Summary
Engaging gameplay, but the story is not.
The Good
The gameplay in Starlancer is remembered as fast paced and frenetic at times. There's a Wing Commander V school of design here, where gameplay was the focus. Attack and escort missions were strewn about as with any space shooter while the games background story was available to the player via broadcast transmissions in your quarters aboard ship.
The graphics didn't seem to be taxing to my computer at the time, so it should run like a dream on current Windows systems. Definitely a step above the Wing Commander games, but maybe not as intense as Descent: Freespace or its successors.
The Bad
Unfortunately, the story did not seem as involving as previous efforts by it's spiritual predecessor (obviously, the Wing Commander series). The reason I enjoyed "Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger" and "Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom" was for their engaging cinematics in between and during missions. Starlancer takes a lighter production approach and incorporates the story into very brief cutscenes - I did complete the game, but unfortunately I wasn't impressed.
The Bottom Line
Starlancer is a solid effort in the way of gameplay and missions, but falls short in keeping the player engaged or involved in the story. Those who crave less of the movies (a la the later games in the Wing Commander series) in their space shooters may find more meat in the gameplay here.
