Starpoint Gemini 2

Basically, this is a micromanagement simulator set in outer space. Be prepared to wade through pages of text tutorials and write it all down because game play is rarely intuitive beyond basic ship movement. The number of YouTube tutorials devoted to this title demonstrate its steep learning curve. This is an example of a studio throwing every idea it had into its game without regard for how confusing and time consuming it will be for the player. The graphics are solid, but that's all it has going for it. Voice acting is a joke and much of the story is told through text, more like reading a novel than experiencing it directly within a game. For a far better capital ship combat experience, I suggest Rebel Galaxy or Between the Stars.

This game puts a lot of big budget games to shame. Great graphics, well suited music that is a joy to listen to, easy to master gameplay and a sandbox universe for you. This game is a true labour of love by the company that made it you can tell they have tried their hardest to produce a great space game and for me they succeed. They are still developing the game with both free and paid dlc as such this game will last you a while. The develop team are constantly in contact with the community and take feedback both good and bad. The fact they listen and do make changes that the community wants is fantastic and helps to make a great game better. I would recommend this game in a heartbeat if you love space trading, space combat hell space games full stop.

As I have not yet completed the quest, my comments refer to free-roam mode on easy difficulty. Upsides: Nice SF game - well done, runs stable (on my computer). Player has freedom to explore, mine asteroids, transport passengers / cargo, engage in trading or bounty hunting. The universe is well populated, so don't expect being the lone boy (or girl) scout out there. Fights in hostile territory will become challenging as re-enforcements will arrive and the ship classes have a meaning in terms of firepower and ability to survive. Lots of ships and equipment to choose from plus opportunity to board (and take over) hostile ships. Points for improvement (are potentially any patches available?): Some graphic errors (background) occur from time to time but resolve at next session. Some factions are by default hostile and you can not change this. Differentiation between "classes" could be improved but available freedom to build the pilot / commander is appreciated. Limited amount of "quick slots" (8) - 12 would be more appreciated to avoid switching equipment during a combat that is going in an undesirable direction. Better differentiation and guidance regarding weapon capabilities and real goal of using fighters / bombers / interceptors would be appreciated for both light and heavy weapons. AI is (probably due to chosen difficulty level) not using advanced combat options (such as boarding, hacking, ...). No information is obtained when internal systems are taking heavy damage and it's not clear to me, if the repair drones fix this sufficiently during combat. So overall, well done. As usual, there is some room for improvement. Oh, and beware: time flies once you started the game.

This is one of those games which you say "I'll give it a go, play for 20 minutes maybe half an hour, then get back to my chores" then wake up to find yourself after 3 hours with still chores to do. If you have to cook, clean or such do not start playing this game. I don't know what exactly keeps me going; probably one or all of these: the amazing space ambiance, cool music, easy to understand, easy to use controls, (almost casual dare I say), a wide and intimidating galaxy map waiting to be explored. Though there is not much mission variety, commodity trading, pirating, smuggling while managing reputation with oodles and oodles of factions (oodles and oodles means "a lot"). It might get too repetitive too soon though and if you don't enjoy space travel for the sake of space travel you won't get much replay value out of this. Trade system and trading is not central to the game and not very detailed but that's a plus for me. It's a simple trade system, you follow the news where ever you dock, and just buy low, sell high. Smuggling with small ships is always good. It appears to have decent number of gun variety, power-ups several gizmos, gadgets etc. Factions each have their unique sets of ships of course but there is no balance between factions. So if you want the most powerful ship possible you'll eventually have to get a specific ship from a specific faction, which effects your play choices (so you don't have 100% freedom in the galaxy). Also you may get sucked in by a wormhole and pop out in the middle of a hostile zone surrounded by huge ships or get ambushed by a huge fleet which warps in on your exact location, while you're allowed to get only two mercs (which you can not control or give orders to) with you but still, escape is always an option. There are some unfair moments where you have a 99% win chance but you end up becoming space junk; yep that may happen as well.

Good