Mini Review – Darkstar One: Broken Alliance

Space Combat/Trading

Shut up, Girl!

Rich

What’s this?  A game that isn’t an FPS (okay well technically it is but let’s not go there), racing game or a hack and slasher?!  How is this possible?  More importantly is it any good?  Well, Darkstar One’s roots go back to an obscure (ie – not all that popular) Elite/Freelancer clone on the PC that came out in 2006.  It was buggy, limited and quite average but it had some cult appeal.  The good news is that all the good aspects have made it to the 360 version.  The bad news is that so has everything else.  This is a complete port of the original.  Bugs n’ all.

Decent graphics (ie – not getting fucked in the eyes with a kaleidoscope like you did with Project Sylpheed), satisfying combat controls and a true ‘lone pilot in space’ kind of epicness give this game some charm.

Soul-shattering repetition, the worst voice acting since Two Worlds (or Doctor Who), paper-thin trading and a fairly awful plot scupper the party considerably but if you’re eagerly awaiting Elite 4 and are very open-minded this might tide you over.  For all its faults I found the whole thing terribly addictive and I usually hate all your sci-fi bollocks.

6/10

See Richie’s full review at Gaming Lives.