Starpoint Gemini 2 (Early Access)

Zach Goodier

If you’re like me, you’ve probably looked at games like EVE Online and thought, “A game where I can buy and customize my own ship as I set forth into the final frontier, sign me up!”  But, once you look at the subscription fees, you hestitate.  I played EVE’s free trial, I loved it, but I couldn’t quite commit to a membership.  It’s not like the game isn’t worth it, but with all the bills and the work and school commitments, foresight says that I’d quickly be paying $15/month for a game I would barely have the time to enjoy.  So, where is there to turn for a single-payment, single-player adventure that captures the same elements, but in a game that comes commitment-free package.

Starpoint Gemini is still in beta, but it is already off to a promising start.  There is no story at the present, which means there won’t be a story to sum up, but the gameplay is mostly down, and there’s plenty to enjoy already.

You play as a captain, who is on a quest of some sort (I never played the first game, so I probably am missing all of the background info), and you need to navigate the turbulent solar winds between pirates, empires, and corporate interests.  Jobs are plentiful for those who want to earn an honest buck, and plunder is even more plentiful, for those who want to take to marauding to fill their holds with loot to sell on the market.  That isn’t to say you can’t do both, since attacking pirates or other hostile ships almost always have some loot to scavenge, which helps since the honest jobs rarely pay you very well in terms of affording upgrades and ships.

You have several camera options, allowing you to keep the camera oriented on the ship, or follow your targeting reticule.  You can select targets and auto-fire, which is a blessing when trying to navigate an asteroid field in the middle of a battle. 

Enemy AI seems fairly well done, with ships often attempting to hit their jump drives when they realize a fight is going poorly, forcing you to either give chase, or to abandon your hopes of a prize.  Speaking of prizes, you can forcibly board ships in order to capture them, either for sale or for personal use.  While you must be higher rank to command larger ships, the ability to sell ships allows you to make big money fast.  However, boarding can be risky, and even if the odds are on your side, you can easily lose the boarding action. 

Ship upgrades are costly, but very helpful.  You can upgrade your reactor to support more systems, or allow current systems to run more effectively, or you can upgrade the weapons, shields, or engines.  There are several other categories of upgrades, such as your transporter systems to allow more marines to board in a single action, improving their odds of success, but you will obviously need to return to port to hire new mercs to replace the inevitable losses you will suffer trying to hijack ships.

As of right now, only a few issues exist, such as the limits on how fast you can go with a tractor beam when towing ships, or that enemy ships will never attempt to board you, even when command a dreadnaught and you could be in a small frigate with a skeleton crew.  But overall, this is a very impressive title for an early-access game.  Features like the ability to use captured ships to create a fleet are listed as future goals for the final release, and I look forward to seeing how the final game turns out with story and questing options.

Good:

-Finally, an EVE-style game without a monthly subscription fee.

-Different styles of shipbuilding lead to some interesting designs floating amongst the stars.

-Steam Workshop support allows players to create their own content, leading to both original content and  TV/movie adaptations.

Bad:

-Enemy AI doesn’t feel that intelligent, only possessing a rudimentary “fight or flight” instinct, not utilizing any boarding action or making full use of their systems.

-Lacking any significant depth to diplomacy to make flying freelance feel as dicey as it should.

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10