Starpoint Gemini 2

I put off playing this because of the mixed reviews, but finally I got bored and took the plunge. I am in shock. This is everything I have wanted in a space exploration game. The lore is great and the factions are interesting, even if the actual story isn't "amazing". I just love it all. I can't wait to try warlords.

From the description and reviews I was expecting something like Freelancer. It turns out Starpoint Gemini is more like a two-bit MMO with terrible production value and none of the charm and excitement of Freelanceer. The space scenes and ships are generally well-done and pretty to look at and there's stuff to do like trading, mining and combat. The trading system seems decent, but mining is awkward and unsatisfying, and the combat is even more so. I'm not sure how to describe the combat. Its just... boring. The skill system is a big flop too. Your skill points are spent on making your temporary-power-up-with-a-cooldown style skills better - an uninteresting (to me) mechanic popularly used in cheap MMOs. These are abilities that you have to activate and give you bonuses for a short time (yawn). You also get "perks" which you can spend on passive skills that give you small but permanent bonuses. Those are cool. The voice acting is really really bad. The sound is not great either. I find the music gets annoying pretty quick. If you're into cheap MMO-style games without other players you'll probably like this game. If you love Freelancer and are hoping someone comes out with a next-gen version of it, keep looking. Starpoint Gemini is not it. For me, this has been an utter waste of money. :( If you're considering buying this game, just understand that its not made by a professional game development company with tons of money to put into it. A small development company like this may simply not have the resources to put out a really good space game. I give it two stars only because this game is a good effort by a small developer.

The game looks nice - love the music, etc. But, so far, I can't get my joystick to configure and the key/control system is much too complex and cumbersome. (Mouse/keyboard flight is NEVER fun) Whoever tested this game did a poor job. Too bad, because this looks like it could be a wonderful game. The price needs to cut in half, at least!

Throttle/roll don't appear to function. Mappings are a mess. Can't scan the character's father's ship 5 minutes into the game. If there is some kind of fix that makes this game more playable, I'll look at revising this review. Right now it feels like a waste of money.

This is a gem! It's almost everything I would have hoped for in a space game. The combat is impactful and the sound effects are dramatic and good. The soundtrack pretty decent. You can choose to do a little bit of everything in this one, command anything from gunships to carriers with fighter wings on different missions, or go mining, or do trade runs, or maybe even pirating to earn credits so you can upgrade your ship, or buy a new one, or steal one! On the negative side, there are some areas that are lacking, such as certain hud-information like how fast you're going, you'll have to mouseover on the throttle indicator for that info. There are also a few bugs here and there, and the endgame doesn't really leave you with much. You can chase pirates for their bounty I guess. Anyway it's the journey that matters, and it's a fun one! Of all the Starpoint Gemini games I've tried, This was the only one I liked, and I really like it. And it's a shame because the developer decided to change direction after this one, unfortunately for the worse. Oh, and the Campaign is kind of terrible, awful voice acting and plot. Freeroam is where it's at (game mode). Way more fun, and you can pick your own name and portrait! If you're thinking about buying this one. Do it. I have over a hundred hours logged on this and I'll be playing it some more.