Star Control II: What a game should be.

 I got a 3DO, and through all of my excitement, I wasn't entirely sure what to fire up first. I popped in Slayer and was treated to a 5 minute load of crap that spawned (I need to clean the lens) a now often used "give up" phrase between my friends and I. When it came to good games, though, I was stuck between giving Wing Commander III a go on a standard controller, taking the easy route and popping in Road Rash, or lending myself to the dedicated side of gaming and give Star Control II another chance.

 I'll preface this with some history.

 I first played Star Control for the Genesis in my grandparents basement when a friend of the family knew that I was going to be in town for a couple of weeks and needed something to do as a kid when the parents wanted to have a glass of wine and play cards upstairs. Star Control actually got my dad sucked in, and he advised me to give it a shot because it was more tactically approached. It just so happened I was a freakin' genius back in the day, so this was right up my ally. I was also a paranoid kid, so the "bad" endings littered throughout the game mixed with the setting of space sort of disturbed me, as things like black holes, supernovas, and the empty void of space tended to make me think way too much into things and get freaked out and depressed.



 To be fair, that still happens, but more on that in a second. The bottom line is that the original Star Control gave me a feeling that sat inside of me for years. Strangely, picking up the game again was a complete shock to the lower regions, as it appeared as if someone stomped on my nostalgia with an ugly stick and broke the thing into tiny bits. I just couldn't play it.

 The sequel was a game I never knew about until years later when I was trying to remember the name of the Genesis game that was etched in my head. I found out about Star Control II, which sounded a hell of a lot like the game I wanted to remember. Then I gave The Ur-Quan Masters a shot, only I didn't know what the hell I was doing and decided that it wasn't worth my time to find out. It looked like a DOS game whose interface simply didn't age well.

 I was wrong.

 When my 3DO arrived, I decided I should give it a decent shot on a true console, and found the exact game that I wished somebody would have made. There isn't even a nostalgia filter when it comes to describing it, it's just damned good. There is a reason why it makes all-time lists. The nostalgia filter is sort of humorous when you consider that what awesomeness I remembered from the original game was exactly what I got from the sequel over a decade later.

 The story is pretty simple from the start. You were on a mission away from Earth and stumbled across Protocult-...I mean, a Precursor base that turned out to be an automated shipyard. That race was ancient and disappeared long ago for no explained reason, but you return to Earth's doorstep in the ship only to find that there's an impenetrable red force-field surrounding what should have been a pretty blue planet. Humans are now slaves of the Ur-Quan, who seek to do the same to the rest of the universe. Or galaxy. Or whatever, so long as there's a civilization that can be enslaved that they know about.

 Your mission, of course, is to take your one ship and forge an alliance capable of defeating the Ur-Quan. To do this, you need to spread out and discover literally thousands of locations in order to seek out friends, scout your enemies, explore for alternate means of help through items and exploration, and gather resources to fuel the fight. It's so freakishly expansive that the at first, the game seems boring, dull, and lonely.

 However, this expansiveness is exactly what makes Star Control II the freakishly good experience that most RPGers wish they could find. The feeling of void is echoed in the game's design right down to the musical score and the way you interact on an everyday level within the game, so what seems dull at first turns out to be a massive strength for the title. The thing is, you ARE alone, so parading through the nearly conquered galaxy making as much noise as possible isn't a recipe for success. At first, the game forces you to save your game often and plan out trips with the knowledge given to you while looking over your shoulder all the while, less you be deadified by the Big Bad. Or those crystal guys. Or the spore men. Or....forget it. A lot of the game wants you dead unless you know how to talk your way out of the frying pan.

 That isn't to say that everything is hostile, because there are some genuine pansies amongst the stars. Each race in the game has a particular behavior that you can exploit to your own advantage, but you really have to know what you're looking for. Just as I said that trip planning takes thought, so does everything else in the game. You absolutely have to learn about what's going on or you will never succeed, and it is one of the few games out there that completely expects you to do a little homework before waving guns around.

 Some of the information is useless, but it really helps you know about the "how" and "why" factors. Most all of the information is useful for that exact same reason. This goes with just about every race in the game, but there is one specific example that sums it all up. Inevitably, you will run into a race with no designated region of occupation. They're everywhere, and it's only a matter of time before one shows up to try and make peaceful relations. Trouble is, they aren't very sentient, and no matter what you do or how nice the conversation begins, it always ends the same way: they try and kill you. You don't exactly know why, but little mentions are made of them during your travels. If you can piece what information you have together and explore in the right area, you can put a stop to the attacks for good.

 Because of this, your first foray into the game world is almost certain to end badly or very unproductively. The sheer lack of confidence and knowledge will force newcomers to progress slowly and to be more defensive than anything else, as you will more than likely be suckered into one of the game's not-so-obvious methods to get the "game over". The second time around, however, is where the game really shines. Armed with a little more knowledge and experience, the confidence levels boost and you're off to do some dirty work.

 Technically, the game has one small fault against it in that it's just plain dated. Things look a little bland in some areas, but they don't really affect gameplay. Everything else is on the money. Controlling battles takes some getting used to, but they can wind up being extremely fun. Menus are simple enough, and the resource management for your fleet is not only balanced, but sensibly uncomplicated. Conversation is straight forward and easy to get into, and a full voiced cast not only sounds great, but it adds so much more to the experience.

 Ultimately, the game is about character. Star Control II fleshes out the personalities, voices, tendencies, culture, and history of each race. You will spend most of your time gathering resources, exploring, and traveling to important locations, but you do all of your interacting and learning through conversation. As I said, the first playthrough is really a primer for things to come, while the second one is putting what you need to know for survival into play while then making your moves to figure out what makes each race tick. It's a joy to put a random fact about a race that you overheard in conversation to good use with impactful results.

 Results are what matters, in the end, which is why it's important to consider what makes this game great. Every action you do has an impact on the game world. Well, not every action. Picking up a lump of iron isn't going to make waves, but you can be damned sure that if you figure out what the item you're holding in inventory does, you will definitely affect the entire game world. Even biding your time before getting into a fight can produce valuable information which can not only affect your quest, but give you the verbal ammo you need to avoid the fight and alter the game world all at the same time.

 People love this game for a reason, and it's old appearance shouldn't dissuade you from trying. The learning curve can be steep at first, but once it's figured out, the galaxy is yours for the taking. Plunder worlds, make friends and enemies, blow things up, and discover secrets about the galaxy nobody else knew about...it's all there, and it's fun to play. Backed by full voice acting and terrific atmosphere, it's really hard to put the game down once you're familiar with it. More games should try to be like Star Control II. The best part is? It's free here. Digg It Stumble it ! Reddit