Name:  - Star Lancer
Microsoft Description:
Out of Desperation, Courage is Born.
Today you must decide between life and liberty or defeat and domination. The Eastern Coalition has launched a surprise attack against the Western Alliance fleet, massacring hundreds of dedicated service men and women. We’re enlisting pilots for the 45th Volunteers Squadron. We need every able-bodied man and woman to join the fight if we are to successfully launch a counterattack. Missions range from escorting marine boarding ships to free POWs to destroying Coalition space stations equipped with massive laser weaponry. You are our vanguard. And our last hope.
|
1/10/2001 - Microsoft unleashes their latest space sim from the creators of Wing Commander and Privateer. At fisrt look, the images on the box looked pretty good and the mission, If I decided to accept it, was to join the 45th squadron and go kick some Eastern Coalition butt! - Something the Kap'n has become accustomed to. : )
The Kap'n's weapon of choice here is Logic 3's Phantom 2 Flight Controller.
|
|
KOGGS Review Breakdown
|
84
|
| First Impression and Game Installation |
Full install takes a whopping 1,255 MB! If you have the space on your hard drive then go for it, you'll be glad you did. Minimal install is just over 312 MB. Other than the hefty full install, everything went smoothly and within a short period time I was ready to utterly destroy the compitition! |
9.0
|
| Configurable Options and Ease of Use |
The game interface (the screen that comes up upon first booting the game) gives you five choices. Single Player or Multi-Player. A Game Options menu in which you are able to adjust your audio, video, and also configure your weapon of choice (flight stick). For those of you who have just a few minutes to spare, there is an Instant Action button which takes you directly into the heat of the battle. And of course the Quit option. Which, I might add, takes you back to your desktop faster than you can say 'LAZ is the MAN!'
Very easy to manuver around through each option making it appealing for the first time flyer as well as the advanced user. While configureing your stick, just click on a function you want to change, choose a button or keyboard stoke, and that's it! -easy as compared to some others I have tried. |
10.0
|
| Graphics |
Have I mentioned the graphics yet? Well, let me tell ya then! They are stunning! As I obliviated the enemy, flying through their carnage from their firey explosions were not only gratifying but also stunning, no I used that one already, um, Magnificent!, um, Awesome...KEWL!, Killer!, -Groovy!?!
The explosions are a must see and can only be truly appreciated that way. Also, as I approched some of the Starships, I marveled at the amount of detail Microsoft put into each one. Nope, no blurring graphics here! The lighting was also worthy of noting as well. -You have to check this game out!
Tweaking in the graphics configuration option under the Video option was pretty much straight forward. It auto detected my graphics card and set the graphic level to what the game thought it could handle which wasn't too bad but being the tweaker that I am, I turned everything up to it's max setting. Resolutions no greater than 1024 x 768 was just plain ole shameful concidering the way the game looks out in space. (A higher res. would only grace this sim). Last thing to note is the brightness control, which I thought was handy, concidering my other vid card on my second system seems to be fading away to black! |
9.0
|
| Video at Minimum and Maximum |
640 x 480 minimum, 1024 x 768 maximum. As I mentioned before, I was a bit disappointed with the resolution as it could only go as high as 1024 x 768, I would have liked to have seen what everything looked like at a higher res. On the other hand, if your PC can't handle much (graphically speaking), you can help speed things up by switching to a software renderer and and toning down the graphic detail under the Video Options menu. |
8.0
|
| Sound |
Well, first of all the voice of the characters sounded fine but when they stopped speaking their lips kept right on-a-goin! This is a simulation right?
I did like the way throughout each mission I was helped through via voice command. It all tied in nicely to what was happening at the time which in turn kept my interest alive. While this sort of communication is fine, it's when in combat that the repetitive taunting and high-fiving comments started to wear on my nerves. The sound of the explosions and gun fire were satisfactory yet could have been a bit better. |
7.0
|
| Beginner thru Advanced Use |
Even if you’re an advanced pilot, I found it advantageous to go through the training sequence and the flight simulator to not only get used to your ship but also to get a feel for all of the controls. -Plus you get to blow things up!
Once your ready to take to the atmosphere for your first mission you must choose between easy, medium, or hard, difficulty levels. Before each mission, players are briefed about the situation and then given the option to load their ships accordingly or accept the defauted loadout. Over 25 missions take you into the battlefield with your squadron to either defend your own or engage in a full on assault on a Coalition (bad guys) space station.
With each mission gaining in difficuly, I found myself becoming quite familiar with the 'Eject' button! Although I can hold my own out there in the battlefield, I did however become very familiar with the "We are gathered here today to pay our respects to one of our own" speech!
Very entertaining gameplay with a host of on screen options and commands to choose from. |
9.0
|
| Multi-player |
Multiplayer dogfight in six different deathmatch modes or play cooperatively through the missions via LAN or the MSN Gaming Zone. If you run a LAN make sure to do a full install on one of the systems otherwise the cut scenes will require the use of the CD. I did hook up with my 14 year old son via LAN and ran in the ole deathmatch mode.Needless to say, I kicked his lil fanny! Um, well, no not really...he pretty much owned me : ) - Hey the kid got lucky, so I had a bad day. So what!
The thing I didn't like about the whole head to head match was that I seemed to be limited to the amount of space I had to travel in. I prefer to stealth around, jam his radar, use my cloaking device and then send a Jackhammer missile up his tailpipe! But the limited amout of space made this difficult and gave him an easy target and vice versa.
While multiplayering is fun Starlancers strength lies in the single player mode format |
7.0
|
| Help Instructions |
The game ships with a game manual that takes you through the vast amount of control options and explains what they do. 32 pages in all, and if you play the game you will definitely need it. There also comes a keyboard\screen display reference card which also is invaluable.
Microsoft also offers a Self-Help online support service at http://support.microsoft.com/ |
8.0
|
| Value (price for what you get) |
I found this game online for as little as $14.95. At that price even adding shipping should not discourage you from buying. Although I'd look for it at your local retailer first. |
9.0
|
| Recommend to Others |
Anyone who enjoys a good space sim should not be without this one. |
8.0
|
RECOMMENDATIONS to the Vendor
KOGGS
Higher Screen Resolutions
Cut the repetitive 'high-fiving' comments.
More weapon and ship selections.
|
