Star Control I and II Reviews

[h1]“Captain: Isn't altruism the highest pinnacle of morality? Melnorme: No, it is not.”[/h1] It's funny that [b]Stardock[/b] released these two games in one package. I mean, it's totally understandable, of course, but still funny. See, the first [b]Star Control[/b]... It wasn't that much of a game. Despite being released in 1990, it felt a lot like something way more ancient. The whole thing was just two phases – something that looked somewhat like [b]Paul Reiche III[/b]'s early game [b]Archon[/b] and space battles that were shockingly similar to [b]Spacewar![/b]. Yeah. [i]That[/i] [b]Spacewar![/b]. The one by [b]Steve Russell[/b]. One of the very first games known to our history. Can't say [b]SC[/b] was too bad and I actually remember playing it with a friend after school. Mostly because we didn't have anything else at the moment, but still, it wasn't bad. Yet 1990 was a year that gave us games like [b]Ultima VI: The False Prophet[/b], [b]Prince of Persia[/b] and [b]Wing Commander[/b]. Gaming started to mean business, while it was obvious that [b]Star Control[/b] did not. Heck, its full name was [b]Star Control: Famous Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, Volume IV[/b]. Which, again, was a direct nod to 60s (with their [b]Star Wars[/b]). It was just that. Some dudes came together and made [b]Star Trek[/b]'s “3D chess” with real-time battles. Exactly what they've wanted to have as kids. Tons of ripped off design included. Now, [b]Star Control II[/b]? It was a whole different story. Believe it or not, it's thanks to [b]SC II[/b] we've got games like [b]Fallout[/b] and [b]Baldur's Gate[/b]. No, seriously. How is that possible? How did a [b]Spacewar![/b] variant with optional turn-based element (even though the original [b]SC[/b] did have AI opponent, it was something designed for hotseat multiplayer) ended up giving a new life to an RPG genre that was slowly declining day by day? Well, the funniest thing is... The process was pretty much the same with what I've mentioned above. There were the same two guys – [b]Paul Reiche III[/b] and [b]Fred Ford[/b]. And back in 80s? They've played [b]Binary Systems[/b]' [b]Starflight[/b]. Don't tell me they didn't, [b]SC II[/b] is almost identical to [b]Starflight[/b] (even visually), while [b]Starflight[/b] was a milestone. Some sort of [b]Elite[/b] for such games. There was no way in Hell to live back then and miss it. Anyway, you've got the idea. [b]Paul[/b] and [b]Fred[/b] took [b]Starflight[/b] with its space exploration and mineral gathering, and added their old [b]Spacewar![/b]-like battles from previous [b]SC[/b] game to it (hotseat multiplayer is still available as a separate game mode). But that's not what makes sequel so good. If something, that's the [i]worst[/i] thing about it. I mean, [b]Spacewar![/b] was released in 1962. What they did in a previous game felt ancient [i]years[/i] ago. Yet, you guessed it, battles in a sequel are not that different. They're rough, they're clunky and they're the main reason why entry threshold here may be a bit too high nowadays. Those clunky rough battles from previous [b]SC[/b] are the main reason why people fail to enjoy [b]SCII[/b]. And it's sad. Because what we have here? Is often considered to be one of the very best games ever made. Hence the question again – why? Well, you see... [b]Paul[/b] and [b]Fred[/b] not just copied [b]Starflight[/b]. They made it... alive. Don't get me wrong, there's still quite a lot of ripped design here. More than before actually, thanks to which some people calling it “the best [b]Star Trek[/b] game out there”. But somehow, the familiar things from [b]Gene Roddenberry[/b]'s timeless masterpiece, combined with our guys' own humor (which was pretty typical for gamers) mutated into something unique. Does story in [b]SC II[/b] feel like cheap-ass [b]The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy[/b] wannabe? Yep. But unlike pretty much all the other space games on market, alien species in [b]SC II[/b] felt... Well, I said it – [i]alive[/i]. They had personalities, OK? They weren't just shallow nobodies. They had their own unique features, obsessions and fears. Mysterious [b]Arilou Lalee'lay[/b], cowardly [b]Spathi[/b], multi-racial [b]Zoq-Fot-Pik[/b]... Some of those were in a previous game too, but only in [b]SC II[/b] they started to shine for real. How was that achieved? Well, it's time for us to remember [b]Fallout[/b] and [b]Baldur's Gate[/b] again. You know what I'm talking about. The dialogue trees. While other features like solar systems of certain design and planetary exploration, in which we controlled landers and collected things on surface, were copied from [b]Starflight[/b] as is, the advanced dialogue trees were [b]SC II[/b] thing. You may argue that [b]Starflight[/b] had that “statement / question / posture” thing too, but it's not the same. It just... Isn't. It's like comparing [b]Fallout[/b] with, say, [b]Ultima[/b] or [b]Wizardry[/b]. Our main goal in [b]SC II[/b] was to make alliances in order to defeat ultimate enemy in the end. And let me tell you – making enemies was way easier than making friends. Everybody's was a bloody psycho. And learning their ways? That was the way. We needed to explore, we needed to ruse, to intimidate at times, and, of course, there was our ship. Which... was a thing on its own. All the other things aside, [b]SC II[/b] provided that certain romantic feeling we all want from this kind of games. Us. Our ship. And a wast galaxy to explore. [b]SC II[/b] did all of that right. We'll be able to customize our main vessel (which, again, felt a lot like [b]USS Enterprise[/b]), we'll be able to build up our own little fleet (more ships and technologies will become available with every new alliance you'll be able to make), and, of course, the galaxy itself is deep and brimming with mysteries (aside from other things, there are three types of space to explore here). [b]SC II[/b] is a legend. Is it perfect? Nope. Which is pretty obvious nowadays when its clunkiness may actually scare people off. Some things will grow on you (controls, for example, are pretty [b]Gothic[/b]-like, which means that after you'll become used to 'em, you'll actually start liking 'em). The others (like that bloody space combat)? Not so much (even AI assist, which is a thing, won't help much with that). Still, diving into this game today? Totally worth it. Even more so since, for whatever screwed up reason, we didn't get lots of such games with time. Personally, I launched [b]SC II[/b] just to refresh my memory, but ended up playing through the whole thing in one sit. Just because of how addictive it is. The problem is... This version here? It is not your best option. Right here, in [b]Steam[/b], you can get a game called [b]Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters[/b]. Which is the same exact [b]SC II[/b], only better. How? Well, unlike this release, it at least tries to be a native app instead of using the default version of [b]DOSBox[/b]. But that's not the reason. The real reason is – while fixing some bugs, [b]Free Stars[/b] version (they've changed the title to avoid copyright problems, but everything else is the same) incorporates some advanced features (like cutscenes and voice-over) that were only introduced in the advanced port for [b]3DO[/b] consoles. In [b]Free Stars[/b] you'll be able to manually select which feature you want from the original [b]DOS[/b] version and which you want to replace with something from [b]3DO[/b]. Awesome stuff. And the best of all? It's completely free. In other words, you can get bigger and better version for free, while this here gives you the lamest [b]DOSBox[/b] thing out there (while also using one of them lame scalers by default) and wants you to pay [b]$2.49[/b] for it. Yes, there's also the first game included as a bonus, but as we all know now – it's not really worth it. Still, for history purpose? I like having this one in my library. Like I said – [b]SC II[/b] is a legend. Enough said.