Starlancer

Moby ID: 1842
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

It's 2160, and the Eastern Alliance has launched a surprise attack on the Western Coalition's fleet and decimated it. The call has gone out for volunteers to become Alliance fighter pilots, and you have signed up with the 45th Volunteer Squadron.

Designed by Chris and Erin Roberts, the creative force behind the Wing Commander/Privateer megaseries, this space fighting simulation features the genre's standard mission types: escort, fighter sweep, interception, attacking space stations, fighting in asteroid fields, etc.

12 pilotable fighters (you can choose which you fly as well as missile loadout, but not all are available in the early missions), 9 enemy fighter types.

Spellings

  • 星际枪骑兵 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (Windows version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 49 ratings with 5 reviews)

What a great Ride!!

The Good
This game is a total breath of fresh air! This is the first game since Fallout 2 that I have loved with all my heart. First the story line is one of the best in a game in years. Gameplay is easy to learn and enjoy. If you have played Privateer 2 then you should be able to get a handle quickly to how things work. Missions are full of great battles and challenges. Graphics and music are good but not top of the line like in other games. But overall this game is one of the best games I have seen in the last few years. THIS ONE IS A MUST FOKS!!! Why do I love it so much? Again storyline is the reason. One of the strongest storylines and best that I have seen in ages.

The Bad
Well I would have liked to have options on guns. When you choose a fighter you have to take the guns that are on the fighter. Understandably this is to keep to realism. (i think) Overall not much is wrong with this one

The Bottom Line
This one is a must! If you love Pc Gaming then please try this. If we are going to continue to get Jems like this one then we need to go out and support it. STOP READING GO AND BUY THIS ONE!

Windows · by William Shawn McDonie (1131) · 2001

A genuinely fun space shooter.

The Good
Starlancer has a lot to offer. Personally, I wouldn't expect a game published by Microsoft to be anything more than mediocre. But Starlancer is surprisingly fun. Not only is the action entertaining, to the point where the action alone would be enough to hold the game up, but it is constantly varying. There are a total of twenty-four missions, and each one is different. The missions aren't just all out fighting with different reasons for doing it each time. For instance, in one mission, you will infiltrate an enemy convoy using captured enemy bombers in order to blow up one of their main battleships. In another mission, you will use a prototype spacecraft with stealth capabilties to sneak up on an orbiting enemy prison to blow out their defenses and allow Marines to get inside and rescue your allies. All twenty-four missions are attractively unique, making each one feel like a brand new experience.

Another great thing about Starlancer is the story. First off, understand that the story is not at all fantasy-based, beyond the fact that it takes place in the future. It is a fairly realistic concept: Two opposing sides on the brink of peace are about to sign a treaty when the Coalition performs a surprise attack on the Alliance, wiping out a huge amount of Alliance soldiers and supplies. Enter the player, a newly elisted soldier in a new volunteer squadron, the 45th Volunteers. It is up to you and the rest of the 45th Volunteers to steer the Alliance to victory. The story reminded me of the kind of thing that would usually be used just to push a game on, to keep it going, but Starlancer takes this a step further, making the story very entertaining in itself.

There are also alot of other little things in the game that add to the overall grandeur. For one, the spaceships. You start out with four, and they all have their own ups and downs. There are six categories that all the ships are graded by: Max speed, acceleration, agility, shield power, shield recharge, and armor class. The ships will excel in some areas and lack in others, and you have to decide what you can work best with. Ships will also come with special attributes, like blind fire, reverse thrusters, and stealth. The farther along you go, the more ships you will be able to access, and the better the ships will be. In order to access these new ships, you will have to get promotions, and your promotions depend on your performance in each battle. If you really want to get the full experience out of this game, you can't just do what is required, you have to do what is required and do it well. Along with ships, you will also gain acces to new missiles depending on your rank. And while you are not fighting, you can practice your moves in the flight simulator, or watch the news to see if any of your squad's actions are mentioned.


The Bad
There were a few things about Starlancer that did bother me. The biggest thing that I had a problemn with was charcter development. Like I said, I thought the story was great, but your character has absolutely no personality. I guess you could say this is the kind of game that doesn't require real in-depth characters, but I still felt like the game was lacking in that respect. Although, besides the main character, there are some other characters that have enough personality that you can grow to like or dislike, and that goes for allies and enemies.

Another thing that bothered me, although it is a very, very small problem, were the graphics. Most of the time they were satisfactory, sometimes even exceptional, but there were some other times where I couldn't help but shake my head. (One last small thing, there is an online mode to this game, but due to the lacking popularity, don't expect much out of it.)

The Bottom Line
Starlancer is fun. I normally don't like these types of games, but this game is just too much fun to dislike. Whether you play it for the action, the story, or both, you will come out of it with a smile.

Windows · by DarkDove (63) · 2003

Fair game, at best...

The Good
I loved the fact that Digital Anvil tried to capture a lot of Wing Commander's magic on this game. The pre-briefing interface lends a lot to Origin's "Commander" series, and there's a lot of information to go through as well (constantly evolving news, squad information, pilot information, kill board). It seems the team spend some time trying to make this game complex.

The Bad
Complex does not mean deep. And depth is exactly what this game lacks. The storyline and the mission are so generic you cannot get involved in it. Your character is also a nameless guy, and your able to create a callsign and choose from male or female, but it's about as far as you can go. They went for pre-rendered sequences to display characters, which adds a lot to the generic feel of it all. Controls are not that good, and there is so much different functions that you get lost in them. Again, complex isn't a good thing every time. The same Digital Anvil came up with the relatively complex game Freelancer, with ridiculously simple controls that worked great. At least they learned their lesson. Graphics aren't so hot, and neither is the sound. Voice-acting is awful, by the way, with faked (terribly) foreign accents (german and russian are bad, but the japanese is offensive).

The Bottom Line
Unless you must possess everything that Chris Roberts designs, stay away from this game. Pick up an old copy of Wing Commander 3 and you'll be better off.

Windows · by tbuteler (3021) · 2003

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

The Starlancer demo includes two missions not in the main game, which function as a prequel to the game. You fly from the ANS Yamato and are witness to the sneak attack by the Coalition forces.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Bill Stepec.

Dreamcast added by haydn dalton.

Additional contributors: Raphael, Terok Nor, Unicorn Lynx, Independent.

Game added June 30, 2000. Last modified March 24, 2024.