STELLATUM

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"Stellatum is a shooter game featuring local multi-player for up to 4 players, with options for co-op, PvP, and split screen. As an extraterrestrial race, you'll navigate through space, starting with destroying a threatening comet and uncovering a deeper conflict. The game boasts good graphics, detailed ship customization, and various shooting methods, making for an immersive and action-packed experience."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Local Multi-Player Play with friends in the same physical space using split-screen or multiple screens
2-Players Play with one other player, either online or locally, in a cooperative or competitive game mode
Multi-Player Compete or cooperate with other players online
Co-Op Team up with friends to complete levels or missions together
Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo
PvP Player versus Player - Fight against other players in real-time, often in arena-style combat
Split Screen Play with multiple players on the same screen, often with divided or shared screen real estate

Reviews

54%

Audience ScoreBased on 130 reviews

story10 positive mentions

grinding20 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a pleasing aesthetic for spaceships and backgrounds.
The ship customization options allow for a variety of tactical approaches, enhancing gameplay.
The campaign mode is lengthy, offering a substantial number of missions and side missions.

The game suffers from a lack of balance, with enemies being overly difficult compared to the player's ship upgrades.
The crafting system is heavily grind-based, requiring players to replay missions repeatedly to obtain necessary components.
There are significant bugs and crashes reported, particularly during mission loading, which disrupts gameplay.

story
88 mentions
11 % positive mentions
84 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely considered minimal and unengaging, serving primarily as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. Players noted that while the campaign consists of a substantial number of missions, the plot lacks depth and coherence, with many feeling that it fails to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the story is seen as a weak point, with many reviewers expressing disappointment in its execution and relevance to the gameplay.
- “The campaign mode is long enough by itself (50 main missions + 28 side missions).”
- “A project that has scope with the story to develop much further.”
- “Stunning graphics, exciting plot and action on the limit of opportunity - three components of the success of this game.”
- “The story is almost nonexistent, and that's not a major issue for me in a shmup game, but your preferences may differ.”
- “It's an alright game, but the issue is that there are only 50 levels, and the end of the story is confusing at best, very much like the ending of Dead Space 3.”
- “The story only serves to break up the action and is entirely without merit.”
graphics
42 mentions
43 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The graphics in Stellatum are widely praised for their beauty and polish, featuring well-animated spaceships, detailed backgrounds, and a pleasing aesthetic that enhances the overall experience. While some reviews note that the graphics are decent but not groundbreaking, many highlight them as a standout aspect of the game, contributing to its appeal as a space shooter. Overall, players appreciate the visual quality, despite some criticism regarding the HUD and lack of unique enemy designs.
- “The movements feel good and the graphics are consistent and beautiful.”
- “Stunning graphics, exciting plot and action on the limit of opportunity - three components of the success of this game.”
- “Absolutely awesome visuals!”
- “I would normally rate this title as a thumbs down, though since I found no glaring bugs with the game, it has fairly smooth decent graphics and its generally cheap price.”
- “No compelling story, no fun customization, no stunning visuals, no unique enemies (single shooty and mass shooty in different forms...) kept my interest.”
- “Graphics are ok for a shooter.”
gameplay
38 mentions
21 % positive mentions
71 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting the absence of a tutorial that hinders new players from grasping essential mechanics, such as using materia for ship upgrades. While some find the gameplay addictive and visually appealing, others criticize it for being cumbersome and repetitive, particularly due to the weapon overheat mechanic and lackluster weapon effectiveness against tougher enemies. Overall, the gameplay offers simple mechanics and a retro feel, but it struggles with balance and depth, leading to a somewhat frustrating experience for some players.
- “The mixed reviews gave me the wrong idea of this game, but I'm really happy I started playing because it's very addictive. I'm on mission 11 after 5 hours, and it seems it's just a small part of the huge map, so I still have many hours of gameplay (really good for the price).”
- “Gameplay is good and fun!”
- “Some interesting gameplay ideas and the ship upgrade looks very promising.”
- “There is no tutorial to help new players understand the game mechanics.”
- “Combined with the 'weapon overheat' mechanic and forced forward movement, completing a level is more of a chore than fun.”
- “The worst part is by far the gameplay.”
grinding
20 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious and unrewarding, requiring players to repeatedly farm levels for minimal upgrades and components. Many reviewers note that the lack of variety in missions and the long cooldowns for special weapons exacerbate the grind, making the experience feel monotonous and frustrating, especially in the early stages. While some post-launch patches have reduced the grind, the overall sentiment remains that the game demands too much repetitive effort for marginal gains.
- “Grinding is made super bad because the levels are all basically the same, all equally non-rewarding - nothing happens other than the same types of enemies shooting the same types of stuff at you - there are no in-level power-ups, nothing exciting in the levels themselves - you just slug to the end, and see if you farmed any components to get the next upgrade that the game thinks you are entitled to at this stage of the game.”
- “It's also very grindy, as the game forces you to replay earlier missions a lot until you get lucky and get parts to upgrade your ship.”
- “Not cool grinding the same level to be able to perhaps get a piece or two so you can get that upgrade that you want.”
music
12 mentions
50 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The music in the game features a dark, moody soundtrack for menus and high-energy tracks during action sequences, evoking nostalgia for classic shmups like Xenon II Megablast. While some players feel that the overall quality of the music may not be essential, they agree that a decent soundtrack is crucial for the game's atmosphere, complemented by effective sound effects for weapons. Overall, the soundtrack meets expectations, enhancing the gaming experience.
- “I like the dark moody soundtrack on the menus and the higher octane music during the action.”
- “Otherwise, games like this live or die by their soundtrack.”
- “It was everything I expected with a decent soundtrack!”
stability
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, particularly when using mouse and keyboard controls, leading to frustrating bugs that can render it unplayable. Players report problems such as invisible projectiles continuing to track them even after enemies have despawned, contributing to a chaotic and unreliable gameplay experience.
- “Unfortunately, it's so buggy that it's unplayable.”
- “Brutal I can deal with, but it is also a little buggy; beam laser baddies, fly circles around the screen to dodge the continuous beam fire, but when the enemy drifts down off the screen and despawns, he is not only still firing, the beams become invisible and continue firing for several seconds while still tracking you - the only thing I'm really angry about, maybe I will degrade myself and try it on easy later.”
- “Mouse + keyboard is buggy as hell.”
optimization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant input lag and lacks proper optimization, leading to a frustrating experience for players.
- “Input lag and lack of optimization make the gameplay frustrating.”
- “The game suffers from significant input lag due to poor optimization.”
- “There is noticeable input lag, indicating a lack of proper optimization.”
emotional
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Reviewers feel that the game lacks emotional depth and character investment, which detracts from the overall plot engagement. They express a desire for a more compelling narrative that fosters a stronger emotional connection with the characters.
- “This game really needs something to draw you in; a little emotional or character investment would be nice.”