Star Survivor
- February 17, 2023
- spaceowlgames
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Star Survivor" is a rogue-lite survivor asteroids game, where you must carefully control your ship with Newtonian physics to avoid enemy swarms and utilize weapon placement strategy in 4 quadrants. Gain resources from each kill to unlock new ships and stack the odds in your favor. The game offers 3 modes: Campaign, Challenge, and Endless, with 6 unique ships and various weapons to build overpowered combinations.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Engaging gameplay with a unique deck-building system that allows for various strategies and ship configurations.
- Fun and addictive, especially for fans of the bullet-hell and rogue-lite genres, with a good balance of challenge and replayability.
- Active developer support with regular updates and responsiveness to community feedback.
- Severe performance issues, including frame rate drops and stuttering, especially in later stages of gameplay.
- Bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as weapons not firing or objectives not registering.
- Lack of variety in enemy types and repetitive mission objectives, which can lead to a feeling of monotony over time.
- optimization126 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe graphical and performance issues, particularly during busy endgame scenarios, leading to significant stuttering and frame drops that can render the game unplayable. While some users note that initial levels run smoothly, the performance deteriorates as gameplay progresses, especially with certain weapon builds. Many reviewers express hope for future updates to address these issues, but currently, the game's optimization is considered poor and in need of urgent improvement.
“Despite some ongoing performance issues, this game is a promising title.”
“While the game is early access and suffers currently from some performance issues, the iterations behind the game lead to a fantastic take on the reverse bullet hell genre.”
“The launch hasn't been the smoothest, with performance issues and glitches, but the developer is already active in working on those, so I'm not overly worried about it.”
“The worst problem is: horrendous optimization that gets worse the longer you play.”
“The frame rate drops and stuttering is so bad it's barely playable.”
“If you try to push any sort of synergistic build into harder difficulty levels it starts chugging worse than an asthmatic Thomas the Tank Engine stuck in a coal mine without an inhaler, which is indicative of either a memory leak, poor optimization, too many calculations performed at once, or probably all three.”
- gameplay96 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Star Survivor" combines elements from popular titles like "Vampire Survivors" and introduces unique mechanics such as deck-building and intricate weapon systems, offering a fun and engaging experience. However, players have noted significant performance issues, lack of balance, and a need for more content, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the core gameplay loop is praised for its excitement and challenge, many feel it lacks depth and polish compared to more established games in the genre.
“Star Survivor, the latest offering from developer Spaceowl Games, draws inspiration from the critically acclaimed Vampire Survivors, featuring an array of captivating gameplay elements, a plethora of weapons and upgrades, and high-stakes decision-making on the fly that can mean the difference between survival and demise.”
“It's not just Vampire Survivors in space, as it has more complex steering mechanics (moving, turning, and boosting, along with an overload bar mechanic and unique boosting modifiers in some ships), and mastering them gives satisfaction.”
“Fun and challenging gameplay, great soundtrack and sound design, good graphics for the style chosen.”
“Balance is nonexistent, the gameplay has little substance, updates have not made the game any better, and the dev has made achievements that were impossible to unlock at the time, so beware if you're someone that likes to 100% their games.”
“Primarily its issues revolve around performance, visibility, and confused gameplay design.”
“Pushing the gameplay really causes issues and makes for a less than great experience.”
- story56 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 88 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth, with many reviewers noting that there is no significant narrative to engage with. Players navigate a series of repetitive missions on a hexagonal grid, primarily focused on combat and upgrades, rather than a compelling storyline. While the campaign allows for some player choice in mission selection, it is described as feeling more like a gimmick than a meaningful journey, with little differentiation between missions beyond their objectives.
“You pick your path through a series of missions on your way to beat the boss.”
“Campaign mode takes you to a hexagonal grid of available missions, XP and upgrades persist through the levels, and you fight a boss in the last level.”
“Each phase has a story to tell; soon you will add to that.”
“☑ no story”
“Another thing, I'm not particularly convinced the campaign is anything more than a gimmick; there's not enough to differentiate any given choice, outside of finding more or less shops. The only things to choose from for regular missions are just variations of 'kill loads of things in giant waves while breaking asteroids for goodies.'”
“Very repetitive missions with simple objectives really just grind it down into 'how fast can I start to spin in place and kill everything while doing x, y, or z objective.' Only two really encourage you to move around, and one of those two specifically involves staying in one place for a period of time.”
- graphics52 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally well-received, featuring beautiful environments and a solid art style that enhances gameplay. However, players report significant performance issues, particularly during busy end-game scenarios, leading to graphical lag and stuttering. While some appreciate the aesthetic choices, others feel that the visuals can become overwhelming, suggesting a need for more graphical options to improve clarity and performance.
“The game has some really beautiful environments and the graphics are really well designed and laid out.”
“Fun and challenging gameplay, great soundtrack and sound design, good graphics for the style chosen.”
“A charmingly simple, yet effective, art style that lends itself to big ship combat.”
“There are also severe graphical and performance issues once you get into screen busy end game.”
“It seems like the game is going for retro without the aesthetic or simplicity to make it work.”
“It needs improvements from visuals over options and controller support (not fully working!) to basic things that are important for this genre like enemy and danger visualization and feedback.”
- music30 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality, with many describing it as upbeat and engaging, enhancing the overall experience. However, some players express a desire for more variety, noting that the limited soundtrack can become repetitive over time. Additionally, there are reports of audio issues during intense gameplay, which detracts from the overall enjoyment.
“It's simple, yet deep, with a great art style, music, and variety in gameplay thanks to the countless upgrades and many different ship classes to throw them on.”
“Fun and challenging gameplay, great soundtrack and sound design, good graphics for the style chosen.”
“Music is great, makes me think of Hellbender (Windows 95) and Unreal Tournament 2004.”
“The music is likeable enough but fades into the background while you're trying to survive.”
“Ah yeah, no music in the game, no borderless screen mode, and clipping space stations.”
“(played for 8 hours on the demo, then 9 hours on the full release, unlocked all ships, 75% of the cards, beat the campaign on impossible, tried to push endless on impossible but couldn't get past the horrible choppiness. Also, the music and sounds cut out/get glitchy and weird when a lot of stuff is going on, which made me mute everything after about an hour)”
- stability28 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its numerous bugs and stability issues, particularly during key moments like the final boss fight, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. While some players acknowledge that it is still in early access and appreciate the solid core mechanics, many express a desire for improved optimization and fewer glitches. Overall, the developers are noted for being responsive to player feedback, which offers some hope for future stability improvements.
“Still in early access, but the basics of the game are solid, the game is pretty much bug-free, and hopefully they will flesh out a couple of things to make it a good arcade romp.”
“Lots of replay value, runs great, looks (and plays) good, and active developers that listen to players.”
“This game is a buggy goddamn mess!”
“I do enjoy this game, for the most part, but there is always a place about halfway through a run where the game freezes and then aliens teleport into my ship.”
“As an early access game, it's buggy and unfinished, of course.”
- replayability18 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game boasts exceptional replayability, featuring various modes such as challenge and endless modes, along with customizable decks and unlockable content that encourage repeated playthroughs. Players appreciate the depth and variety in gameplay, with different build types and selectable difficulties enhancing the experience. Despite some minor weapon balance issues, the overall design and active developer support contribute to a highly engaging and replayable game.
“The game shines with its expansive approach to replayability, offering a depth that keeps me coming back for more.”
“Each ship has an interesting gimmick to build around, the weapons are pretty neat, and being able to design your own deck of upgrades to take on endless mode is a really cool idea that offers a lot of replayability, along with unlocking permanent card upgrades by completing the campaign multiple times.”
“There are a fair amount of unlockables to keep you busy for a while, and the challenge mode, endless mode, and fine-tuning your custom decks provide quite a bit of replay value after that.”
“Loads of replayability with build type and selectable difficulty and modes.”
“The different game modes really add to the replayability as well.”
- grinding12 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and tedious, as many basic upgrades and level-up options are locked behind significant grinding efforts. While the deck-building system allows for customization, the need to grind for currency to maximize upgrades adds to the frustration, leading some to feel that a second life may be necessary to endure the grind. Despite this, some players have discovered enjoyable strategies that make the farming process more entertaining.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“There is a deck building system stapled to this game, but it is shockingly grindy to get anywhere with it.”
“I got the achievement on one of the final sector missions, which had a ridiculously grindy objective.”
“Think Rogue Genesia or Vampire Survivors, but you have to unlock every level-up option individually by grinding. It's really weird how much basic stuff is gated by that, and there's very little variety to play with.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its carefully crafted soundtrack, which enhances the overall experience and provides a cinematic quality that immerses players in the game world.
“Each track seems like it was designed with great care to complement the game's atmosphere, lending an almost cinematic quality to the experience.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews express skepticism about the game's monetization strategy, with some users questioning whether it is merely a cash grab and if a full version (1.0) will ever be released. This concern suggests a lack of trust in the developers' intentions and the game's future development.
“Is this just a cash grab and will 1.0 never come?”
“Is this just a cash grab and will 1.0 never come?”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express a deep sense of disappointment and heartbreak regarding the game's development, feeling that their investment of time and effort was ultimately undermined by poor decisions made in the final stages. This emotional response highlights a strong connection to the game's development process and a sense of betrayal.
