Star Control: Origins continues the 1990s series with a modern take on those titles that specifically avoids any reference to them for legal purposes. It is a downloadable game with a storied development history that is as troubled as it is fortunate to have made a release.
How to Download Star Control: Origins
You can download the game from either GOG.com or Steam. To start downloading click on the link below the review. You can also download the original soundtrack or the Deluxe version which includes both the game and the music. The game is currently only available on the Windows platform (and it is not easy, so be prepared to look out for a walkthrough if you don’t know what to do at any point). Nothing is known about the planned release date for PS4 or Xbox One.
The Game Review
A single-player or multiplayer strategy video game for Microsoft Windows PCs, Star Control: Origins from publishers and developers Stardock Entertainment are quick to differentiate this title from the origin series by arguing that what occurs in the narrative of Star Control: Origins happens in a universe separate and apart from the original games.
It’s all quite confusing, especially for modern players who don’t give a fig about the original series, but it’s simply a bunch of real-world legal conflict manifested in a video game narrative. Awkward? Yes. Unique? Totally. Needed? This is questionable as much of the game does its own thing apart from the original series. In fact, it even draws attention to the whole point behind this continuation. Why not just make a new game entirely?
It is understandable though that Stardock Entertainment would want to continue the original trilogy’s spirit because they are classics for their deft combination of serious narrative with comedy and charm.
Think Star Wars but with less CG and more realistic dialogue, the Star Control games were a unique set of titles in a time dominated by fighting games and DOOM clones. Though the nostalgia for this old PC strategy game may be of questionable merit it nonetheless underpins a modern experience that is not reluctant to use what it can of the original trilogy’s overall vibe.
Taking place in a procedurally generated galaxy based upon our very own Milky Way, Star Control: Origins is billed as an action adventure game with role-playing game elements, a descriptor that would have been unique in the 1990s but which is now also shorthand for everything out there.
Exploring the galaxy and encountering friendly or hostile aliens forms the bulk of the gameplay here and it is fully realized and a lot of fun. Moving through the unknown is itself a thrill but not knowing what you will encounter out there in the depths of the galaxy adds to the experience.
Not quite a rogue-like, the game is nonetheless challenging and encourages balanced gameplay meaning you will have to decisive know when and how to take what action. Do you engage in combat and risk everything or do you attempt diplomacy and live to fight another day? These kinds of choices underpin a system of RPG action adventure gaming that is not unique in itself but, combined with other elements, offers an unbeatable package.
Most interesting in terms of concept is Stardock’s story generator which allows players to insert narrative and dialogue of their own creation into a game. Gamers with a creative streak will really enjoy this part of the game and its inclusion is a nod somewhat to the sandbox style gaming that many players also expect these days. After all, if you present a compelling world where people want to tell their own stories then why not give them that ability.
