![]() The variety and depth of diplomatic options are, I think, where Star Control: Origins feels the absence of the original creators, Fred Ford and Paul Reiche, the strongest. I was hoping for diplomacy tête-à-têtes like Picard, but what I got was like having an argument with the animatronics at Disney World. I never got the feeling that I could offend an ally enough to turn them into an enemy or sweet-talk a pirate into letting me go without a fight. This is a real problem in a game that should theoretically be about diplomacy. Everywhere I went, an alien would greet me identically, as if to say "Hello! Here are the seven jokes I can offer you." It wasn't long before I stopped hailing friendly ships to say hello, and I started ordering Fire At Will with enemy ships just to avoid having the same damn conversations again and again. Again, the feeling of emptiness and shallowness seeped into my interactions with aliens. They're that good.Īt least, they're that good the first time. Any of these aliens and their jokes would fit in well with a Douglas Adams novel. The Mu'Kay are adorable squids who exude joy and happiness (First contact with the Mu'Kay began, "Many playful splashes, unknown alien!"), but with a hard edge of self-delusional boredom. The Tyvoom, for example, are sweaty worm nerds who are just desperate to have even one single friend. ![]() There's snappy dialog everywhere, and each alien species is fantastically detailed and fleshed out as a distinct personality. The real jewel of Star Control: Origins is the writing. These options don't really make the grind any better, but with good planning and a little care, you can almost avoid playing the game entirely. ![]() The combat can be really frustrating and repetitive, so an upgrade lets the ship fight battles itself. The landing-on-a-planet mini game isn't fun, so a landing craft upgrade lets the lander fly itself. Holding the forward button to cross interstellar distances isn't fun, so just turn on the auto-pilot and the ship flies itself. The grind is so heavy that anything that doesn't feel like a grind feels out of place, as though the game is telling on itself a little bit. The only way to fix this was to start the journey again but with more upgrades on my ship and friendly ships recruited for my fleet-and that meant I had to head back to the landing craft to farm some resources. More than once, I pounded and fought my way to a destination system only to arrive in tatters and with no possible way to make it to the actual planet and the aliens I had been sent to talk to. Winning fights wasn't good enough-I had to win them flawlessly, because every piece of damage would still be there for the next fight, and the next. Every encounter with a pirate or enemy vessel chipped away at my ship, and it's impossible to repair or refit away from a space station. ![]() Maybe I could even build a federation! But journeys are also a terrible slog, a murderous trial by attrition. I set out into the stars, looking to seek out new life and new civilizations. Aside from exploring samey planets, there's a whole galaxy full of species to talk to and far-flung destinations to reach. I'd be more than happy to ignore resource-gathering entirely, but I quickly found that I couldn't. ![]()
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