Starion Tactics
- September 4, 2014
- Corncrow Games
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Starion Tactics" is a turn-based strategy game that combines space exploration, diplomacy, and tactical combat. As captain of a starship, players must manage resources, build and customize their fleet, and engage in battles with alien races. The game features procedurally generated universes, providing unique challenges and opportunities in each playthrough.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game can be fun to play in short sessions, providing a casual experience.
- It has a unique concept reminiscent of classic board games, offering a simple and easy-to-learn gameplay style.
- The game is stable and does not crash, which is a positive aspect for a low-rated title.
- The game is filled with bugs and lacks essential features like a tutorial, making it frustrating to play.
- AI behavior is poor, leading to unchallenging gameplay and repetitive strategies.
- The game is overly simplistic, lacking depth and variety, making it feel more like a mobile game than a full-fledged strategy title.
- gameplay12 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity, featuring only one resource type and one planet type, which limits strategic depth. While there are seven unit types, players find the mechanics unclear and lacking complexity, suggesting that additional features and clearer explanations would enhance the experience. Despite these shortcomings, the game has shown stability with minimal bugs during play.
“Next to no game-breaking bugs so far after 2 hours of gameplay and multiple playthroughs.”
“It's incredibly simple, but some more explanation as to how some gameplay mechanics work would have been nice.”
“In normal gameplay, there are 7 different unit types (6 do combat, 1 upgrades a planet's production), but there's only 1 resource type (aka money, though it's not called that) and only 1 planet type (with production values of 0-2 per turn) that can produce any kind of ship.”
“- battle mechanics are really unclear.”
“It needs to have just a few more mechanics and a few more complexities to be a 4x.”
- story6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game features a rich background story that enhances the overall experience, but players who engage solely in single-player mode may find a lack of a traditional storyline to explore. While team play is an option, the competitive nature can lead to frustration, especially when the AI emerges as the sole victor.
“The story is rich and immersive, with a background narrative that connects everything in the game.”
“The game features a well-developed background story that enhances the overall experience.”
“Every element in the game is tied to a compelling background story, making the gameplay more engaging.”
“I only played single player; there is no storyline to discover. Though it gives you the option of team play, there is only one winner at the end (and having the computer win when you helped it sucks).”
“I only played single player; there is no storyline to discover. Though it gives you the option of team play, there is only one winner at the end (and having the computer win when you helped it sucks).”
- graphics6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally well-received, with praise for the art team's efforts in creating visually appealing designs. However, players have noted that the representation of battles relies heavily on stat calculations, and the lack of clear visual indicators for ship damage makes it difficult to track during gameplay.
“What I liked... graphically, I thought the art team did their job.”
“The battles are simply graphical representations of the stat calculation.”
“Damage on ships is hard to see or even keep track of since it's not represented graphically or shown on the galaxy screen or battle screen.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly regarding tasks like terraforming, which detracts from the enjoyment of strategic gameplay. Many suggest delegating these repetitive tasks to factions to focus on more engaging elements of exploration and strategy, although the user interface also adds to the overall tedium.
“The only choice I ever made was to stop bothering to terraform planets as there was no point and it's tedious.”
“Leave the tedious, everyday tasks that take away from crafting and executing tactical strategies to your faction as you explore the galaxy.”
“But the UI is pretty tedious.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report that the game experiences frequent freezing issues in custom mode, particularly when all settings are enabled, leading to instability after just a few turns.
“In custom mode, the game freezes after a few turns if you turn everything on.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has not been explicitly detailed in the provided reviews, but it is implied that the game may utilize a casual approach typical of mobile games, potentially incorporating microtransactions or ads to enhance gameplay. Overall, players seem to expect a straightforward experience without heavy monetization interference.
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game shows signs of optimization issues, particularly with stuttering during panning and unconventional zoom mechanics, which may detract from the overall experience. However, these problems are expected on day one and may improve with future updates.
“There is a little polish lacking; it's day one after all, with some stuttering in the panning and some funky zoom decisions (click on planets to move around the map, forget panning or zooming).”
