Darkstar One: A Space Sim for the ADD Generation

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 01/09/2006 08:41:09

I haven't felt a need to really vent or complain about a game in a long, long time; perhaps that is because I haven't played many post 90's games to speak of, or haven't been so thoroughly insulted and annoyed as I am with Darkstar One. I warn you, there are spoilers, insults, flared nostrils, and a general lack of happiness to follow. If this excites you, read on. Otherwise, go wash your clothes, hippie!

Darkstar One: Spoonfed Space Shooter

When I first read the premise of this game I had just finished uninstalling X-3, which anyone who is interested in Darkstar One or space sims in general has probably played or heard of. Why did I uninstall X-3? Because, quite frankly, the controls were horrible. Imagine horrid, multiply by 10, then hit yourself with a car. While the premise of X-3 was great-- the usual go anywhere, do alot and don't bother with any story save of your own making-- flight in the game was like piloting a flying rack: an act of masochistic self-flogging.

After a few hours I couldn't bring myself to even look at it anymore, and then I heard of Darkstar One, a game that was being compared INTENSELY favorably to X-3 on nearly all fronts by several reviewers, most notably Gamespot. Their claims was that it kept everything that was great about space sims and took it to the next level, such as systems to explore, things to do, and of course combat. I've been waiting for a game like that since Frontier: First Encounters and so I immediately got it. Here is a list of things Ascaron claimed about the game that interested me (you can find these on the official website):

1. "Darkstar One" delivers a thrilling story, fast-paced action and freedom of choice within a vast and authentic universe.

2. Special missions, for example in canyons, on the surface of planets or inside of planets

3. The player may act as the "good" or the "bad" guy and he will be able to take advantage of political disputes.

4. Each race features distinctive weapon types with different functions that require different battle tactics. The player will be able to acquire these weapons in order to mount them on the "Darkstar One".

5. Elaborate story, related by more than fifty minutes of video sequences.

6. A vast, simulated universe with numerous, completely different races, space ships and battle tactics.

7. Upgradeable space ship "Darkstar One": The player decides which type of spacecraft he prefers - a fast attack ship with many light weapons or a near-invincible cruiser with heavy weaponry

Here are a few things I noticed upon a first run of the game:

1. The copy protection used (Tages) is so rife with problems that it would make the game slow to a whopping 5 fps in some systems. This is an established problem. Their solution? Create a patch that rips out much of Tages and adds a different scheme. OK, but the game still has slow down issues and now it takes 4 minutes to even load when before it took about 1.

2. The number of systems is indeed vast; the catch? While Ascaron claims that you can ignore the main quest in several press releases and just adventure as you like, this is in all actuality impossible. Omgz progZ, why!? This is why:

You must complete a section of the main plot in every single system to get a hyperdrive powerful enough to move to the next one. No, you can't buy it if you have a billion credits and are called Cowboy and intend to Battle Beyond the Stars. No main quest, no new hyperdrive, no new system. Naturally this limits your freedom, but read on!

3. The upgrading aspect of the ship is probably one of the coolest things I've seen hit space sims in awhile. Being able to personally customize a living vessel and make it into the kind of ship you want is very appealing to me, and in this aspect Darkstar One delivers. However, the artifacts required to improve the ship are easy to find. Horribly easy, in fact. You wonder how easy? How about so easy that every system where an artifact lies has a green diamond so you know which ones to avoid? Or how about that when you enter a system every single item of note is mapped out and targetable instantly so you don't need to have any of that exciting exploring or newness? Or how about this: if you're too lazy to speed up time to fly to the clearly labelled artifact you can just pay someone 11,000 credits to get it for you at the local station? Do you think I'm exaggerating? You haven't heard anything yet.

4. You were looking for an engrossing story? Look elsewhere. This is your standard 'why are these strange aliens invading?' plot from start to finish. No surprises, and hell, they even throw in a highly annoying female sidekick that you must rescue just so she can sit in your ship and say 'We're gonna die Kayron!' whenever a pathetic pirate ship shoots at you, which is often!

5. Special missions? I count 4 randomized missions: escort, spy, hunt, cargo ferry. Yeah, that's it. It wouldn't be so bad if you could actually land on planets and do missions on them like they claim. Hell guys, you could land on ANY planet in First Encounters! I've played this game for several hours hoping to see more of this interactivity, but with half of the game over and a good portion of the map exposed, it's just not happening. Research stations and trade bases are your locales, and oddly enough there's at least one of each in EVERY system.

6. That brings me to the systems. I have one word: boring. They are so uniform it's ridiculous, and by that I don't mean their look. Yeah there are ice fields, or meteors, or nothing at all, but you would reasonably expect that not all systems could be habitable or would be, and yet there are people in basically all of them!

7. Back to the space sim part of it. Ascaron claims it's free-form. Hogwash. This game is not free-form. You MUST and WILL do the main plot missions to get to other systems. You can't get the longer distance jump drives unless you do, and the next system closest star is always just far enough away that you can't go there without it. Oh yeah, and you don't get certain keys to that system without doing the main quest. This brings me to the most important destroyer of free-form: the keys. These keys are like gatekeys to each and every single system, and most of them are off-limits until you achieve certain tasks, most notably the main quest missions. Many of the key systems are unaccessible until you do the main quests. Free-form? What planet is Ascaron from? Oh yeah, and while you can kill good ships, this never affects the actual plotline at all. You're still a good guy.

8. Many different weapons unique to each race. This isn't really true. Most of the weapons in the game are extremely generic and slight upgrades upon themselves, like the 'Secret Service Laser' which has about 10 versions. The weapons don't really behave differently or have different effects, and so this is just more crap.

9. One high point was that the ship is actually very easy to move (when not moving cargo) and works well in battle. The problem is that the entire focus of the game seems to be on battle and not on anything else.

Ultimately, I guess I am annoyed because I've been waiting for a truly good space sim for awhile and the reviews led me to hope that this was it. It is not, however, a space sim; it's a space fps for no-patience kids, and I feel really sorry for this generation if this is the kind of challenge they expect. You want challenge, exploration and just overall fun? This is not the game for you. You want to fly around shooting ships constantly? This is the game for you.

However, if you're like me you'll just go back to playing First Encounters and hope that David Braben makes a sequel someday.

ManicMatt · Fri 01/09/2006 08:55:51

This is what happened when I played the demo of X-3:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b37/manicmatt/X3.jpg

jetxl · Fri 01/09/2006 09:57:12

Is this the game that has the crew from mst3000 do some voices?
And is this game related to John Carpenter's Dark Star?

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 01/09/2006 10:34:51

No and no.

This is the one you are thinking of with Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieau etc in it. Last time I checked it seems like it will not get made.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497352/

SSH · Fri 01/09/2006 11:01:03

Matt, just crop it to the relevant part... you messed up my browser!

Nacho · Fri 01/09/2006 11:27:33

It is really a pitty, because I can't Ã,Â do anything else than believe Prog' s criterium about games, therefore, the game sucks. But Ascaron did in the past SPLENDID games, IMO, like Patrician II, III and Port Royale. It shouldn't be like this, but the more tecnology, the worst games.

There must be a rational explanation, and I think that it's related with how easy is making funtional 3d graphics in comparision with good 2d ones. Don't understand me bad. 3-D graphics can be also awesome if creators put the same attention and effort they put to make 2d ones. But you can archieve average things with not much effort with 3d games, and they do... and this lack of effort is kept during all the game production... Ã,Â $:-\$

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 01/09/2006 11:54:59

You can achieve wholly average things in 2d as well. The issue is just poor design. Also, my opinion isn't law but what I did state about the game is truthful as far as I know, and if all the drawbacks sound crap then yeah, the game is crap.

Gilbert · Fri 01/09/2006 11:55:23

Quote from: SSH on Fri 01/09/2006 11:01:03
Matt, just crop it to the relevant part... you messed up my browser!

Or make it a link! Either solution helps!

ManicMatt · Fri 01/09/2006 12:18:33

FINE FINE!! Made it into a link.

Did anyone find it even the least bit amusing...?

Nikolas · Fri 01/09/2006 12:30:25

I have no reason not to believe ProgZ, so there is absolutely no way I'm even goig to download a demo of the game. Period!

Everything he says sound true (and why would he lie), and indeed extremly annoying, especially after the reviews and claims the game got. Bad marketing I say! A lying marketing is a bad one!

Nacho · Fri 01/09/2006 13:17:18

Quote from: Nikolas on Fri 01/09/2006 12:30:25
I have no reason not to believe ProgZ...

Hope to have typed it propperly and not got lost in translation, but I have said the same, haven't I?

If not, sorry.Ã,Â

Nikolas · Fri 01/09/2006 15:24:13

Nacho, my friend.
It happens that I agree with you.

Is that so rare?

Nacho · Fri 01/09/2006 15:32:04

What a relief Nikolas. ^_^"/

Still... A pitty that Ascaron is making games with less quality than the previous.

LimpingFish · Sat 02/09/2006 20:13:22

A developer exaggerated the features available in their game, desperately trying to hype it beyond what it actually is?

And we are surprised why?

ManicMatt · Sat 02/09/2006 23:27:58

*cough* Oblivion *cough*

I still like that game, mind.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 03/09/2006 03:49:47

Well Fish, I do think there's a difference between exaggeration and just flat being untruthful. The game simply does not have open-ended gameplay when you are forced to adhere to the main plot in order to visit other systems and continue trading- not to mention that you just can't get a hyperdrive at all without doing so.

LimpingFish · Sun 03/09/2006 20:58:32

Can you tackle the missions within a system in any order? Can you trade within a system without the need to play main story missions? If you can, then this is probably what passes for "Open-ended Gameplay" in the tiny, hyperbole-infused minds of the marketing people.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Mon 04/09/2006 05:14:18

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-ended_%28gameplay%29

Darkstar One's gameplay is not open-ended. You cannot in fact ignore the main story like you could in Frontier or First Encounters and still do what you will. You are limited by an extremely linear design that relies first and foremost on you completing main mission objectives to buy hyperdrives and get keys to new systems. If you never do the main quest missions you cannot, in fact, even upgrade your ship to level 2. I think that playing devil's advocate is amusing and all, but really their claims go well beyond exaggeration and into lie.