Starcom: Unknown Space
- September 2, 2024
- Wx3 Labs, LLC
- 22h median play time
Get on Steam"Starcom: Unknown Space" is a single-player survival exploration game set in an expansive, procedurally generated universe. As a pilot of a advanced starship, players must mine resources, upgrade their ship, and complete missions to unravel the mysteries of an unknown galaxy. With challenging encounters, various alien races, and a dynamic environment, Starcom offers a rich and immersive experience for fans of the genre.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Engaging exploration and ship customization that evokes nostalgia for classic space games like Star Control II and Escape Velocity.
- Well-written story and character interactions that add depth to the gameplay experience.
- Fun combat mechanics that allow for strategic ship design and resource management.
- Vague mission objectives and lack of clear direction can lead to confusion and aimless wandering in the game.
- Resource acquisition can feel grindy, making it difficult to upgrade ships and progress smoothly.
- Some players may find the combat too easy or repetitive, especially in the late game.
- story881 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in "Starcom: Unknown Space" is generally praised for its engaging narrative and intriguing lore, with many players appreciating the depth and complexity of the universe. However, several reviews highlight issues with mission clarity and progression, often leaving players feeling lost or stuck due to vague objectives and a lack of guidance. While the writing is well-received, some players express a desire for more structured storytelling and clearer quest markers to enhance the overall experience.
“The story is fantastic and well written.”
“The story is intriguing and delivered cleverly, handing out breadcrumbs of clues that will let you make minor leaps of logic before those are confirmed or dashed as the narrative progresses.”
“The story keeps you engaged and the gameplay loop is fun enough to see you through.”
“The mission tracking could be better; there will probably be spots where you don't know what to do next and have to read some guides and flail around a bit.”
“I really wanted to love this game but after 18 hours of playing there's no real way to easily progress the missions, I keep going to the areas marked on the map to visit and nothing happens.”
“The story is mysterious at the beginning and can initially captivate you, but later on it loses more and more depth - and that is exactly what becomes the problem in terms of gameplay after about 12 hours of playing time.”
- gameplay252 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has been generally well-received, with many players praising its engaging exploration, ship-building mechanics, and satisfying combat. While the core gameplay loop is enjoyable and reminiscent of classic space exploration games, some reviewers noted that it can become repetitive over time, particularly after extended play sessions. Overall, the game offers a solid mix of mechanics and storytelling, though some players feel it lacks depth and variety in gameplay elements.
“No boredom, challenging combat, intriguing exploration, and a good ship building mechanic.”
“It has it all: interesting mechanics, quality implementation, beautiful visuals, good UX, intriguing setting, and a surprisingly large amount of written story.”
“The gameplay loop is simple to grasp and very satisfying to engage with.”
“This offers nothing new we haven't seen before, very repetitive mechanics and poor story writing.”
“A surprisingly grindy game with little meaningful gameplay.”
“Sadly the gameplay is not very deep and can get boring after a few hours, but it's enough to go through the story and finish the missions + explore a bit.”
- graphics143 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received widespread praise for their beauty and detail, with many players noting that the visuals are well-suited to the genre and enhance the overall experience. While some reviews mention that the graphics are not hyper-realistic, they are described as polished and visually appealing, contributing to an immersive atmosphere. Overall, the combination of stunning artwork, effective sound design, and engaging gameplay mechanics creates a compelling visual experience that resonates with players.
“The graphics are beautifully polished, the music is sublime, but the gameplay is also engaging.”
“The graphics are great, the options available for quality of life are awesome, and ship design is fun.”
“The graphics are simple, but effective, contributing to a nice atmosphere.”
“There's a severe lack of cinematic detail and no ground-level visuals except for still images of what are typically pyramids.”
“Visuals: ships, despite being improved somewhat with upgrades, look overly segmented and blocky.”
“Graphics aren't the greatest but the effects are still great especially the wormhole lightning effect against the gas.”
- grinding64 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 3 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious, especially in the late game where resource gathering for ship upgrades becomes a chore. While some enjoy the exploration and ship-building mechanics, they note that the need for extensive grinding can detract from the overall experience, leading to feelings of monotony and frustration. However, a few players have found ways to mitigate the grind through strategic gameplay or by adjusting difficulty settings, suggesting that while grinding is prevalent, it can be managed with patience and planning.
“No tedious game mechanics, it just respects your time and is simply fun to play.”
“Not too grindy, you get a nice steady progression.”
“The puzzle of building a ship is nice, but not too tedious.”
“It just became a bit of a chore at the end: finishing up all the side quests, grinding for resources for shipbuilding, slowly traveling between locations trying to figure out some clues from your logs... if I were a rational player, I'd have stuck to the main quest and it would have been over in 20 hours.”
“The endgame is a little bit grindy and the end is brutal, as we don't know it is the end and we could explore further a bit.”
“So overall, I guess there is a framework here for a really good game, but what they put forward as a finished product was fairly flat, extremely grindy, minimally rewarding, and frankly more at home with a $10 price tag than 2.5 times that.”
- music45 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, likening it to iconic soundtracks like that of Mass Effect. However, some players find it generic or average, suggesting that it could benefit from a more dynamic or varied soundtrack. Overall, while the music complements the visuals and exploration experience, opinions vary on its memorability and impact.
“The music is lovely and the audio design is on point.”
“The graphics are beautifully polished, the music is sublime, but the gameplay is questionable.”
“The audio is also exceptional, with really nice use of spatial sounds and situational music.”
“While overall atmosphere is very good, I think music is somewhat lacking and generic.”
“The soundtrack is super average and uninspiring.”
“There's very few soundtracks, so it gets repetitive.”
- humor32 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a well-balanced blend of humor, with witty banter among crew members that enhances the immersive experience of space exploration. Players appreciate the clever dialogue and subtle comedic moments, which add depth without overwhelming the narrative. While not a comedy, the humor is engaging and complements the gameplay, making for a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.
“Along the way, you form alliances with some cool and funny alien races.”
“The banter between the crew while flying through empty space is honestly funny and sometimes even reveals stuff about the game universe.”
“Funny and insightful dialogue that is true to the genre.”
- replayability28 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is generally viewed as limited due to its linear plot and static map design, with many players expressing a lack of motivation to replay once the main objectives have been completed. While some aspects, such as shipbuilding and different gameplay approaches, offer a degree of replayability, the absence of procedural generation and randomized events significantly hampers the experience for most. Players appreciate the initial playthrough but often feel that the game lacks the depth needed for multiple runs.
“All the gameplay systems being at the very least good and even allowing some replayability with focusing on different systems and weapons just puts the icing on the cake.”
“I anticipate the majority of replayability will come in the form of taking a very different tech approach (currently I am going lite on armor and buffing repair speed + heavy investment in missiles -- seems to be working so far but I'm sure other approaches are equally good or better).”
“The shipbuilding gives it a degree of replayability.”
“The game has zero replay value for me, and I don't want to go back in again just to get a different ending for a different achievement.”
“Downside is limited replayability since so much is based on exploration.”
“Same map every time so it's pretty limited replay value; I don't see playing it again, mostly because the end game is so frustrating.”
- atmosphere21 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its relaxing and immersive qualities, enhanced by beautiful visuals and a simplistic, art-deco aesthetic. Players appreciate the blend of exploration and combat, as well as the freedom to engage with the story and missions at their own pace, contributing to a sense of atmospheric tension. While the music is noted as somewhat generic, the overall ambiance resonates well with the game's themes, making it a compelling experience for fans of space exploration.
“The atmosphere, story, and gameplay, especially the ship customization, is great.”
“There is an atmospheric tension to this simple star exploration game, it's relaxing interspersed with cool 2D combat in the vein of the old Asteroids-like games.”
“The visuals are very nice, the planets and scale are great, and some of the atmosphere in some of the systems or universes is top-notch.”
“Overall the atmosphere is more relaxed and story focused, and some side missions actually make you think and explore on your own; there are no quest markers where to go when you need to find something from the map.”
“Visuals and music, even though obviously lacking the AA funding, are perfectly sufficient and resonate with the overall atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere is helped by the fact that there are little to no unrealistic game mechanics that are not explained lore-wise.”
- optimization11 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 18 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is highly praised for its optimization, with users reporting smooth performance, no crashes, and a polished experience even on older systems. However, there is a contrasting opinion that suggests the performance may not match the quality of the graphics, indicating some room for improvement in that area.
“It's very well designed and optimized, the graphics are nice, and the UI is pretty easy to understand.”
“No crashes, performance issues, or bugs during my 50 hours.”
“Flawless performance on my system and no bugs experienced yet on the 1.0 release - well done.”
“Scanning planets with the push of a button, shooting enemies and asteroids, and ship optimization: that's all there is, and honestly, this gets old quite fast.”
“Only the performance is pretty bad for the graphics.”
- stability7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 57 % negative mentions
Overall, players report a mixed experience with stability in the game. While some users experienced it as largely bug-free and enjoyable, others encountered significant issues with the mission system, including quest lockouts and poor directions, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite these problems, many found the game to run smoothly with only minor glitches.
“The game was 100% bug-free for me even though I started playing on launch, which is super awesome.”
“$20 for approximately 20 hours is a good deal; the game was bug-free in my experience.”
“Runs great.”
“It's a great little game, however... the mission system is buggy and can result in multiple in-progress missions simply going static and failing to proceed.”
“Where it all falls apart is with bad quest directions (this is by far the worst offender), buggy lockouts of quests. It's supposed to be a finished game, but there's a lot of confusion and frustration due to poor directions, leading to players going in circles trying to figure out what went wrong.”
“There are a few glitches as well, but overall, the game has stability issues that detract from the experience.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the emotional depth of the game, noting that it evokes a sense of wonder and agency reminiscent of classic space exploration narratives like Star Trek. However, some critiques highlight that the game's overly safe environment diminishes the tension and excitement expected in such a setting, particularly as the experience progresses.
“I'm a huge fan of Nexus and what that experience made me feel, and again I get that sense of wonder exploring an uncharted star system.”
“One of the very few space-type games that made me feel like I was actually in Star Trek.”
“Other than that, the last minor critique is how unbelievably friendly and safe the area the game takes place in is. The first two hours of the game made me feel like I was in a new world establishing a beachhead, and around the middle of the game, it feels a little... just too safe for what the setting implies.”
- character development3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is limited, as it focuses more on story and choice within a space exploration context. While there are moments of humor and some character growth, the writing primarily enhances world-building rather than deepening character arcs, contributing to a sense of discovery and wonder.
“With minimal effort, there is nice character development with a little humor thrown in.”
“None of this content is procedural, and the writing is pretty good (more so for world building than character development), so the feeling of discovery and wonder is really there.”
“Character development was not highly available, as this was a space exploration game that is more story and choice motivated.”
“The characters felt one-dimensional and lacked meaningful growth throughout the game.”
“I was disappointed by the lack of depth in character arcs; they didn't evolve in any significant way.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers suggest that the game could benefit from a prominent "sandbox" mode featuring an unlocked tech tree and infinite resources for ship construction. They believe this mode should be highlighted in marketing, as it would enhance user engagement through ship design, saving schematics, and sharing on platforms like Steam Workshop.
“The monetization model feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
“I find the in-game purchases to be frustratingly necessary to progress, which detracts from the overall experience.”
“The constant push for microtransactions ruins the immersion and makes it feel like a cash grab rather than a well-crafted game.”
