Star Wolves 3: Civil War

73%
Game Brain Score Based on 150 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Star Wolves 3: Civil War Game Cover
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In "Star Wolves 3: Civil War," large-scale battles have led to a galaxy overrun by pirates and adventurers. As a player, you can influence the universe's events and impact its outcome through your choices and tactical decisions. Explore a vast world of 110 star systems, engage in non-linear gameplay with multiple endings, and form your own team in Black Chicken Studios' real-time strategy game with RPG elements, serving as a sequel to the original intergalactic epic.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

73%
Audience ScoreBased on 150 reviews
story18 positive mentions
stability12 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique blend of RPG and tactical space combat, allowing for deep customization of ships and characters.
  • It has a rich storyline with multiple endings, providing replayability and engaging narrative choices.
  • Despite its age, the game offers enjoyable gameplay mechanics and a nostalgic feel for fans of classic space strategy games.
  • The game is plagued by numerous bugs and design flaws, making it frustrating and sometimes unplayable, especially on modern systems.
  • Controls can be awkward and unresponsive, with issues like mouse sensitivity and camera movement that detract from the experience.
  • Many missions are poorly balanced, leading to difficulty spikes that can result in frequent and unfair deaths, often requiring players to rely on cheats or extensive grinding.
  • story103 mentions

    The game's story is described as having a rich premise with multiple branching paths and endings, offering replayability and interesting twists. However, players often find the narrative hard to follow due to bugs, linear mission design, and a lack of engaging side content, which can lead to frustration during gameplay. While some appreciate the depth and character development, others criticize the story for being superficial and riddled with inconsistencies, making it difficult to fully immerse in the experience.

    • “The storyline is really interesting with a lot of interesting twists along the way.”
    • “The game features a lot of meaningful choices in the story, and it takes several playthroughs to see everything and get every pilot and capital ship.”
    • “It allows for colossal replayability value because of a multitude of storyline decisions, has very cool ship and gear customization, nice mechanics, immersive combat, and a very intriguing storyline.”
    • “The story is hard to follow and is filled with translation gaps because it is a foreign game.”
    • “It gets so bad that even should you want to become engrossed with the storyline; as I did, you won't be able to as you will have to fall out of any sense of connection just to try and piece the wording together.”
    • “The story itself is quite decent but sometimes forces a gimmicky situation just to advance the plot - 'my ship blew up for no reason because the plot is giving me a new one.'”
  • gameplay31 mentions

    The gameplay is generally praised for its unique and addictive tactical battles, allowing for strategic micromanagement and customization of ships. While some players find it less mechanically demanding and occasionally punishing, the combination of active pause mechanics and immersive combat offers a fun experience, especially for fans of the genre. Overall, the gameplay is seen as solid but could benefit from a higher budget for improved polish and writing.

    • “Interesting addictive gameplay, consisting mainly of tactical battles.”
    • “The fighter mechanics are what set this game apart, since no other space sim to my knowledge does anything like it.”
    • “It allows for colossal replayability value because of a multitude of storyline decisions, has very cool ship & gear customization, nice mechanics, immersive combat, and a very intriguing storyline.”
    • “You can micromanage your team a bit and it's worth doing so (paused), but you mainly pick target order, activate abilities, or pull low health ships back; it's not a mechanically taxing game.”
    • “Overall, it's one of the games that makes me wonder why there aren't more of this type because the gameplay just works really well, but could have used a higher budget for better writing and more polish.”
    • “I would say the gameplay was okay, but yet again, I cannot claim this was a good point.”
  • graphics16 mentions

    Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the decent visuals and ship designs, while others note that the graphics feel dated compared to modern standards. Despite this, many agree that the aesthetics are well-executed and contribute positively to the gameplay experience, even if they are not groundbreaking. Some users are willing to overlook the graphical limitations due to the game's low budget and engaging features.

    • “It has great graphics and the voice acting is a lot better too.”
    • “Pro: The graphics are pretty good and the ships look amazing.”
    • “As dated as the graphics may be, nothing is out of place and everything is instantly recognizable.”
    • “Don't let the fact it has old graphics and pretty much no voice actors get in the way of purchasing this game.”
    • “Obviously the graphics aren't that good for the release date too, but I can overlook that for a low budget game.”
    • “Graphics: 4/10”
  • stability12 mentions

    The game is generally considered to be quite unstable, with numerous bugs, glitches, and poorly scripted elements that can detract from the experience. While some players find enjoyment in its core gameplay, the prevalence of game-breaking issues and nonsensical translations significantly impacts overall stability. Users recommend saving frequently due to the frequent technical problems encountered.

    • “It's also still buggy, poorly scripted, and poorly described.”
    • “Game-breaking glitches, a terrible combat system, nonsensical translations (seriously, how hard is it to pay a native English speaker to read a couple hundred pages?).”
    • “Poor scripting, buggy encounters.”
  • music5 mentions

    The music in the game is generally well-received, providing a relaxing atmosphere despite being somewhat repetitive. While the soundtrack is good, some users noted the absence of a beloved theme from a previous installment and mentioned issues with low sound volume. Overall, the music enhances the experience without being a major distraction.

    • “The soundtrack is good and doesn't feel dated to me in terms of controls.”
    • “Sound/music:”
    • “The music tends to be somewhat repetitive but not too annoying to make you turn it off.”
    • “The jittery mouse cursor and terribly low sound and music volume could somewhat be corrected, and were no real gamebreaker.”
    • “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability due to its multiple endings, diverse storyline decisions, and extensive ship and gear customization options. Players can enhance their experience further through mods, which add to the game's playability and enjoyment. Overall, the combination of varied approaches and immersive mechanics encourages players to revisit the game multiple times.

    • “Pretty good until the end and has good replayability if you're interested in the various endings by trying a different approach/loadout.”
    • “After messing with mods, I've found that I'm starting to enjoy this game. Yes, it's still hard, but being able to recruit more pilots to have a full fighter wing has made the game more playable, but only until you get some mods.”
    • “The story has multiple endings, so there is replay value in that.”
    • “It allows for colossal replayability value because of a multitude of storyline decisions, has very cool ship and gear customization, nice mechanics, immersive combat, and a very intriguing storyline.”
  • optimization3 mentions

    The game's optimization is criticized for being poor, particularly during large scripted battles where frame rates can drop significantly to 15-20 fps. While the variety of weapons and ship designs is appreciated, the outdated engine hampers overall performance.

    • “Weapons range from light, fast-firing machine guns and heavy cannons to lasers and missiles, with systems you can equip to improve the craft's performance.”
    • “The ships and weapons all look different, and each conveys its own unique feel and performance.”
    • “Outdated engine and poor optimization; this game goes down to its knees every time there is a scripted huge fight going on. Several of the ending fights often drop to 15-20 fps because of that.”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with random events quickly becoming monotonous despite attempts to enhance the experience. The combat is criticized for its poor balance, oscillating between being overly challenging and frustratingly dull, which contributes to the overall grindiness of the gameplay.

    • “The game has made an attempt to fill the universe by increasing random events and encounters significantly compared to the last game, but they can become repetitive quickly since most of the time it's the same thing over and over again.”
    • “There is only a limited amount of activities to engage in while free-roaming if you are not grinding missions.”
    • “While grinding can lead to some boredom during free time, the increased variety of random events does add some excitement to the experience.”
    • “This game has made an attempt to fill the universe by increasing random events and encounters, but they get boring quickly since most of the time it's the same thing over and over again. There is very little to do if you are free-roaming and not grinding missions.”
    • “Tough, grindy space RPG.”
    • “Combat is poorly balanced: it can be either difficult and unforgiving, or boring and tedious.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with players appreciating the immersive environment and engaging characters. The ability to pause the game adds to the experience, allowing for thoughtful strategy and breaks, enhancing overall enjoyment.

    • “I love it for the atmosphere, characters, and battle mechanics. The ability to pause the game and take a break for tea, coffee, or just to think about my next steps adds to the experience.”
    • “The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth needed to immerse players in the game world.”
    • “Despite the potential for a rich setting, the atmosphere is dull and fails to evoke any real emotion or engagement.”
    • “The game’s atmosphere is inconsistent, often breaking immersion with jarring transitions and poorly designed environments.”
  • humor1 mentions

    The humor in the game is polarizing, with some players finding it unexpectedly harsh and off-putting, likening it to an abusive relationship where the jokes can feel more painful than entertaining.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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