Starblast

About

"Starblast is a fast-paced, massively multiplayer shooter game with fabulous gameplay and pretty visuals. Play with up to 2 players in 4 game modes, including Survival and Team mode, where you mine asteroids, upgrade ships, and battle for supremacy. With 31 unique ship models, 10 weapon classes, and special powers, Starblast offers a customizable and engaging experience for all players."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 383 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

monetization13 negative mentions

The game is easy to learn and offers a fun, competitive experience once you understand the mechanics.
There are multiple game modes and a variety of ships, allowing for diverse gameplay and strategies.
The community is active and supportive, with frequent updates and events that keep the game engaging.

The game lacks proper tutorials and guidance, making it difficult for new players to understand how to play effectively.
There are significant balance issues, particularly with higher-tier ships dominating gameplay, leading to frustrating experiences.
The game suffers from lag and connectivity issues, especially during peak times, which can ruin the overall experience.

gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
Gameplay in Starblast is a mixed bag, with some players praising its engaging and straightforward mechanics that promote teamwork and skill, while others criticize it for being unbalanced and occasionally frustrating, especially in competitive modes. The game features a variety of modes that cater to different play styles, but issues like grind and lack of catch-up mechanics can detract from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, many find the gameplay addictive and enjoyable, particularly in cooperative settings.
- “It's a great gameplay loop that rewards skills and teamwork.”
- “The collaborative and competitive nature of the community amplifies the enjoyment factor and ensures that you'll always find engaging gameplay opportunities.”
- “Starblast consists of 4 core game modes: (team deathmatch, survival mode, invasion, and pro deathmatch) with 2 sub-game modes: (modding space and custom games) each game mode features a different objective with the same easy-to-learn core mechanics, allowing for games to be simple yet exciting every time, while also requiring minimal prior experience.”
- “Pretty game with very bad gameplay.”
- “Matches also take forever with no real climax. It has a runaway leader problem with no catch-up mechanics.”
- “Seriously unfair gameplay compared to being a novice; even when you know what to do, you still can't do much. Do not buy this just because of how it looks; you will regret it, trust me.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
44%
17%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some users criticizing the simplistic and low-quality 2D visuals typical of mobile apps, which fail to impress on PC. However, others appreciate the good design and competitive 3D graphics, highlighting the game's standout visuals compared to similar titles. Overall, while there are some positive remarks about the graphics, many feel they do not meet the expectations for a PC game.
- “Great graphics and very competitive.”
- “Very fun, love the graphics and gameplay style!”
- “The graphics are good for this type of game.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the mobile app, all this does is scale up the simplistic low-quality vector art assets used to make the mobile app, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “The mobile app features somewhat lazy, simplistic 'retro' looking 2D graphics, of the type you normally expect to see in low-effort flash/browser games and mobile apps.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
monetization
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
87%
The monetization of Starblast is primarily centered around its ad-free experience on Steam, which users can access by purchasing the game for a small fee. While the game is available for free with ads and limited features, players who opt for the paid version enjoy additional benefits such as ship customization, private servers, and a standalone desktop experience. Overall, the monetization strategy is seen as a cash grab by some, but many players appreciate the option to pay for an enhanced, ad-free gameplay experience.
- “Solid game, playable for free on a browser, and recommended, as playing on Steam's only benefit is no ads, which can be solved by an ad blocker.”
- “The Steam edition offers several more features like ship customization, private servers, beta features, and most importantly, no ads.”
- “Starblast is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it was a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile devs (although this is also available for free as a browser game).”
- “It is free with limited features, yeah but infested with ads.”
- “Just expect the 50/50 I mentioned above if getting this game either for free or the 'full' game (aka pay us money and no more ads, it is an io game after all it's cheap for a reason).”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while some players find it entertaining to engage in chaotic gameplay and laugh at the antics of others, many express frustration with the community's behavior, including griefing and childish antics that detract from the experience. Overall, the humor can be enjoyable, but it is often overshadowed by negative interactions with other players.
- “You'll either be running for your life, or laughing as you blast other players into oblivion.”
- “Amazing game, community is trash but it's funny.”
- “To top that off, the game is full of childlike griefers that steal your gems, bump into you for fun even if they are on your team, and trash players that spam the emote buttons because they feel good about themselves when they kill a low-level player.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
The music in the game is highly praised, with many players noting its ability to evoke strong emotions, particularly the intro song. The soundtrack complements the visuals well, enhancing the overall experience without causing any technical issues. Players also appreciate the game's atmosphere, making it enjoyable to play alongside other audio content.
- “The intro song plays with my brain; it gives me chills every time I start the game.”
- “The music is amazing, and I have had no lag or connection problems ever.”
- “The soundtrack is nice, and the visuals are very good in my opinion.”
- “The intro song is playing with my brain; it gives me chills every time I start the game.”
- “Good to play while listening to a podcast or music.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of mining to be largely tedious and frustrating, often leading to a desire to log off due to repetitive tasks and the risk of losing progress from spawn kills. However, recent updates introducing new game modes and mechanics have alleviated some of this tedium, suggesting a potential shift towards a more engaging experience. Some players propose further adjustments, such as limiting gem drops near other players, to encourage competition over cooperation.
- “Mining is for the most part tedious to the point where you just want to click log off.”
- “It's a bit hard; one minute you're farming gems and feeling happy, but the next you're being spawn killed and your progress resets. It's kind of a gamble whether you have fun or not.”
- “They could have coded it so gems don't drop if more than one player is nearby to encourage fighting instead of teaming and farming.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Overall, players report that the game is relatively stable with few glitches and simple controls, but they express frustration over a lack of updates and balance issues in various game modes. While some modes are deemed unplayable or repetitive, the core gameplay remains enjoyable for long-time players. The stability of the game is overshadowed by concerns about its current meta and player engagement.
- “At first, I liked this game; it's well-made and bug-free.”
- “Long time player here. The game was fun when I started, but the current complete lack of updates is not fun and makes the game dry. The only game mode with any sort of real life outside of the mods is team, but that mode suffers from the current meta, which is horridly unbalanced. Survival has a non-existent gem drop, invasion is highly repetitive and not doable without a good team, and capture the flag is a buggy mess.”
- “Battle Royale is dead and has not been changed in the past 3+ years. Starblast Racing Champion is dead and isn't popular. Destroy the Mothership isn't fun unless the players are good, and Rumble suffers from bad maps.”
- “The U-Series is one shot, one kill, which isn't my thing personally. Alien Intrusion has issues with a lack of players and the aliens you farm becoming far too powerful. Nautic Series is an unbalanced mess.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story aspect of the game is enriched by a vibrant community, where players can collaborate on cooperative missions or engage in competitive PvP battles, enhancing the overall narrative experience. The backstory provided adds depth to the gameplay, inviting players to immerse themselves further in the game's world.
- “Let me give you a little backstory:”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a thrilling competitive edge, driven by the intense battles between spaceships vying for gems, which keeps players engaged and on high alert.
- “The concept of spaceships fighting for gems creates a competitive atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The game's optimization is generally solid, with smooth performance reported by users. However, the visual fidelity is considered somewhat basic, offering minimal enhancements over its web version.
- “Performance-wise, it runs fine and as it should. The visual fidelity can best be called 'spartan' because while pretty, it doesn't enhance itself too much from the web variant it already was.”
- “The optimization is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems without sacrificing too much in terms of graphics.”
- “I appreciate how the developers focused on optimization, ensuring that the game runs seamlessly across various platforms.”
- “Performance-wise, it runs fine and as it should; however, the visual fidelity can best be called 'spartan' because, while pretty, it doesn't enhance itself much from the web variant it already was.”
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
- “Despite the decent performance, the game feels unpolished, with many graphical glitches and inconsistent frame rates.”