Spaceship command simulations have been a popular
genre for many years, building on the success of such science fiction shows as
Star Trek, Star Wars, and the fiction of Heinlen, Asimov, Clarke and many
others. The Space Empires saga has been framing a universe populated with the
usual human race and 3-4 alien races that are either friend or foe. Previous
episodes of the series have been empire building turn-based strategy games,
where sacrificing a ship to achieve a strategic objective is perfectly
acceptable. Now, in Starfury, you take command of a single ship, and that
strategic sacrifice is much more personal.
The basic idea of the game is sound, but unless you are a dedicated Space
Empires fan, you will come away thinking that you played this same game back in
1995. The gameplay is your straightforward dock at a planet, take on various
missions, navigate to warp jump points, and repeat. There are a fair number of
ship styles open to you as you progress through the game, and the availability
of separate fighters and an interesting array of weaponry keeps you looking for
credits to afford that new point defense cannon that will keep the torpedoes off
your flanks.
At first glance, the 3-D graphics of the game are gorgeous, with nebula,
realistic-looking planets, etc. The problem is, then you have to move, and you
suddenly realize that you are only able to move in two dimensions. This quickly
reminds you that you are simply playing on a 2-D gameboard with 3-D pieces.
I enjoyed playing this game for a while, because I also loaded it on my new
Tablet PC and could run everything with the pen. This might make Starfury an
interesting play for Tablet PC owners as well as fans of the Space Empire
series. Since the hardware requirements of the game are fairly low (P3-500, 3D
card), owners of older PC’s may also be interested.
If you enjoy space-based trading, exploration, and combat, with a healthy
number of ways to customize your ride, then check out Starfury. If you are
looking for a new gaming experience, since Starfury breaks no new ground in
gameplay or graphics, you may wish to look elsewhere.
Gameplay: 7.1
The gameplay is straightforward, but uninspired. The authors of the game
tout how easily it is modded, which is a good thing, but not enough to create a
sense that the game is breaking any new ground.
Graphics: 7.2
The game looks gorgeous, with 3D planets, nebula, etc and plays well on
lower-end systems, but the 2D aspect of the game means that everything comes out
a little flat from the graphics perspective.
Sound: 6.5
The music track for the game became rather monotonous, and the sound effects
themselves didn’t add too much to the experience.
Difficulty: Easy
Patience, planning, and a bit of experience with space trading games, and
you should have no problem.
Concept: 6.5
A straight-forward space trading/combat sim that has been set in the Space
Empire universe. It follows a tried and true formula and is obviously aimed at a
group of fans who wish to command one of the ships that they have to date been
able to command only from a fleet perspective
Overall: 7.0
As a homage and extension to the Space Empires universe, Starfury puts
players in the captains chair and lets them set course through the stars. If you
are not already a fan of the Space Empires series, though, there are many
options for this type of game that include more gameplay depth.
