This game doesn't overwhelm you with too much to do like most modern open world and allows content to naturally come up as you explore new star systems. Missions and planetary events are not time sensitive (at least I haven't encountered any at 15 hours in the game) so you can always level up your crew before attempting ones with higher skill checks. As with other RPGs, you can decide if you wish to specialize in a couple of skills or distribute your skill points evenly. The story is interesting and the lines are generally well-written. The banter between crew members makes the game feel a little more alive. There are also a number of factions so it is fun to explore their backgrounds. One of my favorite features is that I can freely mark the map with my own notes. It allows me to keep track of things in my own way. It's a small feature but it just makes the game so much more user-friendly. The ship-building aspect is also designed quite nicely with an intuitive interface. There's a planning mode so that you can plan your ideal ship so you can eventually build it when resources are available. Overall, it's one of the best random finds I had over the last few years and I'll definitely keep an eye on this developer. If you do play this game, do yourself a favor and NOT look up any guides and just explore at your pace.
This game can potentially be good...if you spend a couple of hours reading guides before you even start the game, that is. The tutorial does very little to explain the mechanics of the game and you will need to search for help online. That, in my books, makes this game a failure. For example, fuel management is such an important aspect of the game yet this fact is not even mentioned. Ship design is also a mess as the interface is ugly, unintuitive and obviously, not touched upon at all whatsoever. Making money, probably the most critical aspect, was never hinted as well. Combat is a major part of the game and I can say that I absolutely hated it. Obviously, it was a design decision for the game to be arcade-like but the fact that the enemy can have up to half a dozen ships all firing at your lone ship just pushes the difficulty from challenging to ridiculous. I guess I'm just too old to "git gud" and to want to have a bit of fun. The only regret I have is that I trusted the Microprose brand and I thought the game would be as good as their previous games so many years ago. Oh well, caveat emptor and all that. I would've given this a one-star rating but the story was pretty interesting so that's worth a star. In the end, there are many more games out there that are better designed, more engaging and respect your time as a gamer. If you're a masochist, you just may enjoy being beaten over and over again.
