and poor optimization. Will try again with 3060 on board. Won't expect much, internet is filled with posts that optimization is one of the worst sides of this game. The game overall should be okay, never had a chance to enjoy it normally. Buyers with budged PCs and graphic cards discretion is adviced.

This is not a perfect game. It's not a masterpiece. But it IS a great experience if you enjoy the originals. Stardock is one of my favorite developers even though their games often get shipped with problems, so I may have a bit of a bias here. The story is very interesting as well.

This is a tough one, because it's hard to review given all the drama surrounding this title; but I'm glad to see that the torch is being carried for the series, even if this is a disappointing heir to the name. Star Control 2 was one of the most beloved games of my childhood. It is a pleasant enough game to earn two stars from me. It is not a *bad* game. But it is not an SC game. I think I might have enjoyed this title much more if it was not calling itself Star Control, because calling it a Star Control game gives me the expectation of a certain experience; there's the witty dialogue, the humor, the twisting and turning plot,the mysteries of the ancients, the clues of something grander happening in the galaxy that we're just playing a bit role in, there's the "Hero Captain" persona that you can embrace, even a bit of Mary Sue-level self-indulgence. in addition to the open-ended space exploration type of game that makes up the core game play of a Star Control game. This title got the open-ended space exploration, and the feel of the combat, fairly well. Mechanically it is in many ways true to the series, but not spiritually. It has no heart. It feels empty and hollow, and at the end of the day I didn't feel like I was making hard choices, as a galactic heel or as a savior. I would say, what it took from its predecessors-in-name, it took the wrong parts, rather than the parts that made it a great title. By all means check out the game, but what it does is surpassed by so many other alternatives. If you're looking for a reboot to that beloved nostalgic title from the old days of PC games, you won't find it here. On its own merits, it's relatively weak in general as well. You'll probably get a few hours of fun from it, but I can think of more worthwhile games to spend that money on.

Pleasantly surprised by this game, did not realize what I was getting. Fun and interesting, only serious complaint is graphical issues causing ships and resources to not appear on the screen when too many things were supposed to be on the screen at the same time. Well worth the time and money in my book.