Starlancer

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.