![]() ![]() Plus, the many asteroids that serve as “cover” for ship battles look terrible. Ships get some good beauty shots thanks to the action camera, which shows projectiles launching and hitting targets, but the weapon and explosion effects are so poor I’m surprised Firaxis wanted the camera anywhere near them. Other than that, though, Starships doesn’t look great - even for a game clearly designed to run on the iPad. Those choices are meaningful, too, since a ship with fast engines and close-range weaponry has very different utility from a slow one that sits in the rear launching long-range torpedoes and fighters. That creates a wide variety of ship design variations stemming from the three base vessels (associated with which starting bonus you pick for your faction). Upgrading your individual ships is one of the coolest things about Starships, because they’ll change appearance based on every point you plug into engines, shields, armor, long or short-range weapons, stealth, sensors, torpedoes, or fighters. The problem is, most of those missions are either extremely easy due to the barely upgraded ships having few capabilities (just zip behind your target and blast their weak rear shields at point-blank range for one-shot kills), or so hard my entire fleet was wiped out on the first turn – effectively ending the game before it got started. Mission-specific goals including escorting ships through treacherous space lanes, lasting a specific number of turns, or eliminating enemy fleets all together.When you’re first setting out from your homeworld with a two-ship fleet to win independent planets over to your cause before rival empires do, mission variety is pretty good: escorting a friendly ship to a destination, preventing an enemy from reaching theirs, navigating a maze of asteroids while handicapped by a limited view distance, taking out a VIP enemy ship, hunting stealth fighters – there are quite a few. Red vortices called Jump Gates transport you between different parts of the map (great when you're on the run from an enemy attack). This isn't a AAA-list game, though, as evidenced by its $15 price tag on both Mac and iOS, so I'll cut it some slack.īattle conditions vary from map to map: You may find yourself in a constantly-shifting asteroid field, for example. If there's a conceptual flaw to Starships its that real starships wouldn't be limited to 2D combat - a conceit used to full effect in classic PC and Mac games like Homeworld. You can add new ships or pile on additional features like shields, weapons, fighters, improved engines and more.Ĭombat with enemy fleets plays out on a hex-based playfield rendered in isometric (three-quarters) perspective. You start out with a small fleet of ships and can grow it as your Energy resource allows. The real fun of Starships is, of course, in fleet battles. It's easy enough to get the hang of within a game or two. It lacks the incredible depth and expanse of Beyond Earth and other Civ-branded games. The civilization-building end of this game is really just resource management. You can build new cities on planets to increase the output of these resources, and some planets will give you a bonus: Earth-like biomes, for example, may produce a food bonus, while arid biomes give you a metals bonus.Įach resource has to be managed carefully to cultivate the growth and health of your superpower: Food determines how many cities you can develop Science pushes your technology forward Metals are used for improvements to resource harvesting, planetary defense and quick interstellar travel Energy is necessary for the development, repair and reinforcement of your fleet. ![]() ![]() ![]() There are four resources to manage: Energy, Metals, Science and Food. With each turn you can research new technology, improve planetary resources, buy influence and adjust your diplomatic standing with other factions. ![]()
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