DarkStar One

[Alucard]

Yes, I love my space sims. If none of you ever played Privateer 2, you should go and stick your head in an oven. Like, right now.

DS1, due in North America in August, has elements of all the games I've described above, but it also avoids many of their pitfalls. Privateer had some tedious trade routes and some vicious spikes in difficulty. Freelancer felt repetitive and arcadey. MegaTraveller 2 was perhaps too big of a game for its own good. X2: The Threat too often devolved into being an energy cell merchant, and its story wasn't particularly well told, or its characters very interesting. While DS1 has its problems, it manages a balance between guiding the player through a complex story and giving them freedom to wander around. It starts out slowly, with the main character Kayron inheriting an experimental ship from his recently deceased father. But as we learn how his father died and how the DarkStar One itself is tied to a larger plot with sinister overtones, the game begins to blossom. The game benefits greatly from cutscenes containing good voice acting, dialog and animation. There is tons of this stuff -- I don't know how Ascaron fits everything into one disk. And the main plot will weave these pre-rendered cutscenes in with in-game cutscenes and player actions, all woven together smoothly. What looks like a simple recovery quest turns into a multi-stage mini-adventure, and by the time you're done with the latest development, you're hooked into the plot and want to find out more.

Oh but the joy dont end there!

Speaking of dogfighting -- for those of you who like upgrading ship components (raises hand), you should really dig on this. The ship has a whole ream of different sections to improve -- the generator, energy shield, afterburners, capacitor (which makes weapons more efficient), port scanner, cargo drones -- and that doesn't even cover the weapons, turrets, missiles, or specialty items, like scanning jammers, shield boosters, hull field repair, or energy transfer mechanisms like fore shield to aft shield, or weapon energy to shield energy. In addition to this, the DS1 has its own unique tools, akin to the World of Warcraft talent trees. Its plasma cannon system has multiple uses that act as power-ups: energy shield regeneration, enemy shield deactivation, enemy weapon deactivation, and a couple other tactical bonuses. Once activated, you have to wait about ten seconds to use the plasma cannon again, so its timing takes some experience before you get into the swing of things. But with all of these elements onboard, you won't miss the fact that you won't be upgrading to new ships. The DS1 is very modular.

Oh must have..

Perhaps what keeps this game elevated above its competitors is the variety of missions and the quality of the story presentation. Mission types include cargo recovery, sabotage, satellite deployment, assassination, spying, patrolling, pirate elimination, and reconnaissance. You don't have to fight to make money, but that does form the bulk of the experience. Interestingly, one mission type can turn into another.

Heaps more at the page if you're interested. I'll be grabbing it day 1. Any space flight sim with trading etc is MINE!


http://pc.ign.com/articles/712/712013p2.html

Screenshots are too big. go to the link and look at them!

[Sidearmm]

X-2!!!!!!!

[Vegetto]

they talk funny in the clips

[Alucard]

They're talking german! Its the european version they got clips of but with english subs.

[Decado]

Looks pretty interesting. I saw that preview a few days ago. Several have popped up for this game lately.

I wonder if X3 ever got patched to a decent level? I heard X2 was good but X3 was unfinished.

[Alexander]

Originally Posted by Alucard

They're talking german! Its the european version they got clips of but with english subs.

Do you speak any language besides English and Austrailian?

[Vegetto]

I must point somthing out

Originally Posted by Alucard

Yes, I love my space

you admit it!! HAHAHAHA wheres yer profile lolz


but yeah I recall playing a game like this way back in the day, fun freakin game. I loved just flying around shooting ships down, it was exciting

[Alucard]

loolol myspace profile 16/f/available lolol my friends are actors and singers lolol honest.

Xander, I speak greek aswell, though I'm not sure what you're gettng at.

Decado, X3 got patched up very well. Watched it before and after on a friends system, though he was also playing it with a spiffy 7900GT and it was pretty smooth. He also said its far better then 2, better story aswell. I plan to go through it sooner or later. Got a line of games to finish.

[Alucard]

A heads up to those who were looking forward to this game. Its now RELEASED in Europe. Gotta find the english version now.. America should get it..uh..soonish.

[Mistatee]

Yum Privateer was beast, i am excited

[Alucard]

Ok heres some new info

Don't miss the DarkStar One demo! Explore the universe and take on different assignments like bounty hunting, piracy, and smuggling to build your ship, the DarkStar One, with the highest-developed equipment and technologies. Only by diving deeper into the universe will you discover clues to your father's mysterious death and the secret technology he built into the DarkStar One. With more than 300 solar systems, you'll encounter different territories of the galaxy, new technologies, dangerous situations, and unique races like the Terrans, Mortok, and Oc'to. Get ready to explore the universe?and beyond in this sci-fi adventure!

This DarkStar One demo (950 MB) contains a huge variety of worlds, equipment upgrades, and alien races, offering the player an estimated two-plus hours of gameplay. The demo also contains an extensive tutorial that follows the storyline direct from the full retail game. As with the full game, the demo offers players the opportunity to play in free-form mode, create their own adventure on the fly, or follow the storyline to learn more about the death of the lead character's father, and the mysterious ship, the DarkStar One.

DarkStar One will be available in stores August 14, 2006.

Because the demo is so fucking HUGE, I'd recommend just waiting till august to buy it. Unless you have ultra fast speeds, you arent downloading anything, you're totally bored, or you're just a complete download whore and must get everything that appears. I'll be grabbing the full version.

[Mistatee]

Stupid Question, but this game uses joystick control right?

[Alucard]

It can. But mouse and keyboard is still very good to play with. You'll still use the keyboard with a joystick anyway because of the zillions of hotkeys. But if you have a good forcefeedback joystick then go for it. I've got one, but I'm too lazy to set it up.