The Starship Damrey

A wonderful 3DS psychological thriller that details the journey through the emotional turmoil of a ship in distress.

While the launch price of $8 feels a dollar or two too high, I definitely enjoyed the game (when I wasn't stuck) and felt satisfied when it was over. I would recommend it to players interested in the genre, and especially to those who prefer puzzles with a foothold in actual logic. Players interested in elegant, small-scale design might also learn a thing or two from this tasteful interstellar jaunt, as well.

The Starship Damrey achieves many of the goals set by the producers. Despite losing some meaning within the narrative and causing a little disappointment as a survival or space horror game, it still is an interesting proposal, especially for its low price.

The Starship Damrey is a wasted opportunity. The plot is great, but the gameplay is far too limited. The adventure gamers will be disappointed. Recommended to fans of science fiction and those who grew up with the Alien movies.

That narrative itself is scattered throughout journals and archives accessible through the main menu, and discovering just what went wrong on the Starship Damrey is half the fun. It's filled to the brim with twists and humor, but I really would have loved to see the game fleshed out a bit more.

However, the game never really delivers much of anything. It feels more like an experiment in narrative presentation than an actual video game, and while I think there is no inherent problem with the design philosophy of The Starship Damrey, the reality is that it just isn't very exciting to play.

We expect this to be a divisive title, and it could do with a little extra content, but delivers exactly what it has promised, and is unapologetic as it does so.

The Starship Damrey is an intriguing and atmospheric sci-fi thriller; it fails to deliver an interesting adventure game, as its gameplay is linear, easy and derivative, but it can be recommended for those who want a good story, a couple of scares and a great atmosphere.

The Starship Damrey is a fun little experiment. Do not expect too much and you will probably appreciate the interesting story.

It is atmospheric, it is intense and mysterious. But it is also too simple and too linear. A solid adventure for 3D-detectives.

We've got mixed feelings. The adventure is indeed interesting, but it's also quite simple and easy and there are some control-related issues we would like to see fixed. Anyway, if you like what it has to offer, it's worth a try.

The new work by Level 5 created a lot of expectations in us when first listening to the developers commentaries. Unfortunately, while it is clear that the developer tried hard to fulfill this high expectations, they didn’t succeeded. The game itself, even if good enough, loses the novelty and the authenticity of the other Level 5 works. It is just a tiny, simple, good adventure. Nothing more, nothing less.

The game is at pains to highlight its lack of tutorials or explanations, but outside an intriguing opening, its conundrums are unlikely to leave you stumped for long, a result of the ship's compactness and the robot's inability to carry more than one item at once.

Despite being entertaining in its own way, The Starship Damrey ultimately fails to provide a hardcore, old-school adventure as promised. There's potential for an even more expansive campaign, which I hope Level-5 explores one day -- if Liberation Maiden can get a sequel, so can this! For now, rein in your expectations.

There are two games here: the one you've been led to hope for and the one you play. It's not so much a valiant effort as a nice idea that never got used.

The Starship Damrey is, in the end, more a missed opportunity than a terrible game: strange design choices, clumsy gameplay and a steep price tag don't do justice to the great atmosphere. Try it again, Level 5.

It’s initially interesting, but the asking price is very high for such a basic and short-lived game.

The Starship Damrey is a solid little adventure title, marred by a limited scope thanks to its origins as part of a three-in-one retail package that never came to light, a low budget, poor control choices and a story that shows potential but is not fleshed out enough to make players really care about the final outcome.

The Starship Damrey is a short but enjoyable space mystery that could have been so much better if it allowed you to puzzle through the enigma yourself.

There's some good moments and interesting concepts in here, together with the low price point, they counter some of the shortcomings a bit. Still, this is never more than a mediocre and ultimately a bit boring adventure-game, that lacks esprit and character.

Something like Amnesia: The Dark Descent's horrible, instinct-suppressing requirement to run away, hide and not even look at your tormentor could have worked well here, giving The Starship Damrey that dash of genuine threat necessary to maintain the tension conjured by its early scenes, without burdening the game with unnecessary combat.

While the final explanation shows that, predictably enough, there’s more going on than meets the eye, it’s more short story than novel. In terms of both story and gameplay it’s hard to find much to recommend about The Starship Damrey, but there’s nothing really wrong with it either. It’s a curiosity, interesting enough while being played, and then it’s over.

Two-and-a-half hours of trundling around Damrey's bland corridors left us severely disappointed. [Aug 2013, p.71]

I certainly appreciate the game existing on the eShop, but unfortunately, The Starship Damrey needed to have better storytelling and a better payoff to make the download worth it.