Impressions of a newb

[Sgt Frag]

I give the game a thumbs up. Played a few hours so far and really digging it. I feel like they took the good parts from FreeLancer (only played demo but liked it), made them better and fixed the weak parts.

So hard to find a space game that I like and this one hits all the points as far as I can tell.

I tried Eve-Trynais demo and hated everything about it, mouseclick to do anything, weird controls all around, no actual dogfighting (just click opponent and wait for the lazers to kill...)

This game is much more hands on fighting, beautiful space graphics, less tedious trading... But single player.


Good:
*Alot of dogfighting.

*Easy to control ship, WASD, etc..

*Lots of options for how you want to upgrade, weapons, power...

*So far a good storyline with tons of side quests, and it seems like a pretty large gameplay area. I think it said 300 systems and I've been through 3 so far with only a few side missions completed (maybe 10 out of 50+ I've seen)

*Graphics might be a few years old (I don't think they used normal/bump maps) and characters are 'mid' poly, probably 2-3,000 (as opposed to newer games that are 5,000 + normal maps) and the tex aren't really high res but they don't look terrible. The space scenes are really great looking. I think they spent more time on ships/space graphics than characters, character are only in cut scenes. As opposed to Eve which I just tried the demo and hated the entire game, but the graphics in it are bad. The space scenes are deffintaly low res backdrops.

Not so good:
*no manual, although you can find one online.
*The biggest issue is that at first the controls seem tough with no manual and it takes a bit to figure out some specifics.

ie: you have to grab a cargo box in space which means getting REALLY close and NOT bumping it, then grabbing it.
1st, it doesn't tell you that the mouse wheel is speed control. So I kept bumping it.
2nd, it doesn't say that G is grab. Took me 20 minutes to actually grab the damn thing.

Then there is docking, it doesn't tell you you have to contact and get permission to dock, so you fly into dock and it shoots you back out.
Holding space bar freezes the screen and lets you mouse-click these buttons.

The weapon levels can be a bit confusing at first, but like controls, after you figure it out it's all quite easy to deal with.
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So overall I think it's a pretty good space 'fighting' game with enough extras like some mining, pirating, trading mixed in to keep it fresh and it has a good storyline to follow while allowing you to roam and make money to upgrade.

The only real weakness IMO is figuring out controls as the tuts don't tell you keys, they just tell you to do something.

The graphics aren't next gen but I think they hold their own quite well for the age.

I'm really suprised that I never heard about this game before, I've done alot of searching on google and always come up with the same few ancient threads that mention Freelancer (which this is very similar but better than), Star Wars Tie Fighter (I think, haven't played it), etc...

For $10 you can't go wrong.

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System:

Win 7 64 bit
ATI 5850
intel Q6600
4 gigs ram

Installed through Steam and have had no issues at all.

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Now I want to see a studio like Bethseda take up a game like this and make a next gen kick ♥♥♥ space fighter, the addition of an Oblivion RPG type element would be very cool.

[SgtMac]

Thanks for the review Sarge.
been thinking of getting this game,now i will.
played Freelancer a few times thru,there is still a active multi-player game going on.
if you liked this game you should pick up Freelancer.tons of mods that expaneded the org. game.(added large amounts of space, ships etc.)
will let you know of my view of the game.

[Cpl Hawkins]

lol, I literally just bought this not even five mins. ago after looking at the page for it then seeing what you wrote about it on the forum page.

It's down to $3.39 in the sale so why the hell not? plus I like these type of sci-fi games like this and freelancer.

[spyrochaete]

I own it on disk but bought it for $3.39 just to have on Steam (and sell the other copy). This game has a few problems (like not enough variety) but overall it's very very fun and really pretty and I had a great time finishing the game. I love games like Freelancer, Wing Commander, and X-Wing, so this is a nice modernized version of that sort of game.

[Setarcos]

Seemed like the tutorial told me the keys, but I will admit I missed a few as they went by way too fast at times.

[Sgt Frag]

DOH!

I should've waited for the sale!
I still think it was worth my $10, but that extra $7 is a FAT order of Nachos. :(

[KubanitoS]

*The biggest issue is that at first the controls seem tough with no manual and it takes a bit to figure out some specifics.

ie: you have to grab a cargo box in space which means getting REALLY close and NOT bumping it, then grabbing it.
1st, it doesn't tell you that the mouse wheel is speed control. So I kept bumping it.
2nd, it doesn't say that G is grab. Took me 20 minutes to actually grab the damn thing.

Then there is docking, it doesn't tell you you have to contact and get permission to dock, so you fly into dock and it shoots you back out.
Holding space bar freezes the screen and lets you mouse-click these buttons.


You should have started with the training missions. There are three of them at the start of the game:

1. Controls and basics
2. Space fights
3. Picking up stuff and landing.

[Ikko]

This game really feels like someone went to the Scifi Tropes page on tvtropes, and just used it as a checklist. So many cliches. Its great! :D

[p90]

I swear by god, if anyone compares this game to freelancer again I will jettison him into space throw the next airlock.

Darkstar One is a repetitive, linear like hell and liveless game.
The systems are basically all the same. Only the tech level and trade material differs. The only cool feature is that you grow your ship even its a repetitive and boring process.
If you just want to shoot something its okay.
But please do not compare this to freelancer! Its just misleading.
Freelancer was a HUGE sandbox. You could basically do anything from the beginning while DS1 is a strangle shaped corridor you run along.
If they had given DS1 more thoughts and polished it quite a bit it could have been q really good game. Right now its just a buggy unpolished linear space shooter years away from comparing it with freelancer. Well, but maybe freelancer was just to good ^^ Havent found anything as good up to now. Jumpgate Evolution could be good but AFAIK it has not entered beta yet.

[Shenzi]

yo! don't freak out!

we all know it's not freelancer, but the closest thing to it since ages.

i'm sure not gonna waste money and time with eve online (while some of my friends love it, it's not my type of game).

of course ds1 is boring compared to freelancer (still playing on the hamburg city hhc server now and then). but ds1 was the closest thing to it and the graphics ARE great (as freelancer 2 is out of question as it seems).

i'm still hoping for something new from the wing commander series. preferably privateer 3. it's depending from EA now.

[JK_DC]

WCSaga will be out this year hopefully. It's a mod for Freespace 2 source port. I like DS1 more then most space games. Some of the missions are too hard though. It looks like there is autoleveling on the side missions and pirate liberations so I can't pass any of them except 2 side missions. It would be nice to mod the side mission difficulty downwards. I feel more involved in the story than Freespace 2 and it's faster paced and more open. I haven't played Freelancer yet, but will later on. X3TC is really hard to get into and slow paced. I failed my first 2 missions and shelved it. lol Even though the game said they were easy missions. On one my ship was too slow, but the game never told me that. I figured easy meant easy. sigh I will go back to that one after I finish DS1.

[Involution]

To revive this old thread a bit:

JK-DC: I read somewhere that the trick is to work against auto-leveling and not to upgrade your ship unless absolutely essential -- some people have calculated how many upgrades are safe to do before the infamous battle that had too many scream murder. Some tricks are posted on the DO forum on GOG.com, too.

To p90: I fully agree, and the culprit is the distributors for Ascaron itself, since they hyped DO as "Freelancer done right," causing major disappointments across the board of the old Privateer community.

On Jumpgate Evolution: check the MMORPG.com threads -- it looks as if after pretty deadly lawsuits Netdevil has laid off the dev team, so the project is as good as dead, years of hype into nothing.

[JK_DC]

I had no problem with the flak mission on level 4. Barely finished it on 1st or 2nd try though. I'm thinking of doing a level 5 playthrough and will try to hold off on the upgrades.

[Esperologist]

I've just finished my first play through of DSO.
The only space game I have to compare it to is Wing Commander Prophecy. I find DSO easier than WCP, but the story line not quite as strong. Still, enjoyed the game a lot.

I'm not sure which fight is supposed to be the difficult one. It might make a difference that I built a balanced ship (6/7/6 when I entered the final fight), but any time I failed I just changed tactics and succeeded. I think there was only one mission that I failed twice on.
I did upgrade every time I had the option... and often gunned for the artifacts to reach upgrade if they were available.

I also made a point of saving pirate clan hunting if I had all my weapon slots already full of my ships weapon level service weapons, or had access to artifacts enough to upgrade. I think I purchased all of 5 weapons and 3 turrets through my run through... aside from missle launchers.