Starcom: Nexus

About

Starcom: Nexus is a single player open world role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Wx3 Labs, LLC and was released on December 12, 2019. It received very positive reviews from players.

Suddenly thrown into an unknown galaxy, you must explore, fight or befriend aliens and transform your ship from a small survey vessel into a powerful battlecruiser to unravel the mystery of the forces that brought you here and find your way home.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,860 reviews

story392 positive mentions

grinding70 negative mentions

Engaging and well-written story with suspenseful space exploration and mysterious events.
Fun and satisfying ship customization with modular building and meaningful upgrades.
Addictive gameplay loop combining exploration, combat, research, and narrative progression.

Travel times between star systems can be long and tedious, especially early in the game.
Some quests and puzzles are overly vague or obtuse, often requiring external guides to progress.
Endings feel abrupt or underdeveloped, with a lack of proper conclusion or payoff.

story
1,059 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
60%
3%
The game features a compelling and well-crafted sci-fi story that gradually unfolds through exploration, puzzles, and interactions with alien races, keeping players engaged with mysteries, twists, and meaningful choices. While the narrative is praised for its depth, writing, and integration with gameplay, many players find the quest system confusing and poorly guided, leading to frustrating backtracking and difficulty in tracking objectives. Despite some rough edges, bugs, and an abrupt or underdeveloped ending, the story remains the game's strongest aspect, drawing players into an immersive space adventure reminiscent of classic sci-fi tales.
- “The story kept me hooked from start to finish and I always felt a sense of wanting to explore the next system to see what little story or interaction I was going to experience next.”
- “The story is absolutely outstanding.”
- “The story and text of the game are well-written, and it seems the writers either have scientific knowledge or consulted with people who do, which results in details that are more believable and interesting than in most games.”
- “The quest system is terrible, fetch quests disguised as 'clever puzzles'; the mistake is thinking that a total lack of access to information already presented is 'challenging'.”
- “The plot is extremely thin with no effort made to integrate 'fetch this, blow that up, go there' quests into any kind of real storyline.”
- “The mission log is a mess too; soon enough you'll wonder what happened where and why.”
gameplay
328 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
53%
3%
The gameplay centers on an addictive loop of space exploration, scanning planets, ship customization, combat, and resource management, delivering a simple yet satisfying experience enhanced by a strong narrative. While some find it repetitive or slow-paced, particularly in travel and backtracking, the mechanics remain engaging and accessible, with modular ship-building and varied upgrades providing depth. Overall, it offers a well-balanced, immersive space adventure that appeals especially to fans of classic sci-fi exploration games.
- “The gameplay loop of exploration, resource discovery, and ship research/development is very satisfying, sprinkling in some story-driven crew management elements as well.”
- “Starcom nexus is a true indie hidden gem that nails the core concepts of this genre and does so extremely well, offering some of the best sci-fi exploration gameplay I've seen around in years.”
- “Without giving anything away, the premise is clever, the ship modification mechanic is really fun, the exploration of star systems keeps you on your toes, and the variety of enemies you encounter keep the game entertaining throughout the entire story.”
- “Losing an hour of gameplay because autosaves are too far apart, make this a no!”
- “There's way too much time spent watching your ship slowwwwwwwly travel between star systems, as in that's often more than half your gameplay time at certain spots in the game.”
- “The final 10% is interesting in terms of story but clearly rushed in terms of gameplay: you're expected to do very specific things in a very specific order else the option to ask the obvious question to the obviously relevant NPC won't unlock and you won't be able to progress.”
graphics
165 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
47%
2%
Starcom: Nexus features clean, vibrant 2D top-down graphics that are simple yet polished, with detailed ship designs, beautiful planetary visuals, and appealing special effects that enhance the sci-fi atmosphere. While not AAA-level or photorealistic, the graphics are well-executed, immersive, and fitting for the genre and price, receiving praise for their cohesion and aesthetic charm despite occasional blockiness or minor issues. Overall, the visuals enrich the gameplay experience, creating a captivating space exploration ambiance.
- “Starcom: Nexus has an amazingly deep and original story, quirky characters, interesting aliens, great gameplay, beautiful graphics, an atmospheric soundtrack, and tons of cool stuff to discover.”
- “The graphics are very well done and there are a lot of fine attention to little details.”
- “The graphics and designs of the ships and stations are nice and simple, yet the background worlds and animations are beautifully done.”
- “Kind of ridiculous considering that there are no voices, the music sucks, no fancy graphics or anything that screams high budget really; even the planet art gets recycled so not every planet is unique or anything.”
- “I am not a fan of the 'pile of boxes' way ships are handled, and the aesthetics of the ships is something a game like this lives or dies on for me, and the ship design here was something I just could not ignore or look past.”
- “Going nowhere for a long time with lousy graphics and tiny fonts just to mash buttons for a shoot-em-up.”
grinding
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
3%
96%
Grinding in the game is often described as repetitive and tedious, especially due to frequent backtracking, resource farming, and slow travel between locations. While early gameplay and upgrades feel engaging, the mid to late game tends to become a grind-heavy slog with frustratingly vague objectives and repetitive tasks, which can diminish player enjoyment. Some players found grinding manageable or even fun, but many noted that it hampers pacing and reduces motivation to continue.
- “This game isn't grindy either, everything you do progresses the game.”
- “A good one-third of this game was just backtracking to previously explored planets which had 'more to investigate', which is tedious and not fun.”
- “The amount of grinding to have a somewhat decent ship is obnoxious.”
- “Whilst the design of the combat and exploration aspect of the game works superbly in the early hours of play, it makes the endgame an unbearable tedious and uninspiring slog.”
music
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
47%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric, ambient qualities that enhance immersion and evoke a sense of wonder and mystery fitting for space exploration. Combat tracks are noted for their martial and intense tone, while exploration music is relaxing and soothing, though some find the soundtrack decent but not particularly memorable. Overall, the soundtrack effectively supports the game's mood and gameplay, contributing positively to the player experience.
- “Sound design supports immersion with ambient space tones, subtle musical themes, and satisfying weapon effects.”
- “The music is well done, and becomes appropriately slow or heavy depending on deep space exploration or gratuitous space battles.”
- “The music is atmospheric and relaxing, with a mysterious vibe very fitting for an exploration game.”
- “Kind of ridiculous considering that there are no voices, the music sucks, no fancy graphics or anything that screams high budget really, even the planet art gets recycled so it's not like every planet is unique or anything.”
- “The combat tracks and other music elements are decent but not particularly memorable.”
- “Music is ho-hum and gets repetitive quickly.”
replayability
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
72%
16%
Replayability in the game is generally limited due to its largely fixed galaxy and story structure, with only minor randomization and choice variations offering some variation. While it provides a satisfying single playthrough of around 20-30 hours, most players find little incentive to replay beyond experimenting with different tactics, tech trees, or story choices. The game is better appreciated for its narrative and exploration rather than as a highly replayable experience.
- “A good little bit of randomization of when/where you find side quests and events, providing decent replayability.”
- “If you play it as though it were a rogue-like game (permadeath), you'll find it has a surprising amount of replay value.”
- “There's a degree of replayability due to story choices, relations with alien species, and tech tree decisions.”
- “Not a lot of replayability.”
- “Little to no replay value, sadly.”
- “The game is quite linear, so not much replay value and ship building is quite limited, but I loved the story and the exploration aspect of the game.”
humor
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a well-balanced and clever sense of humor that complements its serious sci-fi narrative, with witty dialogue and amusing references enhancing the atmosphere without overwhelming the story. While not as overtly comedic as classics like Star Control II, its humor is consistently entertaining, thoughtfully integrated, and appreciated for adding charm and levity throughout the gameplay and writing.
- “I won't list what I think inspired it since that'd probably do it a disservice as it stands on its own with its unique and very well thought out world-building and excellent writing that has just the right dash of humor to augment the more serious moments, plot, and character.”
- “The hard sci-fi has wonderful attention to detail while still managing to be funny.”
- “The dialogue is genuinely funny at points, and the events/encounters are far more interesting and less repetitive than any other games with this kind of scripted encounters sort of system.”
atmosphere
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
29%
13%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its colorful, immersive space visuals, atmospheric and fitting music, and well-crafted sound design that enhance the sense of exploration and mystery. It effectively balances moods with humorous and serious tones, creating a memorable, engaging deep-space experience reminiscent of classic sci-fi. While some find the pacing slow due to map limitations, overall the atmosphere is considered a standout element that deeply enriches the gameplay and storytelling.
- “Space backgrounds are colorful and atmospheric, with nebulae and planetary bodies providing visual variety.”
- “The music is atmospheric and relaxing, with a mysterious vibe very fitting for an exploration game.”
- “[i]Starcom: Nexus[/i] has an amazingly deep and original story, quirky characters, interesting aliens, great gameplay, beautiful graphics, an atmospheric soundtrack, and tons of cool stuff to discover.”
- “It has the atmosphere of exploration that I was hoping to find in Star Trek Online (spoiler: it isn't there).”
- “The limitations of the map and tagging system cause you to spend far too long zooming in and out of systems to see if they have anything to offer you. You spend literally 25% of your time waiting for your ship to fly through empty space to reach incredibly out-of-the-way zones for no reason other than 'atmosphere' (loses its appeal after the first 5 minutes of nothing with hours to go), and I can only assume the actual ending was just... given up on?”
- “Exploration is enjoyable and varies from the quite obvious to the well-hidden, creating an 'old school' atmosphere of uncertainty at certain points without overdoing it.”
stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
73%
The game exhibits occasional glitches and rare crashes, particularly with certain missions and occasional temporary freezes, but these issues generally do not prevent progression. Despite some bugs and frustrating controls on specific devices, the overall stability is good, with well-optimized code and ongoing developer support addressing most problems. Many users find the experience polished and smooth compared to typical early access titles.
- “The UI is good, the code runs great and the story is interesting.”
- “Really well made, looks good, runs great, awesome story, interesting exploration and well-structured progression.”
- “That said, what is available feels pretty polished and most notably quite bug-free.”
- “Nearly all glitches have been ironed out by very decent developers who are actively trying to fix issues, but there are a couple of missions that I could not complete, such as the distress signal mission and the Saurian research station in Araon space, which prevented me from trading and caused faction hostility.”
- “The Unity engine freezes temporarily at the endgame.”
- “The game is super buggy, and the creators don't seem to have made much effort to handle this.”
optimization
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
54%
8%
The game offers strong optimization with smooth performance even during intense combat involving numerous ships and projectiles, and a polished, low-overhead interface. While ship customization impacts combat effectiveness, the gameplay remains accessible and addictive, though some minor slowdowns occur in the ship log as it grows larger. Overall, it delivers a solid, well-optimized experience that runs smoothly on modest hardware.
- “You can build a heavily armored combat vessel bristling with beam weapons and missile launchers, or a lean exploration craft optimized for speed and scanning efficiency.”
- “Experimentation is encouraged, as different configurations can dramatically change combat performance and survivability.”
- “Even with dozens of ships, drones, plasma projectiles, and missiles on the screen, the performance is smooth.”
- “The ship log might benefit from some optimization because it was taking noticeably longer to open at the end of the game than the start, but it's pretty understandable considering how much stuff goes in there.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game elicits strong emotional engagement through its rich, handcrafted encounters and evocative storytelling, making players feel like genuine space explorers charting unknown frontiers. Its blend of sci-fi themes and nostalgic adventure creates a deeply immersive and heartfelt experience, though some minor issues like the final boss fight slightly detract from its overall impact.
- “Some of the concepts are neat, even provoking an emotional response—like the crashed ship with three guys, two of whom died with a ton of wealth and valuables, and the third one only having a couple of empty bottles.”
- “The map is filled to the brim with handmade interesting encounters: this is one of the very few games which made me feel really like a space traveller charting the unknown and facing new phenomena.”
- “This game brought me back 28 years and made me feel 14 years old again.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users appreciate Starcom: Nexus for its nostalgic approach, praising it for avoiding DLC and microtransactions and offering a straightforward, fair monetization model.
- “Starcom: Nexus brings me back to a time when games weren't just about DLC and microtransactions – kudos to the creator.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features strong character development, offering well-developed personalities, including those of the various races encountered.
- “There's a lot of good character development as well, and the same goes for the races you meet.”