Star Control II: review by Christopher Songer

Introduction:

Hi!

Star Control II showed up in the local stores yesterday and I felt immediately compelled to buy it. To this point I had neither played nor seen the game, though I had played the Melee of Star Control on the genesis.

So, if one is looking for a review of the game from the prespective of a previous player, i.e. from someone who can comment on the quality of the prt, this is probably not the review to read.

Overview:

In Star Control II, published by Crystal Dynamics, the player assumes command of a poorly equipped battle cruiser. The cruiser was, for all intents and purposes, discovered on a far world while the Earth and its allies were at war with an opposing empire headed by the UrQuans. As the game opens one discovers that in the time it took to get the battle cruiser working (20 years) that the war has been lost and that it is now the player's responsibility to re-establish an alliance, a fleet and finally to defeat the UrQuan.

Gameplay:

There are a variety of play elements to this game. At the very top level this game is an RPG where one is attempting to overthrow the UrQuan. However, the play mechanics of a traditional fantasy RPG have been replaced by variety of engrossing mechanics, which can be broadly broken down into strategic mechanics and tactical mechanics.

Examining the strategic mechanics first, the player is responsible for navigating conversations with other beings in the game. Based on one's conversation choices, the outcome of a given encounter may vary widely. The player is also responsible for ship construction and resource management. The player can choose what sorts of modules to place in the ship. These in turn determine the ship's abilities and capacities. Finally, it is best to include system navigation in the strategic mechaincs. The player chooses what star systems and planets to investigate as well as in what order to perform the investigation.

There are two forms of tactical mechanics. The first is melee between ships. This is so fun that the game includes a special two player mode wherein all the players do is fly ships against one another in space combat. The combat is two dimensional, but the characteristics of each ship are so varied that this is good for hours of entertainment. Each ship has two forms of attack, a different manuverability, and a differnt speed and size.

The second of these mechanics is the mining of worlds for resources and biological information. Not nearly as exciting as ship combat, one manuvers the lander on the surface of the planet, running over resources, shooting biologicals and avoiding surface hazards. The theme here is one of exploration more than arcade action.

To give a feel for how these work together, consider a sample sitatuation which came up last night. Having talked with a particular being and discovered that I wanted to visit a system which was far away, I needed to add a fuel module to my battle cruiser. Of course I didn't have the resources to build the module and purchase fuel for the journey, so I set out to a closer system with the intent of mining resources.

After going to the star map and setting the ship on autopilot to get there, I arrived in the system and began to systematically examine the worlds. On each world I weighed the peril of the climate versus the value of the resources and biological units. On those worlds which I deemed worth the risk, I sent a lander down to the surface. Assuming control of the lander, I either manuvered it to the resources or chased and shot the biologicals. After filling its capacity, I returned it to the ship and then either went back down to the surface for more or moved along to the next planet.

Having garnered enough resources, I once again pulled up the star map and set the autopilot for sol. This journey, however, was eventful. On route, I was intercepted by another group of ships. After a brief conversation wherein I learned that they were robots on some sort of "peace" mission, we went into combat as they tried to "assimilate" my ship. My first decision was to choose which of the ships in my armada with which to first fight. I chose the "earthling" ship since it was the only one for which I had plans and hence could replace at space doc.

Of course the "earthling" ship is relatively terrible as was my fighting skill. The combination of the two lead to a destroyed ship and crew. I then chose another ship with which to fight and this time I won.

Graphics:

The gameplay graphics range from decent to fairly good. The graphics for the melee combat, other beings, and the ship display are adequate. They are clear, they are nice looking, but they are not among the best of what one will find for the 3do. The graphics of the planets are probably the "best" in the game. They are color rich and quite pretty.

Cinemas:

There are few cinema's in this game. There are two "attract" FMV segments which the machine will play if left unattended. The first of these explains the background to the story. The second is a commercial for 3do and CD products. Both are well done, but Cinemas don't really play much of a part in the game itself.

Sound:

Sound, however, is a different story. All of the alien dialogue is spoken and though some aliens, based on vocal characteristics, are hard to understand, I find that this really adds to the game. The background music is outstanding and is one of the few that has survived a full evening without being turned off.

Comments:

This is one great game. The plot was, for me, immediately enthralling. The ship melee is great fun and the resource mining is an exploration exercise which I found compelling. The graphics are good, if not to the quality that some recent 3do titles have attained but regardless, this is truly enjoyable.

Anyway,

-Chris

michel.buffa@cmu.edu