Review: Darkstar One 3D space combat game

If you went back in time 20 years and spoke to a computer games geek, he (or she, but more likely he) would almost certainly be raving about a new game called Elite.

Available on several platforms, Elite was the thinking person’s Space Invaders. It had an open-ended gameplay structure donkey’s years before Grand Theft Auto and allowed players to fly around the galaxy exploring, trading and occasionally fighting off marauding space pirates.

Since then, many developers have tried, with varying degrees of success, to emulate and update Elite’s innovative style.

Ascaron 's Darkstar One is the latest attempt to recreate the genius of Elite. In it, players take the role of rookie pilot Kayron Jarvis, who inherits the titular spacecraft from his dead father.

Darkstar One is an experimental ship built using organic artefacts and, when it transpires that Jarvis Senior’s death may not have been an accident after all, Kayron takes to the skies on a mission of vengeance.

It’s not the most original premise in the universe, but it serves as an adequate jumping off point for what is and amazingly expansive game.

In a similar fashion to recent role-playing games ( Oblivion , for instance), the central story-driven missions are really only a small portion of what’s possible.

The game encourages you to do your own thing, earning your way to new ship upgrades by working the galaxy as a trader, a bounty hunter, a smuggler or even a pirate.

Unlike recent games of a similar nature – X3 Reunion, for example – the emphasis here is squarely on the action side of things.

The trading system is simplistic and a little perfunctory; its main purpose is to earn you money to buy better weaponry, shielding or hyperspace drives in order that your ship can travel further afield into neighbouring systems and blow more baddies away.

And it’s this last area where the game really shines. Combat takes the shape of classic seat-of-the-pants dogfighting. Tackling enemies is pretty simple at first but, as you add new and unusual types of weaponry to your ship you’ll be able to pull off some pretty creative attack manoeuvres.

As it turns out, the story-driven aspect of the game is quite interesting too, building to almost Star Wars-like levels of intergalactic intrigue. This is helped by some well-rendered cutscenes and generally strong work from the voice talent.

Sadly, the actor voicing Darkstar’s hero, Kayron, isn’t quite as convincing as his fellow artistes, occasionally inducing the odd squirm of embarrassment.

This isn’t the game’s only flaw. What initially seems like a whole galaxy of possibilities quickly reveals itself to be a vast collection of fairly similar environments with fairly similar tasks to perform.

While you rarely find yourself getting bored, a little more variety wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Also, it might have been nice to have enjoyed a little off-ship exploration of the various trading stations your character gets to visit over the course of the game.

As it is, once docked, you are presented with a simple point-and-click interface with a static visual representation of the exotic locale you’re visiting as a backdrop.

There’s no multiplayer and little reason to pick the game up again once you’ve finished it. While it lasts, however, there’s certainly no shortage of things to do, the action comes thick and fast and it all looks and sounds superb.

For fans of this type of game, Darkstar One is a thoroughly good romp, though it never quite reaches the same level of greatness as its spiritual forebear.