Star Control 3

 PC
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 37 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 37
  3. Negative: 15 out of 37

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  1. sendingsignal
    Feb 16, 2011
    10
    Ok, yes. It's not Star Control II, arguable one of the very best games ever made.

    But it doesn't deserve all these 1 star reviews. SC3 actually had a lot of great moments, beautifully crafted aliens, and well performed dialog. The ship mechanics and gameplay weren't as good, and the story not as satisfying, but this game had amazing personality. I've played it through again and again and    Ok, yes. It's not Star Control II, arguable one of the very best games ever made.

    But it doesn't deserve all these 1 star reviews. SC3 actually had a lot of great moments, beautifully crafted aliens, and well performed dialog. The ship mechanics and gameplay weren't as good, and the story not as satisfying, but this game had amazing personality. I've played it through again and again and will always remember it fondly. Star Control II is better, but if you've played it a million times and know the story by heart, Star Control III is the nearest thing available.

    It's a shame there aren't more recent options out there and there was never a true sequel, but at least they tried. If you just want to go out there and talk to aliens, this game is awesome. And that's my ideal videogame, one where I just wander around and talk to aliens. For that - thank you Star Control 3, thank you.    … Expand
  2. ShadyAlligator
    May 14, 2020
    8
    A flawed but still enjoyable game. Ship combat is as good as ever, and improves aiming from the previous games. The voice dialog is really strong, arguably better than Star Control 2. The storylines for the individual aliens are pretty interesting. There's some characters who you'll wish got more screen time, but at least the characters are there. The Arilou, the Spathi, the Pkunk... YouA flawed but still enjoyable game. Ship combat is as good as ever, and improves aiming from the previous games. The voice dialog is really strong, arguably better than Star Control 2. The storylines for the individual aliens are pretty interesting. There's some characters who you'll wish got more screen time, but at least the characters are there. The Arilou, the Spathi, the Pkunk... You always wish there was another sequel to Star Control 2, one that was made by the actual creators of the series, but you can tell that the authors of this third game were genuine fans of the original content. They consulted with the original creators, properly licensed the content with their permission, and were done by some veterans of Infocom and Legend Entertainment. (Two great studios of yesteryear.)

    Some obvious criticisms. It's just really hard to compete with Star Control 2 in terms of story. The gameplay hasn't aged that well. But then, neither has SC2's, and you have to remember that 2D top-down ship combat was on its last legs in the early 90s. The colony management system is a little opaque, but it's at least far less tedious compared to planet landing, and you can mostly ignore it and focus on the story.

    The story is really enjoyable, with truly distinct characters. The humor is maybe a little off, and the ending has some eye-rolling corniness. It can't help but feel like fan-fiction. But the most complete fan fiction we have, until a real sequel comes out.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. TotalGames.net
    92
    There''s ''playing hours a plenty'' here for all strategy fans, the soundtrack and speech are great and the story is complex and intriguing. Put it this way, it's my present number one pastime apart from swivelling my microscope.
  2. Computer Games Magazine
    90
    One of the best games of the year. It migh t even be the best adventure game of the year. The plot is deep, the characters are brought to life effectively, I haven't found almost any bugs, and they didn't leave anything out.
    Read full review
  3. PC Gamer
    90
    Even with its few faults, Star Control 3 is a worthy successor and a blast to play. [Dec 1996, p.260]
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