DarkStar One

« This is not a stingy game. Nearly everything you do will earn you some sort of profit, but it's about the long-term gratification. [Oct. 2006, p.66] »

« The breadth of the world in DarkStar One which is part of what makes it such a great game can also be adownside as well. »

« This game "gets" the template of 1985's Commodore 64 classic Elite in a way that many other space-trading games released over the past decade or so didn't, thanks to its emphasis on the mid-'80s classic's simple principles of buying low, selling high, and blasting pirates for fun and profit. It comes with a few minor problems in the fit-and-finish department, but the game is still an outstanding return to the frontier spirit that made Elite so memorable. »

« The key element of the game, of course, is combat and here it excels...Compared to many of its peers, Darkstar One may seem slight - but what it does, it does expertly. »

« It was fun to play a space action game that used trading to get you into opportunities for a fight rather than study for a degree in advanced intergalactic economics. »

« It's clear that Darkstar One is the most amusing space game in many months. It's just a shame that it weighs in like a cash starved version of "Freelancer," without any particularly inventive ideas to back up its broad scope and sense of ambition. [Sept 2006, p.98] »

« But for sheer shoot 'em up fun in outer space, enhanced with enough peripheral activities to make things interesting, there isn't much out there today like it. »

« DarkStar One is the game you might have played before, but everything that you’ve seen before is done just as well here, if not better and still makes for an enjoyable experience. »

« Lovely graphics, realistic movement, good story, stellar voice acting, terrible combat and mentally impaired AI. »

« Darkstar One could have been a contender in the Space Sim genre but crippling bugs, some of which are complete showstoppers ruin the game. One of the worst bugs involves an infinite loading loop when travelling to different systems, this bug so far has never been fixed and no-work-arounds other than a complete full reinstall of your operating system if your one of the unlucky people to get this bug. This bug is most likely caused by some remnant of the Starforce DRM because even reinstalling the game does not fix this particular problem. »

« Below is a critical review from a person who likes really hardcore sims - where run out of ammo, fuel, oxygen and battery power. The pros: decent eye candy graphics. Unlike many space sims - the cutscenes include decently rendered characters and dialogues. The cons: From the very first minutes this game hits you with the perspective that you will be farming money to buy "upgrades" to your ship. The upgrade system is pretty straightforward and dull - there are about 10 different types of systems on your ship or so, each system can be unpgraded. The highest level is 10. And of course you start with ALL systems at lvl 1. Even though the plot/backstory suggests that you get a _really_cool_ ship from your father as a graduation present - you in fact get an equivalent of classic newbie set of gear that is nothing but a substitute for upgrading to something decent. On the very first station where you start at there are lvl 2 components in the market that make you feel just how awesome your dad's present is, and give you a reason to go farm some money. The farming, or rather, the plot missions - give a "spy-kids" feeling: if you go to salvage some abandoned container well of course there will be a bunch of pirates incoming at the exact moment you come, of course they will die easily but of course they will never retreat. The fighting itself is a rather arcadish close-range pew-pew dogfight, and the space locations seem rather small and crowded. Unlike, i.e. ****, or EVE, where anything less than 10 kilometers is considered close range, and you gotta know your weapons' specs to use them effectively! Overall - an arcadish pew-pew space shooter with decent graphics and a simple storyline. If you can close your eyes on it being very childish - you can enjoy the game. If you're looking for a space SIMULATOR - look elsewhere. »

« This is the closest in the modern age you will get to Freelancer.Music is great,Graphics are great and combat is fun and the trading is more streamlined and intuitive unloike borefests like the X series. I found myself addictive to this game. The controls aren't quite as precise as Freelancers but the whole game has a similar feel. Great view in this game also. »

« Ignore the poor FMV and bad characterization, instead concentrate on the fantastic elite style gameplay and shoot the heck out of stuff. Like space games but find the X universe a little too daunting? Get this! »

« I did not experience any bugs like other viewers, but found this game to be a bore rather quickly. If you have played Freelancer, this game is that, except with 90% of it cut out. You only ever fly one ship and the upgrades you get dont make the player feel all that special, adding a fin here and there, maybe removing a fin sometimes, nothing compared to the thrill of building up savings and buying newer bigger ships or deciding to fly a freighter or a fighter or any of the other awesome things just about any respectable game of this genre boasts. Upgrades will eventually make you wince, because now you have to grind for money to pay for the same equipment you start with, just with higher numbers attached, so after flying through five to ten of the same winding tunnel on the same asteroid shape over and over and over in every star cluster, you will then fly to the same exact station a couple hundred times to do the same exact missions a couple hundred times as well. The systems are all the same, except some have a magenta or red hue instead of a blue hue, and some have names that sound like Blah Blah instead of Bling Zang. The voice acting is so bad that it surpasses painful, about halfway through the game I couldn't take it anymore, and muted the sound anytime anyone spoke in a situation where I could not skip it (in many cases you will fail a mission if you warp before someone has finished speaking, and most other cases you can't do anything and just have to listen). The voice acting wasn't helped by the various races that speak as slowly as they possibly can, making you turn your face from the screen in agony while half-hoping you will collide with an asteroid (which will fail to kill you as colission damage is almost nonexistent in this game) If you want to play a cool game that is a lot like this but better in every fathomable way, play Freelancer. The indoor/planetary missions in Darkstar One were something of a refreshement from the rest of the banal, repetetive gameplay, but even those don't compare to much older and cooler games like Descent. I found everything about Darkstar One to be minimal in the extreme. »

« I first played this game when was first released and enjoyed it immensely ive played it threw close to 20 times over years it has some simplistic aspects that could of been fleshed out more but i suppose they had to work with what they could and stay in budget. one thing i found is you cant just collect parts and level up to get unfair advantage as there two parts for sure if lvl up ship too fast makes em impossible »

« Extremely bland. You'll be wondering if there's any other missions than shoot these fighters or the occasional cruiser. You are given an assortment of weapons per class upgrade yet it usually the current race sector's weapons that are the best choice. The economy system is decent, but it's nothing complicated. Voice acting is very mediocre. Eona's (your forced sidekick) probably the worst part of the game though. She's like a Navi from Ocarina of Time and there's no option to shut her up with her bland remarks of stating the obvious. Yes. I know there's one on my tail, Eona, the display state that. Yes I know, my shields are down... why can't I just space you... »