Star Control: Origins
- September 20, 2018
- Stardock Entertainment
- 28h median play time
Star Control: Origins does a great job bringing back the classic game's humorous aliens and energetic 2D space battles, but everything you do on the ground is a chore.
Get on Steam"Star Control: Origins" is a space exploration and combat game that sends players on a journey to the stars. You'll encounter alien civilizations, navigate political intrigue, and engage in intense space battles. As a captain of a starship, players must gather resources, research new technologies, and make contact with other beings to expand their influence and protect their home world.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Captures the spirit and charm of the original Star Control games, particularly Star Control II.
- Humorous writing and engaging dialogue with quirky alien races that provide a fun experience.
- Offers a vast galaxy to explore with plenty of side quests and opportunities for resource gathering.
- Planet exploration can become tedious and repetitive, often feeling like a grind.
- Combat mechanics are less engaging than in previous titles, with a lack of ship variety and balance.
- Technical issues such as crashes and poor optimization detract from the overall experience.
- story915 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story of "Star Control: Origins" has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its humor and engaging narrative that pays homage to the original "Star Control II." While some find the plot enjoyable and filled with quirky alien interactions, others criticize it for being linear, repetitive, and lacking depth compared to its predecessor. Overall, the game offers a fun, albeit familiar, sci-fi adventure that appeals to fans of the series, though it may not fully satisfy those seeking a more original or complex storyline.
“The precursor mystery that serves as the backbone of the plot had me completely engaged.”
“This is an excellent throwback to the fantastic Star Control II that I so loved playing as a child, but with beautiful graphics and also sporting a rich immersive storyline with loads of small side quests to keep you engaged along with the main quest story.”
“The story is enjoyable, but I do find it unfortunate to miss out on so many of the old races.”
“While it's nice to have a bit more of an epilogue to tie up a few loose ends and see how everyone's doing after the story's conclusion, the Earth Rising story is very long, frustratingly linear, filled with way too many boring fetch quests, and honestly just isn't a very compelling story.”
“The story itself is just 'ok'; it takes elements of the original story and writes it up with new species. It's a very, very poor copy-paste and not nearly as engaging as the original.”
“The story is very linear and stops before it gets interesting.”
- humor344 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -1 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing, quirky alien characters, and engaging dialogue, often drawing comparisons to classic titles like "Star Control 2" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." While many players found the humor to be genuinely funny and entertaining, some noted that it occasionally felt juvenile or repetitive, with a few wishing for a deeper narrative to complement the comedic elements. Overall, the game's lighthearted approach and humorous interactions contribute significantly to its charm and enjoyment.
“The writing is top notch, the voice actors are delightful, and this game is funny.”
“The humor, the ship battles, the balanced increase in power as you explore and follow quests and diplomatic actions.”
“The aliens are interesting and the dialogue is funny.”
“I should also say this: games are usually not funny.”
“The jokes fell flat and felt forced, lacking any real wit.”
“I expected some clever humor, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
- gameplay310 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Star Control: Origins" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its nostalgic similarities to the original "Star Control II," including space exploration, resource gathering, and ship combat. While some appreciate the humor and engaging storyline, others criticize the gameplay for being repetitive, grindy, and lacking depth, particularly in the mechanics of planetary exploration and combat. Overall, the game is seen as a fun but flawed homage to its predecessor, appealing primarily to fans of the original series.
“The gameplay loop can be a bit grindy, but if you stay focused on specific goals, it can be completed in reasonable time without feeling like it overstayed its welcome.”
“The core gameplay is solid, and little things like having a search box to find specific systems is incredibly useful.”
“Star Control: Origins delivers on the promise of galaxy exploration that Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to deliver as their main mechanic.”
“The gameplay itself is dull and repetitive.”
“The horrid mechanics and an almost total unresponsive lack of control of the ship made me quickly realize I have better things to do than play this low-level game.”
“It's obvious that the developers love Star Control and that this game was a labor of love, but the gameplay was so tedious and frustrating that I unfortunately cannot recommend this game.”
- graphics209 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Star Control: Origins" have received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the colorful and cartoonish art style that updates the visuals from the original games. While some find the graphics beautiful and immersive, others criticize them for being overly simplistic or reminiscent of mobile games, with occasional graphical glitches and performance issues. Overall, the visuals are seen as a decent enhancement over the original, though opinions vary on their execution and depth.
“This is an excellent 'throw-back' to the fantastic Star Control II that I so loved playing as a child, but with beautiful graphics and also sporting a rich immersive storyline with loads of small side quests to keep you engaged along with the main quest story.”
“The graphics are beautiful, the music is great, and the starship battles are a lot of fun!”
“A great balance of nostalgia and updated graphics make this a perfect purchase.”
“The graphics look unpolished and the animations are lackluster for a $40 game.”
“The art style is overly cartoony and paired with the graphics it ends up looking and feeling like Spore's galaxy mode more than anything else.”
“Some planets have bizarre graphical glitches like resources turning invisible when you get near them and plants flickering.”
- grinding184 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 99 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the resource gathering and planetary exploration to be tedious and repetitive over time. While some enjoy the initial fun of collecting resources and engaging with the story, the gameplay often devolves into a grindy experience that can detract from overall enjoyment. Despite these criticisms, a few players appreciate the humor and writing, suggesting that the grind can be manageable if approached with specific goals in mind.
“The exploration is fun; it's not tedious and doesn't feel like a grind.”
“It's not grindy: as of now, fighting and special encounters net you decent money, so there's no need to hunt for minerals unless you have to.”
“The lander element of the game is easily the most tedious, grind-oriented, and disappointing part of the game.”
“The grinding for resources can be a pain.”
“Planet landing is a grinding chore, where planet landers explode simply because they are bored or whatever.”
- music130 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its nostalgic remixes of classic tracks from Star Control II, while others feel it falls short of the original's iconic sound. Some players appreciate the catchy and atmospheric compositions that enhance the exploration experience, but others criticize the repetitiveness and lack of variety in the soundtrack. Overall, while the music is generally considered good and fitting for a space adventure, it does not consistently reach the heights of its predecessor.
“The music is great, it's made by some of the same people as in the originals, though you can kinda see how they evolved as artists when they got older.”
“The music is absolutely fantastic.”
“The music really brings all of it together nicely.”
“None of this is helped by the nearly complete absence of a soundtrack; an essential ingredient for creating atmosphere.”
“I'll go even as far as to say the music becomes irritating, especially the planet lander music (which you will hear a lot especially during early game).”
“The soundtrack is overly repetitive.”
- stability38 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 84 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting various glitches and bugs, particularly related to graphics and user interface, though most agree that these issues are not game-breaking. Some users experienced significant performance problems, including freezing and stuttering, while others noted that recent patches have improved stability. Overall, while there are notable bugs, the game remains playable for many, with some players reporting a smooth experience.
“Game is well optimized, that's for sure; runs great on my 4790k 1080ti!”
“My entire playthrough was bug free, crash free and took about 30 hours to complete.”
“Easy to jump into and runs great on my old laptop that is held together by duct tape.”
“Some planets have bizarre graphical glitches like resources turning invisible when you get near them and plants flickering.”
“Unplayable for me - freezes up and stutters every few minutes.”
“A lot of elements of the game feel rushed, buggy, or incomplete.”
- optimization26 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 31 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, particularly during planetary exploration, which can lead to lag and stuttering. While some users noted that the game runs well on certain hardware configurations, others criticized the overall optimization, citing problems like inaccurate performance indicators, long loading times, and graphical glitches. Overall, it appears that the game requires further optimization to enhance stability and performance across various systems.
“Game is well optimized, that's for sure, runs great on my 4790k 1080ti!”
“Seriously, the performance the coders got out of this engine is excellent.”
“The controls are clearly optimized for the console release.”
“Crashes and non-optimized landing on worlds allow this game to fail to shine.”
“Optimization is poor, especially some planets can become laggy without really enough going on screen to justify the lag.”
“Game isn't optimized, demands page file?!”
- atmosphere22 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising its immersive storytelling, character depth, and nostalgic feel reminiscent of the original Star Control titles. However, criticisms include a lack of a compelling soundtrack and certain gameplay elements that detract from the overall experience. While it captures some of the essence of its predecessor, it is seen as less impactful and at times juvenile in comparison.
“The atmosphere and graphics are nice, and the immersion is good.”
“It is a rare occasion that a game comes along which has such an immersive atmosphere carefully created by brilliant storytelling, humorous dialogues, alien races with incredible depth of character, and of course a sheer endless supply of systems to visit, planets to plunder, spaceships to blow up, and rare relics to discover.”
“Stardock really did a fabulous job of replicating the feel and atmosphere of the older Star Control titles, so I must admit that at first the aliens did seem, well, alien, since they were not the races and ships that I still remembered fairly clearly from my youth.”
“None of this is helped by the nearly complete absence of a soundtrack; an essential ingredient for creating atmosphere.”
“The absence of this type of character from the game substantially detracts from its ability to recreate the atmosphere of the first game.”
“Too blatant to fly under the radar and so frequent that it kind of clashes with the more silly and whimsical atmosphere of the game.”
- replayability20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Overall, the reviews indicate a mixed perception of replayability in the game. While some players appreciate the potential for replay through player-generated content and different alliances, many express disappointment with the linear storyline and limited replay value, suggesting that the game may not offer enough incentive for multiple playthroughs. The potential for future DLC and mods is seen as a hopeful avenue to enhance replayability.
“I consider this game to have a high replay value.”
“The main game is worth your money, and player-generated content will seriously up the replayability factor.”
“You will find replay value in the alliances you create, who you create them with, when you create them, and the favors you decide to do for each one; you simply won't win by sheer domination because there really isn't a way to exploit the combat mechanics to your benefit, so for those calling the combat simple, they are right in saying so, but it's not the game's flaw, it's actually the game's strength.”
“The single greatest downside to this game is the lack of replayability.”
“I took my time, and was done in about 20 hours, and thanks to the linear story the replayability of this game is nil.”
“Replay value for the single player version is pretty low; I might see myself playing it again next year or maybe doing a speed run.”
- emotional10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its engaging campaign, which evokes feelings reminiscent of classic titles like Mass Effect, particularly in its heartfelt character interactions and humorous moments. While the repetitive missions and vast map can be overwhelming, the quirky and endearing cast of characters provides a refreshing and enjoyable experience that resonates with players. Overall, the game successfully balances humor and warmth, making players feel like genuine space captains amidst a mix of adorable and serious alien encounters.
“Nevertheless, I would recommend buying this game (on sale) just for the first 10 hours of the campaign alone, which really made me feel like I was playing a new cartoonish Mass Effect.”
“They are all at once adorable, terrifying, clever, hilarious, and heartfelt.”
“The quirky yet wholesome cast of characters allows for a breath of fresh air with each encounter on any planet.”
- character development5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
Overall, the character development in the game is a mixed bag; while the character designs, animation, and voice acting are praised for their quality and humor, many reviewers feel that the characters themselves lack depth and complexity, resulting in a somewhat superficial narrative experience.
“It's a worthy sequel - good story, amusing writing, great character design and animation, mechanics pulled right out of SC2 and given a bit of modern spit-and-polish.”
“The character designs, animation, and voice acting were a lot of fun and very well done.”
“The dialogue is well thought out and funny, and the character design is well thought out.”
“The aliens are all too thin, not enough story, no character development.”
“It's painfully basic; a child could understand it. In my opinion, the on-point character designs, voices, and personalities more than make up for this plain type of storytelling.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been widely criticized as a cash grab, with many players feeling that the DLC and overall content do not justify the sale price. While there are in-game purchases available, they are seen as minimal and not enough to enhance the experience, leading to disappointment and a sense of missed potential.
“I have a gut feeling that this game was designed with microtransactions in mind, but got rid of it due to backlash in other games. There are items that you can purchase with in-game currency ('ru') that speed up certain things, although only slightly.”
“The monetization model is fair, allowing players to enjoy the game without feeling pressured to spend real money.”
“I appreciate that the game offers cosmetic items for purchase, which don't affect gameplay balance and allow players to customize their experience.”
“The TL;DR: not worth the sale price, and as mentioned by many who played the previous games this was based on, this is a cash grab by an unrelated company.”
“We should be facing an imminent part 4 release, but part 3 is still 'on the horizon.' While I support the main game, the DLC is not worth the effort and is nothing more than a cash grab.”
“Underwhelming, feels like a lost opportunity and maybe even a little like a cash grab.”
Critic Reviews
Star Control: Origins Review
Star Control: Origins does a great job bringing back the classic game's humorous aliens and energetic 2D space battles, but everything you do on the ground is a chore.
69%Star Control: Origins Review (PC)
Stardock set out to offer players a game in which they can explore galaxies at their own pace, without being constrained to a linear narrative, and brilliantly succeeded. Star Control: Origins gives the player a reason to begin the journey, but it's the player who decides where and when to go. The game explains you the rules, but doesn't hold your hand throughout your adventures, hence the freedom feel. The top-notch writing wants to imply that Star Control: Origins doesn't take too seriously, but you have all the ingredients of a full Star Trek season. The influences are clearly there, so if you're a Trekkie, you'll feel right at home playing Stardock's game. +4more More importantly, Star Control: Origins feels very much alive. As you set out to explore new galaxies, seek out new life and new civilizations, you'll fly by galaxies with vibrant spaceship traffic. You can hail vessels you meet in the outer space, or simply open fire if you're pursuing a more hostile approach. Star Control: Origins perfectly combines exceptional writing, total exploration freedom, satisfying space combat, excellent voice acting and hypnotizing music. Although I felt intimidated by the importance of the journey ahead, the well written, humorous dialogues gently transitioned me into a state of pure excitement. No words can better describe Star Control: Origins than actually playing it. It's a masterpiece.
90%Star Control: Origins Review – Star Talk The Next Generation
Star Control: Origins boasts some of the sharpest writing I’ve come across in a while. It made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions, which is a rare thing. Unfortunately, this space adventure is at its worst when it’s at its spaciest. A lack of navigational tools, dull resource collecting, and oversimplified space battles all conspire to knock the game down a peg. Star Control: Origins serves up a lively galaxy worth exploring, but sometimes the commute can be a killer.
70%
