Buggy Boring Mess
posted by Schwal (BOULDER, CO) Aug 28, 2010
Member since Oct 2008
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Let me start this review by saying that this is my kind of game. I sunk far too much time in to Space Trader and the Palm, and even more into X-Wing Vs. Tie-Fighter. But in trying to be both, it manages to do neither well.
The space combat is tedious and boring, mostly due to the lack of variety in enemies or weapons. The controls are sluggish, and the layout is very weird. You can't even set your speed to anything between 0% and 100%; this make maneuvering even harder.
The trading on the other hand takes too long. It goes:
1. Buy some cargo. (1M)
2. Set your destination in a very clunky map. (1M)
3. Take off from the station. (30S)
4. Fly away from the station until you can hyperjump. (30S)
5. Wait for game to load next system. (1M)
6. Arrive in new system.
A. (if there are pirates, about 1/3 chance) Drop cargo. (30S)
B. Fight pirates. (3M)
C. Find and pick up cargo. (2M)
7. Fly to station. (1M)
8. Dock (1M)
9. Repeat.
That whole process takes 6 minutes, or 11:30 if there are pirates. It never took more than 2 in Space Trader.
The plot is incomprehensible, and the cutscenes are the worst I have ever seen. There are maybe 2 voice actors that had any training whatsoever, and possibly one more who doesn't grate on you every time you hear them speak. Ad to that the complete lack of any attempt to obey the laws of physics, much less handwave the mistakes. If this was a book, it would be one of the worst fan-fics ever written.
If you had replaced the entire staff with high-schoolers this would have been an embarrassment, with the possible exception of the cutscenes; and the only there due to the lack of a render farm.
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