Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jul 10, 2015

  A sexy version of FTL: Faster Than Light. After playing for close to an hour now and dying thrice, I think this won't exactly be a cake-walk. Ultimately, I really am enjoying this game. My only constructive criticism at this stage is; I seem to keep highlighting the text in the GUI when I click-drag my mouse and I would like to be able to type a quantity into the resource boxes as I keep overshooting the number I want when I hold the left/right buttons down. Asside from that, I totally recommend this game!
• gamedeal user

  Jul 13, 2015

  #Edited for the first launch day# Having played this game for 50+ hours under different conditions, difficulties and scenarious, along with getting the very first A+ score, I can safely say the following: get it. It is a 3D Faster Than Light + a few more games mixed in it (most notably Star Trek Bridge Commander) + Ironman experience. It is there to test the fans of the rogue-like hardcore genre who do not complain about losing stuff or people, getting destroyed, then learning and adapting as a result. There is no save and load function. You roll the roulette and you live with what you've gotten in a beautiful 3d FTL-Star Trek format. FOREWORD: If someone says that the game has no replay value, they have played it way too little. Look at my play time. I rarely did the same run twice, unless trying to beat my previous score or testing new stuff. The game is out of early access as of today, the 04.03.2015. Sadly, it already received a number of negative reviews during the years of development, so you will be looking at mixed reviews for a while. Most of it was because the devs were trying to find the reasons for the game not launching for a number of people, and those were readily cranking out the negative reviews. FYI, before I start with the good and the bad. As usual, I will start with the good and the bad. The absolute BEST: The game generates meaningful stories through its gameplay, the type that make you take to the forums and share, be it for a win or a loss. How you had a great playthrough until everything started falling apart, people started dying, enemies were swarming you in throves and eventually destroyed you. Or how everything was so bleak, you were out of resources but managed to find a solitary planet where you safely did 6+ probe runs, restocked like crazy and won the game? Or how you went all out berserk and punched your way through the enemy lines like a boss? Or how a single rash decision on an away mission lost you two of your most valuable crew members and it all went downhill OR you still won nevertheless? Yep, all of this is possible. I absolutely love this about a game. The Good: 1. Beautiful backdrops - the space, the planets and the suns look beautiful. The space must be black by default, but you are playing a game right? 2. The ship is also a looker. I personally love the way it appears on my screen with all of its flashing blue red and metal stuff. Once you start building structures, they will also appear inside it, which adds a new level of immersion. 3. Resource Management - picking what you want, what you need, when you need it might be the difference between defeat and a victory. Shortages really punish you, and even if you win, it affects your score big time. 4. You get to pick your ship parts - this allows for huge customization. You may pick a nimble ship with fewer systems but tons of cargo space, or you can make yourself a juggernaut. with less storage space and better weapons, absorption, shuttle missions, etc. All up to you. 5. Last ditch effort - this type of play really reels you in as you see the last 10 000 people of the human race die from lack of food, oxygen, killed by enemies and random events. Speaking about random events... 6. Random events are either detrimental (e.g. Alien Flu) or beneficial (Training for crewmembers). This forces you to deal with situations even more strategically, because while fighting, people still die. 7. Ironman - no going back. I love this type of play for certain games and this one is certainly worth it, just like FTL. 8. You have a decent grid size and you need to pick your way through it till you reach the end goal, dealing with hostile encounters, resource shortages, planet and object exploration, etc. 9. The combat - in FTL the combat was minimalistic. Shoot something and it will either hit or miss. Here, you need to think on your feet, use different coloured weapons and shield harmonics, defend and fire when necessary, evade shots, pause, think, and do your best. If you wish you can opt to play completely without pausing - that makes the combat extremely dynamic, but you will most likely suffer way more hits. 10. Strategy wins the game - trust me, I felt that. Making rash decisions isn't the best thing. You really need to accept the position you are in and adapt to it. Playing to the strengths of your ship and crew is key. 11. Renaming crewmembers - are you a Star Trek, Star Wars, Farscape or another franchise's fan? Or you like to use the names of your closest friends or family members? You can! 12. Like FTL, there are multiple ways to victory - at present, I would split them into sneaky, semi-sneaky, bold and reckless types of wins. 13. The game lets you do stuff on the fly. You just need to learn the mechanics. I am not going to spoil those for you. 14. Runs vary. A faster engine will get you to the end goal quicker, but a battle-hardened combat crew getting you trough 1 vs 3 encounters is a joy to behold. 15. Flying through gorgeous space. If you dont like it, it is simply not your jam. 16. Play-throughs take about 2 hours, which I find good for these types of games. 17. Scoring system that allows you to check how well you did in comparison to the others. 18. Many new features added since EA - 3 difficulty settings, ship setups, civilian management, more away missions, etc. 19. Replayability has been improved a lot since alpha, so you will be looking at a lot of different runs. While the end goal is the same, just like FTL, nobody forces you to reach it - a full exploration run (mine was the first full exploration run to date) takes about 8 hours. Ok. Here's THE BAD. The ABSOLUTE WORST: You will ragequit if you hate games that punish you. Many a time. Get used to it, or don't buy the game. To continue... 1. Steep learning curve - you need to play with ship setups for a while, learn how they work, what resources to pick at start, how long to stay at a planet, which awaymissions are easier and which ones harder, and so on. 2. NO multiplayer, like FTL. Can't be fixed. 3. Some bugs are still present, but the devs are all over the community forum, listening to the people and taking notes. Always good to see. 4. Combat - while I praised it, one can still find it minimalistic. 5. Punishing away missions since alpha. While the death to success ratio has been curbed a bit, and more choices given to the player, one should still exercise extreme caution when taking on away missions.. 6. Some players still can't launch the game. Best check the forums before buying this game. The devs are hard at work at it. CONCLUSION: The game is quite the looker, and has this FTL last ditch type of feeling. Up until now, the devs have been on the money with the updates, consistently adding more content - with the last patch enabling us to manage the civilian population by adding more buildings, with the option to upgrade them in the future to avoid the constant civilian problems. Whoever says this game is short... is right, but it can also be played is a plethora of ways, adding replayability. Fastest way to goal, explore the whole quadrant, go left side, go right side, be sneaky, fight a lot, try not to fight at all. Or plain handicap yourself if U R A PRO. Just try it! I know I did, with runs with as low as 575 credits. To me, this game is one huge sandbox - I get to pick my difficulty (and by that I don't mean the pre-set ones), my setup, my way to play the game and try to win. It is fun - whether you should choose to challenge yourself or just explore the vast quardant of space and enjoy the extremely atmospheric Into the Stars.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 14, 2015

  This game is awesome, and yes while limited - and I'm not usually one to scream "Early Access! It's an understandable setback!" But really, it is. When you buy an Early Access game, you KNOW it isn't finished, you're supposed to be reviewing what has been made thus far. With Into the Stars, the progress made is amazing. Pros - Graphics are good, but runnable. There is a slight "graininess" to them ingame, but it is easily dismissable by the rest of the space around you. Gameplay is fun, and though at times repetitive, it is certainly always different in terms of difficulty. Remember, this game is meant to be similar to FTL's genre of gameplay, and if you didn't like it, you probably won't like this. The things you come across in space so far are always interesting, and you almost always have to make that tough decision of sending out one of your trusted shipmates and the possiblity of never seeing them again. The difficulty is playable, but you will certainly need a few runs to get used to the learning curve. Like I said before, it's similar to FTL, so you'll need to get used to it. The controls themselves are simple and easy to use w/ a good amount of fluidity to your ship, so even if it does move rather slowly, this makes sense. Cons - The amount of different events that you'll come across are decent enough but lacking the diversity to really immerse you in the game efficiently. The amount of ships in the game is limited and while you certainly feel that the ship is at your command, it doesn't make you feel as though you're actually connected to the ship in any way other than it's now your responsibility. The weapons in the game are your classic laser & torpedo duo and the effects are pretty, but after awhile you get used to it and it doesn't surprise you anymore as to the effects. The different "types" of weapons (damage and charge time differences) aren't really enough to fill the gap. Glitches come into the game fairly often, but none of them are gamebreaking, more of just small nuisance that is easily fixable by player, but they can certainly be tedious. Though, this is expected, just something to be mindful of running into. -------- If you're looking for a tutorial to play the game, there is a guide in the Guides section of the game's Steam page. All in all, I'd definitely recommend the purchase as the game itself is very fun, but as of right now, the replay value isn't of significant importance to really come back more than once or twice. If you want to see this game become more diverse and enjoyable - though it already really is - BUY IT.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 27, 2015

  I was reluctant to purchase this game because of all the negative reviews I have seen posted, but decided to give it a try after looking at some of the discussions listing the many problems, and I am glad I purchased this game. I launched the game without having to make any changes to my configuration. No problems. I have played several hours of the game with few hitches. The few I have seen, actually only one so far, is right after the game launches a box appears with nothing in it until I move the mouse. So far that is it. The developers are still working on this and continue to listen to input, and make changes as they go. This is a strategy and a simulation game. If your looking for a first person shooter, you should look somewhere else. I consider this a thinking mans game. Is it the best out there? No, but it is not bad at all for the price. My rig is more of a middle of the road machine. I am able to play this game at high settings with no issues. As long as the developers continue improving the game I believe I will get many more hours of enjoyment out of it.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 16, 2015

  **early access review** ***edited*** Can't recommend at this time, although it will be interesting to see how it develops. The soul of this game is great, which is what you hope for from an early access title. However, I would not recommend it in its current state. I it has been improving over time! Overall it is an okay game. Falls short in most categories and it doesn't seem to be any one aspect (other than graphics) that really nails it. Civilian management system- Adds a bit more depth, looking forward to seeing how this feature is developed. Balance- More combat balancing is still needed. The addition of an "evade" option was helpful. Combat- Game over if you face more than two enemy ships at once. Equipment and crew choices impact how your ship preforms, but poor combat balancing still makes for a frustrating experience. I'm not a fan of the combat mechanic as it feels like a game you would play on a mobile device (match the colors!) However, resource use and management is on track. Assigning crew and the leveling system add flavor. Graphics- Great! You will very much enjoy looking out the window, but don't expect the same level of refinement with combat graphics. Controls- Need to make the controls able to be modified by user. I'm (still) left handed. Come on now. (This is early access, hope this is one of the first things changed). Need to be able to save without quitting. Gameplay- Good pacing, keeps you making quick decisions. Storyline- Would like a bit more depth, and for the enemy to be less one-sided. (Are these guys Cylons or what?) Map- How about a proceeduraly generated map instead of the same map every time? maybe in a future update.... Other- the enemy no longer "finds" you far too quickly, just fast enough to keep you running for your life. Major improvements in this area. Perhaps they can still add a feature for stelth (running engines at half speed would make you less detectable for example, but you would take longer moving and use more resources) **Will edit as game updates**
• gamedeal user

  Nov 14, 2015

  AN IMMERSIVE SPACE SURVIVAL EXPERIENCE Into The Stars puts you in control of a spaceship and its crew as you lead the last vestiges of humanity from its destroyed planet in search of a new home. Faced with a series of tough survival decisions you'll constantly be on the run from the mass-murdering alien Skorn, you'll be fighting them off when you have no other option, and you'll be scrounging for every last resource you can get your hands on to survive and complete your journey. I'll start the actual review by saying that I'm new to this genre. I've never played FTL, and quite a few of the negative reviews seem to be here because people are comparing Into The Stars to FTL. Sadly, ITS appears to be losing the intergalactic battle. However, I have played almost 14 hours of Into The Stars in addition to the 5 or so I must have played at a friend's house on their Steam account before I rushed home to buy my own copy. Even though I'm new to this type of game (feel free to decide for yourself how valid this review is) I can definitely recommend Into The Stars. Here's why: PROS - Good graphics, excellent sound effects, and wonderful ambient music that immerse you in an outer space race for survival. Immersing the player in the game world is the most crucial aspect of a game, and Fugitive Games have definitely succeeded in this area. - A constant pressuring feeling that you’re always fleeing from a mass-murdering, evil race of aliens due to your onboard AI alerts and the Skorn patrol ships you can see scouting the sectors of space. - Excellent starting customisation options for your ship, your cargo, and your crew that can make a big difference to your survival success. - A surprisingly fun mining mini-game. - A good number of very interesting ship upgrades to be found by risking the completion of shuttle missions. Such upgrades could include a faster engine, stronger shields, or a module that increases the effiency of your life support system thus making your oxygen supplies last longer. - Every decision you make could affect your survival. Staying on a planet a little while longer to mine for essential oxygen could allow the Skorn to find and destroy you. You have to weigh up every decision. - Very polished for an early access title. - Combat is simple but good fun and challenging. CONS - With a relatively small map, and no apparent randomisation of stars and planets, the replay value is good, but not great. - The game does need more breadth and depth to create longer lasting appeal for players. - Still has quite a few bugs, none that were game-breaking (at least not in my experience), but this is to be expected from early access. On a final note, yes, the combat can be very hard and even very unfair - especially towards the start of the game. To get around this you need to train up your engineers so that their shooting becomes more accurate (I've had late game engineers who've almost never missed), and you need to avoid large fights. So in other words, flee an area as soon as you're given a yellow alert, and avoid Skorn patrol ships like the plague. ***18th December 2015 UPDATE*** -The devs have really listened to their fans and have now made it possible for the enemy ships to miss when shooting at your ship. Before, they had a 100% success rate of hitting you. -The game now has an evade (dodge) feature that allows you to move out of the way of all incoming fire. This is especially useful if different Skorn ships are attacking you with different colour-coded weapons at the same time (your shields can block only one colour-code at a time). -To offset these two new ways of making combat fairer on the player, Skorn ships have a new weapon. This is a very powerful charged laser attack for which you get plenty of warning. The only way to avoid taking damage from this devastating weapon is to use the game's new evade feature. As always, leave any questions below and I'll get back to you. Happy space ventures!
• gamedeal user

  Mar 5, 2016

  One thing before I start: If I could give this game a "maybe" instead of a straight yes or no, I would. I don't dislike this game. I enjoyed my time with it, I just felt like there wan't enough there. As a Star Trek fan, this game immediatly caught my eye because of the whole "being the captain on the bridge" thing. Comparisons to FTL sold it and, in fact, I'm going to compare it to FTL a few times in this review. The foundation of the game is solid. You attempt to get from A to B, starting with limited resources and scouring planets to replenish your supplies while evading an alien in race in pursuit of you. You pick a crew at the beginning of the game and level them up as they perform various tasks, such as away missions or dealing with civilian unrest. The problem I began to encounter very early on is that the potential of this game isn't fully realized. Let me explain: You're given this fairly large space in which to traverse, yet it feels very empty. You'll encounter the Skorn (the alien race chasing you) fairly often, but the only interactions you ever have with other races out in space, as far as I could tell, is limited to trading resources. Contrast this to FTL, where encounters in space can come with any number of outcomes that could end up fundamentally altering how you handle that run. At the very least, something interesting happens. In Into the Stars, you can encounter some aliens when you reach planets and they reward you with stuff, but I quickly found the rewards pretty boring. For example, one event awarded me with a better life support system. This was USEFUL, but it didn't make anything more interesting. Again, compair this to FTL, where getting ship modules and new weapons can greatly alter the way the game plays. Next, the combat. For me, combat quickly became trivial (I'll note here that I was playing on normal difficulty). It was very Trek like, which I appreciated, but I found it to be very easy. Even when I fought two ships at once, after the first encounter even that was lacking in difficulty. I say this not because I need the game to be as brutal as FTL can be, but because I soon found myself completely ignoring the threat level of sectors. The Skorn just weren't a threat, and that's a shame. Lastly (and this may be sort of a nitpick), I thought the game was to short. At the beginning, it seems like you're really in it for the long hall. As you move along, your time is measure in days. But in actual playtime, it actually goes by really fast. I got to the end in maybe an hour and a half. I want to like this game. I want to LOVE this game. It has so much potential, but there just isn't enough there. I'd love to see some kind of expansion that adds more content. Until then, I don't see myself playing this again.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 6, 2016

  I had higher hopes and expectations for this game, and unfortunatly it fell short. While the visuals were good and overall mechanics solid, there was a definitive lack of action diversity in the game. What I mean by this is that it felt almost like an enhanced clicker game with how I kept repeating the same actions over and over. Ultimatly, there was not a great deal to do despite the games outward large-sized scope. It could use a good dozen additional components and mechanics to give it a better run. For example it should have more frequent encounters with NPC ships that offer more options beside mere trade. Additional options upon reaching a planet would have been appreciated as well. Good marks on effort - ultimatly lacking on its delivery. Not recomended.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 7, 2016

  Game DEVELOPMENT HAS ENDED quietly. Check discussions on game's Steam community. One day devs have disappeared. The game was left far from what it has planned to be. Soundtrack by Jack Wall is not even close to his famous Mass Effect music ("Uncharted Worlds", etc). Flying from planet to planet is pretty relaxing but all another activities are repetition of the same actions with a huge influence of random. When you visit a planet you can: - Launch probe: Gain a little quantity of resources. - Mine for resources: Play a minigame and try to gather as much resources as possible. - Send a shuttle with a crew, Pilot, Commander and Medic: You must choose one of three random missions (you even can see the type of reward for its completion). After that you will see "success chance" and can pick one of three options. If succeed - gain reward, if not - gain dead or injured memebers of the crew. Add primitive space combat with pursuing enemies and that's all. Repeat until victory, defeat or deep feeling of disappointment.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 9, 2016

  The whole game is a mess. The game starts it's intro windowed to switch then to fullscreen (which I prefer), this is real annoying. The intro video is very loud and ignores the settings you set in the game, which is also annoying. You can't skip the intro before it starts to blast your ears away. Then the game starts in german and the localization is a mess. The translation isn't good and all UI interfaces are fixed size and set up for english. The text gets written over the borders of buttons and other UI elements. This is true for german, polish and russian at least and you CAN'T switch the language as the game looks up the language of your windows installation. Statement of the devs: "switch the locale of your windows". Well, this is not possible for Windows XP and not for Windows 10 as the MUI Packs aren't free on these OSes, but the devs don't care. There are also other problems you can lookup on the steam forum, I didn't even get that far as the pile of S the german translation is already did it for me and as Windows 10 user I can't switch the whole windows language setup. Taking money for something like this as a finished product is an insult.