Review Roundup

[SupremacyKing2]

No tutorial

The game gives you a tutorial screen at the beginning that explains the basics. What more of a tutorial do you need on a "simple" game?

only 2 pre-game setups (How many? TWO)

The game let's you pick an affinity, a faction leader, a map size, number of players, difficulty level, and victory conditions. That's more than just 2 pre-game setups.

game is winnable with 3 ships in 3 hours (because... you can only have 3 ships)

I've played with more than 3 ships so it is not true that you are limited to 3.

not worth $ 15, and of course...bugs.

Maybe on the iPad but on the PC, I did not encounter any serious bugs.

 

[EQandcivfanatic]

Have to say the game is not exactly what I expected. I thought it'd be far greater reaching than it turned out to be. It seems to me to be more like XCOM than Civ. Considering it's $15 I ask myself if I can as much fun time as I do buying a movie ticket. Overall, yes, I have approximately better per dollar value of fun with Starships than I do at a movie.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

It seems to me to be more like XCOM than Civ

Well, Firaxis did do an entire livestream where Sid Meier and Jake Solomon specifically talked about how the two games are similar. So it is not surprising that you would make that comparison. In fact, if I had to give starships a simplistic description, I would call it "xcom in space".

 

[rkade8583]

I bought it figuring it was "XCOM light" and it is... and I'm cool with that because I play Long War.

 

[rkade8583]

MORE REVIEWS! We need MOOOORE REVIEWS!

 

[calad]

Some charts:

http://steamcharts.com/cmp/282210,65980,8930

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Some charts:

http://steamcharts.com/cmp/282210,65980,8930

Beyond Earth got a nice boost since Starships and the patch were released.

 

[Dunkah]

So I voted Other.

I bought the game right away as I have always loved the Starships genre.

At 15.00 it is priced right.

I love it but will most likely not play as much as Civ.

Great game - Short Shelf life.

Have not looked into the BE version yet.

 

[Sonereal]

PC Gamer gave the game a 54/100 (5.4/10).

http://www.pcgamer.com/sid-meiers-starships-review/

Starships isn’t terrible, but it isn’t the polished product you’d expect from a studio with Firaxis’ history. Comparing it to its full-scale PC competitors, like Endless Space and GalCiv is cruel, as it’s sub-par in every single regard: unbalanced, repetitive, badly explained, rather ugly, with a dreadful mobile phone UI, and buggy as hell. Even judged against Firaxis’ other mobile games, Civ: Rev and Ace Patrol, this is small and crude.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

PC Gamer gave the game a 54/100 (5.4/10).

http://www.pcgamer.com/sid-meiers-starships-review/

I think PC Gamer is being way too harsh on the game.

 

[Sonereal]

It does line up somewhat close to the Steam user reviews, of which 49% are positive, 51% negative.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

It does line up somewhat close to the Steam user reviews, of which 49% are positive, 51% negative.

I wonder why so many negatives. Is it the mobile game style UI? Are people disappointed because they were expecting a full fledged PC game? Are people expecting a more serious civ style game because of the Sid Meier name?

 

[Maniacal]

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

A positive review by The Switch:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/16/the-switch-plays-sid-meiers-starships/

Bottom line: For better or worse, this is the perfect appetizer to an actual meal. If it were more expensive, the game's simplicity might provoke objections. But it's an enjoyable distraction.

 

[Gort]

I'd probably agree with that one - it's definitely a lot harder to get mad about the limitations of a £10 game compared to a £35 one.

 

[sherbz]

I kind of think this is yet more evidence of Firaxis ignoring their core fan base. Paradox is now pretty much the undisputed king of strategy IMO. There is a lot riding on the possible civ 6 now.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

I would have voted buy if it weren't for the exclamation point. I like it but it's not something to be excited about.
I wrote a positive review on steam because I had specific things to say about what I or someone else might expect from a game like this, like what I wanted from ship design and didn't get. I gave some insight but I got voted as unhelpful, while reviews that give no other information other than they don't like the game were seen as very helpful. Reading my positive review might convince someone NOT to get it because I said specifically how ship combat and design don't work the way I'd have liked, so I'm guessing it's just a popularity contest and a negative opinion wins regardless of information.

I wonder if I had posted the same review text and marked it as not recommended if I'd gotten more positive response?
I've given several negative reviews a 'helpful' rating because they had actual information.

What 'evs. I just have such high expectations of random internet opinions that it's strange to see it not be met.

 

[Tripas]

I would have voted buy if it weren't for the exclamation point. I like it but it's not something to be excited about.
I wrote a positive review on steam because I had specific things to say about what I or someone else might expect from a game like this, like what I wanted from ship design and didn't get. I gave some insight but I got voted as unhelpful, while reviews that give no other information other than they don't like the game were seen as very helpful. Reading my positive review might convince someone NOT to get it because I said specifically how ship combat and design don't work the way I'd have liked, so I'm guessing it's just a popularity contest and a negative opinion wins regardless of information.

I wonder if I had posted the same review text and marked it as not recommended if I'd gotten more positive response?
I've given several negative reviews a 'helpful' rating because they had actual information.

What 'evs. I just have such high expectations of random internet opinions that it's strange to see it not be met.

The overall review system of Steam is kind of infected with idiots, so I wouldn't really feel bad if I were you. Seriously, this is the community that still rolls on the floor laughing after someone makes some "[Did something wacky in this game]11/10" review for the 4836th time that week, but will label any review as "not helpful" if they just disagree with your opinion.

I stopped caring about Steam User Reviews a long time ago, and I encourage everyone else to do the same .

 

[Olleus]

It's a slightly better product than some of the free online games you get on sites like armorgames.com.

Slightly longer games, slightly more polished and slightly more replayability. But not much to be honest.

 

[Roxlimn]

Bought it. Played a whole lotta games on Moderate employing a bunch of builds. Had a blast. It's actually very classic Sid Meier. I'd rate it about on par with Civ Rev. Probably better, actually. Civ Rev is built on Civ 1 and that's a very, very old design. Lots of flaws with it.

There's some confusion here about depth. Starships has depth. What it doesn't have is complexity. You can have complex design with depth, complex design but shallow, simple and shallow, or simple but deep.

Starships is simple but deep. Depth of play means you can arrange to play in a variety of ways and styles and they're all satisfying and viable. All of the major ship weapons are viable - ion cannon, laser, and fighters. You can focus on one, or spread out your ship capability. Depends on what you like. You can use fast or slow ships. You can use Stealth, without or without Cloaking. You can do immortal defense-oriented ships, or whatever.

You can focus on attack and ignore planet development. You can focus on tech and planet acquisition if that's your thing. Or food if you get the right setup. Use the market. Or not.

About the only thing I found marginal was Sensors. I don't see the need for Sensor modules and technology when Fighters essentially does the same thing but also gives me firepower.

I daresay not even the venerable MOO2 had the range of ship expression in Starships. You had a ship with pew-pew. Sometimes you used Ship Capacitors for invulnerable ships. Sometimes you used a short distance AOE weapon, Gyro Destabilizers, missile ships, fighters or boarding of some sort. That was about it. That's about 7 broadly distinct ship types comprising various fleet compositions. Starships has more.