StarLancer (PC)

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Desslock
• Reviewed on: 04/28/2000
• Updated on:05/08/2000
• Released on: 03/31/2000

We've battled ferocious humanoid felines. We've incinerated countless stormtroopers. We've certainly stopped a number of ancient, seemingly omniscient species from invading our galaxy. But never before in a space sim have we fought the Western World's pesky 20th-century adversaries, those Sputnik-launching Ruskies. Yet in spite of the implausible premise that 160 years from now the Cold War will suddenly reignite in a conflict that will span our solar system, Digital Anvil's debut game is an enjoyable story-driven space combat sim that should meet, but not exceed, the lofty expectations of fans of the developers' previous games.

The reason that expectations for StarLancer are so high is, of course, because Digital Anvil was founded by a team of developers led by Chris Roberts, who had effectively launched the space-sim genre with the Wing Commander games. While Chris Roberts has been focusing on the development of the far more ambitious Freelancer, his brother Erin Roberts and UK developer Warthog have crafted StarLancer. Warthog and Erin Roberts had previously combined their efforts to produce Privateer 2: The Darkening. The influences of that game and the Wing Commander series are quickly evident in StarLancer, a very traditional space sim.

StarLancer has many of the same strengths and a few of the weaknesses of the previous products of the developers. While other space sims, such as the games in the X-Wing series and, more recently, the FreeSpace games, have made their star-hopping conflicts largely impersonal affairs, the Wing Commander games have focused far more on the experiences of individual pilots. Both approaches have advantages. By personalizing the conflicts, the Wing Commander games make you empathetic to the struggles of the protagonists. On the other hand, by maintaining a more distant perspective, FreeSpace 2 and similar games provide a more strategic view of the games' respective conflicts.

Interestingly, StarLancer straddles both of these approaches. StarLancer's compromise between these extremes works exceptionally well, as it conveys the significance of the epic battles in an intimate manner. You'll never get to know the personalities of your wingmen in StarLancer as well as Wing Commander players know the quirks of wingmates such as Maniac, but your fellow pilots are also not as faceless as they are in most other space sims. In StarLancer, there are dozens of personalities whom you'll eventually become acquainted with - from your wingmen peers to wartime politicians, StarLancer's characters collectively provide you with a range of perspectives from which to view the conflict. There are a number of particularly memorable characters, including a Red Baron-esque German ace and a traitorous fellow pilot - of course, you couldn't possibly have a game produced by the creator of the Wing Commander series without a traitor subplot.

While the premise of a 22nd-century war with the Russians seems ludicrous, and their Eastern Coalition's conduct consistently lives up to our lowest expectations in the campy manner of a Roger Moore Bond flick, its instant familiarity is actually a great strength of StarLancer. Instead of hearing of the exploits of another faceless squadron as in the FreeSpace games, you will instead be provided with insight into the exploits of readily identifiable groups of characters through StarLancer's war updates. It's easier to become empathetically and emotionally involved with the characters when you see recognizable modern imagery. It's an effective gimmick.

Unfortunately, the primary flaws of the developers' previous game, Privateer 2, have also been incorporated into StarLancer. StarLancer's flight model is quirky, and it doesn't convey the sensation of moving in 3D space as smoothly as in most recent space sims. The performance variances between the different flyable ships aren't as pronounced as you would expect, given the ships' respective ratings in various specifications. This perceived problem may have just been exacerbated by the inept artificial intelligence of the computer-controlled pilots - enemy ships fly straight at you and then begin turning, ineffectively trying to home in on your ship. When you're around large capital ships or other objects, the computer-controlled ships really display their incompetence as they constantly smash into fixtures or remain relatively motionless. Unless you doze off and consistently travel in the same direction for a prolonged span of time, your impotent computer opponents will be unable to dent your ship's shields and armor. Since Warthog seems to prefer equipping the fighters in its games with rapidly firing, devastating gunnery, dogfights in StarLancer tend to be pathetically one-sided affairs. Clint Eastwood never had it this easy in Firefox.

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Where to buy StarLancer (PC)

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