StarDrive

 PC
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 385 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 221 out of 385
  2. Mixed: 75 out of 385
  3. Negative: 89 out of 385

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  1. stitch626
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    Yes this game is what it says it is, 4x! I specifically checked for multilayer before buying and noted from their home site that it would be added after launch. I then checked that regular updates were being made. There are bugs, but compared to EA's track record, this game is perfect at launch!

    I thought Sins would be better than what it was, and was looking for a GalCIV multiplayer    Yes this game is what it says it is, 4x! I specifically checked for multilayer before buying and noted from their home site that it would be added after launch. I then checked that regular updates were being made. There are bugs, but compared to EA's track record, this game is perfect at launch!

    I thought Sins would be better than what it was, and was looking for a GalCIV multiplayer for the wife and myself (since Stardock punked out and wouldn't release one!). This game is not quite there yet but well on it's way. Thanks Zero, look forward to a long and happy relationship with this game.    … Expand
  2. j30g20
    Apr 28, 2013
    10
    The game is not incomplete, it is not garbage, you do not need to sue the developer. Calm down, take a deep breath, it's just a game. Wow, folks get mighty testy over toys. Anyway, I am enjoying this new game very much. Some things I'd like to add, some I'd like to delete and a few bugs. That said, hard to remember a game that didn't have all that at release. Only near perfect games I everThe game is not incomplete, it is not garbage, you do not need to sue the developer. Calm down, take a deep breath, it's just a game. Wow, folks get mighty testy over toys. Anyway, I am enjoying this new game very much. Some things I'd like to add, some I'd like to delete and a few bugs. That said, hard to remember a game that didn't have all that at release. Only near perfect games I ever purchased were from HPS, Matrix, and John Tiller. The rest took a bit of time with lots of CONSTRUCTIVE input being given and listened to by the developers. I gave it a ten 'cause it is to me and will become even better. Words like boring, not fun, DOA, etc are not helpful to folks looking to buy. Maybe plus and minus on what you EXPECTED. This is a significant effort, fun, RTS (I like turn based, actually) that THQ or EA would have charged $50 for (six months ago). Anybody, and there won't be many, who wants a recommendation; consider it done. AND yes, this is my first review mostly because I get sick of really nasty, child like comments in lieu of really well thought out critiques..… Expand
  3. Grazgul
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    A fantastic game that has a new take on 4X. The shipyard is interesting and meaningful and the real time elements give the 4X genre a bit of pace.

    The low price and the developer's commitment elevate this to an 8.

    If your looking for something new in the strategy area, look no further!!
  4. Spacebears6766
    Apr 28, 2013
    6
    To put it simply, the game is not done. I bought the beta version on steam and have enjoyed the product. I cannot tolerate that the game is being marketed as a "finished" product now that the release date has passed. Some races have yet to receive their full ship line ups and it is obvious that the game is just not done. While I have no problem pre-purchasing a game to get access to aTo put it simply, the game is not done. I bought the beta version on steam and have enjoyed the product. I cannot tolerate that the game is being marketed as a "finished" product now that the release date has passed. Some races have yet to receive their full ship line ups and it is obvious that the game is just not done. While I have no problem pre-purchasing a game to get access to a beta I expect a released product to be finished. The release date should have been pushed back or some outside help brought in to finish the game up if the April 26th release date was really that important.
    Overall the game has a nice concept but the execution seems a bit lacking. I would still recommend this game to any space or 4x fan but be warned, it is definitely not a finished product.    … Expand
  5. FGamer
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    truly sad, i had high hopes for that game but during the end of aplha and the transition to beta and finally to the actua release version there isn't as much progress as someone might hoped.

    the game has the following problems: - lackluster AI and overall stability performance - the game has broken or unfinished content as the state being - very light dimplomacy mechanics - a    truly sad, i had high hopes for that game but during the end of aplha and the transition to beta and finally to the actua release version there isn't as much progress as someone might hoped.

    the game has the following problems:

    - lackluster AI and overall stability performance
    - the game has broken or unfinished content as the state being
    - very light dimplomacy mechanics
    - a tiny tech tree and therefor very little to actually design ships for or to build on the planets
    -jraces have besides their different ship layouts and some minor trait tweaks little differentiation besides the nonetheless good looking arts.
    - galaxy feels very empty ...there is very little to do besides waiting for the next possible planet for colonization
    - poor and unintuitive user interface    … Expand
  6. Jahx
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    I played the Beta for the last month before release, and enjoyed it far more than many released big-studio games of the same Genre. Now that it is released I see the author managed to pack in several more features and upgrades in the final month, and continues to do so in direct relation to user feedback. That is just simply an awesome experience to be a part of, and it is great to see theI played the Beta for the last month before release, and enjoyed it far more than many released big-studio games of the same Genre. Now that it is released I see the author managed to pack in several more features and upgrades in the final month, and continues to do so in direct relation to user feedback. That is just simply an awesome experience to be a part of, and it is great to see the recommendations that I have been making take shape before my very eyes.

    NOW FOR THE GAME: It's another 4x space strategy game... with a huge difference. You can design every square inch of every ship you make, and customize every fleet you field which opens up a world of unlimited possibilities. 1 well-designed ship can take on fleets of lesser technology or poorly designed ships, and a well thought out fleet of ships filling special roles can be unstoppable. This is what breaks it out of the mold of 4x games and makes it something more.

    If you like fine-tuning your research for maximum effectiveness and glorying in the mayhem as your elite fleet tears through hordes of cheap imitations, you will love this game and should buy it immediately.

    If you normally put research and diplomacy on auto, rush with a constant stream of cheap units and spam chat with how you are "Pwning everyone" then you probably won't get much out of this game.

    The only reason I didn't give it a 10 is it still has room for improvement in terms of varied and longer tech trees and overall polish. However because of the low price and truly original approach, it's really more like an 11.    … Expand
  7. IronStylus
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    This game really brings back a ton of the excitement that I had when playing games like StarControl and Masters of Orion. I'm a digital artist working in the games industry and I can really appreciate the detail and crafting put into the space combat.

    While there are a lot of polish points that the game could benefit from addressing (UI, planetary and fleet management, etc) I applaud    This game really brings back a ton of the excitement that I had when playing games like StarControl and Masters of Orion. I'm a digital artist working in the games industry and I can really appreciate the detail and crafting put into the space combat.

    While there are a lot of polish points that the game could benefit from addressing (UI, planetary and fleet management, etc) I applaud the makers of this game for creating a really engaging (and addictive!) experience that even a more novice player such as myself can sink their teeth into.

    I look forward to playing this game a TON more and seeing what the developers come up with next be it DLC content or a new game. StarDrive is something they could build a huge franchise on and I wish them warp speed in their efforts to bring 4X strategy games back in force!    … Expand
  8. rkcth
    Apr 28, 2013
    0
    I can't figure out how the heck to play this game, it just drops you in the middle with no tutorial. The game also doesn't work with Windows High DPI settings which I use so I can read text from my couch on my home theater PC. I turned down my DPI to normal and changed the game resolution to 720P, but I couldn't t figure out what on earth I was supposed to do. I understand this is anI can't figure out how the heck to play this game, it just drops you in the middle with no tutorial. The game also doesn't work with Windows High DPI settings which I use so I can read text from my couch on my home theater PC. I turned down my DPI to normal and changed the game resolution to 720P, but I couldn't t figure out what on earth I was supposed to do. I understand this is an indie game but either mamke it intuitive or drop new games into a skippable tutorial. I can't believe I paid good money for such a horribly designed game.… Expand
  9. darkmaterial
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    A bit buggy at present, but once those are fixed, this will be the best 4x space since Masters of Orion 2. The ship design and experimentation is engrossing game in itself.
  10. saz
    Apr 28, 2013
    5
    I'm a big fan of 4x games. It's impressive there's only one person on the project. Sadly, you can tell. It needs more cooks in the kitchen. In it's current state, it's more of a fringe game. Most players will find the UI frustrating and incomplete. Many features like a scroll out button or hotkeys to take you to your home planet are just missing. I wasn't interested in building customI'm a big fan of 4x games. It's impressive there's only one person on the project. Sadly, you can tell. It needs more cooks in the kitchen. In it's current state, it's more of a fringe game. Most players will find the UI frustrating and incomplete. Many features like a scroll out button or hotkeys to take you to your home planet are just missing. I wasn't interested in building custom ships and there is a bad gap for included ship designs. If you research a new tech, you'll have to create a design to use it.He's doing an in service to his game and to those purchasing it, by keeping it all the work and inspiration in house. These games really need big teams. Hopefully not that it's gone retail, he can add some staff.… Expand
  11. Jacomus
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    Played this for almost 7 hours now and I think this Indie game comes closest to the addictive gameplay of Master of Orion 2 as any other 4X game ever did! There are still some rough edges around the interface/gameplay but other than that a new 4X game to play for a long time!
  12. CaptinDan
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    Brought into the Beta about a month before release. Played a good 60+ hours. The game is very good, i was doubtful because it is RTS but the pacing is just right and pause means you can play it just like a turn based game.
    Pros
    The 4X aspects are all there and work nicely. But the real joy is ship building, which is just great. The game is stable and runs well. Cons Only real negative    Brought into the Beta about a month before release. Played a good 60+ hours. The game is very good, i was doubtful because it is RTS but the pacing is just right and pause means you can play it just like a turn based game.
    Pros
    The 4X aspects are all there and work nicely. But the real joy is ship building, which is just great.
    The game is stable and runs well.
    Cons
    Only real negative is that it could do with more events etc. But i feel confident that this will be added with time and even if no new content is added to the game the current build is worthy of 9/10. With more content i can well believe it would be worth 10/10.
    If you like 4X space games buy it, it is the real deal.    … Expand
  13. Furrygopher
    Apr 28, 2013
    5
    What is this games unique selling point?

    It's ship and fleet editor, far more powerful than any other similar game on the genre at the cost of high complexity, forgivable considering the niche that likes this is the games target audience. But where the let down comes is in the question- How is this unique selling point implemented? how does it reward me for skilled use of it? how    What is this games unique selling point?

    It's ship and fleet editor, far more powerful than any other similar game on the genre at the cost of high complexity, forgivable considering the niche that likes this is the games target audience.

    But where the let down comes is in the question-

    How is this unique selling point implemented? how does it reward me for skilled use of it? how does it punish me for poor use of it?

    Respectively the answers are badly, no reward and no or next to no punishment.

    Only total failure at ship design is punished by the game, insufficient powerlack of an engineNo shield etc these tend to leave your ship crippled or easily crippled, partial failure is easily overcome, build a second ship of the same class and outnumber your foes in battle.

    Success in designing a ship that can go toe to toe with three ships gives you the reward of not clicking 2 more times on the build order. Your empires economy rides roughshod over any reward or punishment the design system when it ought to be the other way round, empire management is not this games key feature.

    The ship and fleet design system rates an 8 on its own and I would have no qualms giving that if the system had a payback. The game is desperate for a mode featuring a simulated battle on a tactical level rather than strategic level akin to a Tabletop Warhammer match you and a friend or you against the AI with 1000 point fleets a pre-fight design period then the combat where design skill then ship deployment is rewarded with success.    … Expand
  14. akarnokd
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    Finally a real time game. I've been disappointed by the sheer number of MoO clones lately. The graphics looks surprisingly great, the alien graphics is adorable. The gameplay mechanics is good and the detailed ship design is sound. Unfortunately, the UI still not as good as it should be, certain management tasks are (still) tedious. Yes, there are still bugs and awkward behavior in it. IFinally a real time game. I've been disappointed by the sheer number of MoO clones lately. The graphics looks surprisingly great, the alien graphics is adorable. The gameplay mechanics is good and the detailed ship design is sound. Unfortunately, the UI still not as good as it should be, certain management tasks are (still) tedious. Yes, there are still bugs and awkward behavior in it. I would give a total rating of 7.5 (Disclaimer: I supported the Kickstarter campaign and participated in testing from very early on.)… Expand
  15. Arcturus519
    Apr 28, 2013
    5
    This game for the first hour of play, looks smooth and nice, you design ships, they fight, colonize worlds, everything you want. Then once you actually start playing the game you realize how important UI is. There are no good shortcuts to get to different areas. The ship building (and saving design) screen is insane. It makes you want to rip your face off. I want to update my ship with theThis game for the first hour of play, looks smooth and nice, you design ships, they fight, colonize worlds, everything you want. Then once you actually start playing the game you realize how important UI is. There are no good shortcuts to get to different areas. The ship building (and saving design) screen is insane. It makes you want to rip your face off. I want to update my ship with the latest tech and ...argh nevermind I don't want to play the game anymore.... I want to all all my planets and make sure they are about to be attacks, oh that's really hard too.. just so much going on... oh wait look all my production has been being dumped into space and wasted.
    The ship combat is great to watch and fun, but the game won't let you watch it because if you stick around to watch a fleet combat, your entire empire will crumble around you. (one turn should be a lot longer than 5 seconds, as fleet combats don't matter when you can build 6 fleets of the same size over again by the time your first fleet combat has finished. (and that's just from your homeworld, wait til you try and manage an empire?    … Expand
  16. Adral
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    This game takes the cake when it comes to all of the indie sci-fi 4x games that have been coming out lately. Last year we saw Endless Space, which was phenomenal, but the game seemed to lose some luster at the end. This game, however, brings back the beauty of Sins of a Solar Empire's real time space battles, while giving us an even deeper customization option for ships than what EndlessThis game takes the cake when it comes to all of the indie sci-fi 4x games that have been coming out lately. Last year we saw Endless Space, which was phenomenal, but the game seemed to lose some luster at the end. This game, however, brings back the beauty of Sins of a Solar Empire's real time space battles, while giving us an even deeper customization option for ships than what Endless Space gave us. The technology tree is deep, the variety of ships you can build is vast, and the species are quite varied. The game runs very smoothly as well, only minimal lag in late game environments. With the development continuing to be on-going post release, this game is a must have for fans of the science fiction strategy genre.… Expand
  17. chlulke
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    I bought Star Drive on release day and I am hooked so far I have played 24 hours and I am still learning the game. The games not perfect and could do with a few bits and bobs to cut down the micro managment a little. The game has had 3 CTD but as the game auto saves often you don't lose much. All in all a very good game.
  18. XoXoX
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    I'll give this game a 10 when the modders come out with Star Wars and Star Trek skins! This game is simply awesome and will be the best space strategy for a very long time. Zero is a genius...
  19. Xeonau
    Apr 28, 2013
    9
    I too was waiting for a successor to Master of Orion series. This Indy seems to have captured it, there are some bugs and the tutorial is very fixed (rather than an interactive one). Still the combat is engaging and there is loads of exploration, research and colonization options to keep you engaged. Great game hopefully patches updates will add Multi-player in the future too
  20. Loruy
    Apr 28, 2013
    10
    This game has all of my support. I usually never buy games, in fact, it's been about a year since I put down money for a game. This game is different. I also usually never play games longer than a hour (I have really low-tolerance) but this game kept me in for days on in game play. Even in beta, this game is fantastic! You can't really ask for more from the developers except for 2 things,This game has all of my support. I usually never buy games, in fact, it's been about a year since I put down money for a game. This game is different. I also usually never play games longer than a hour (I have really low-tolerance) but this game kept me in for days on in game play. Even in beta, this game is fantastic! You can't really ask for more from the developers except for 2 things, and that would either be a multiplier feature (All of my friends are in on this game) and maybe additional content! Of course, it just released so I can only praise the game and support the devs to hope for more! 26.99$, worth every penny.… Expand
  21. Minderrx
    Apr 28, 2013
    10
    ver since Master of Orion 2 was released, there hasn't really been a worthy successor. MoO3 was garbage, and several imitators have come along trying to capture the magic of the franchise. StarDrive manages to reinvigorate the 4x genre and is a hell of a lot of fun.

    I would give it a 10, but there are still some bugs that need to be ironed out. This game is definitely an indie gem t… Expand
  22. SadSatyr
    Apr 28, 2013
    0
    The amazing numbers of positive reviews have forced me to write a review of this game.

    This game is priced like a game coming from a decent studio, and sadly it was released like a game coming from a major studio. What I mean is that the game is still in a beta stage, and it appears to be an early beta at that. I understand the game is being designed by a really small team (maybe 1    The amazing numbers of positive reviews have forced me to write a review of this game.

    This game is priced like a game coming from a decent studio, and sadly it was released like a game coming from a major studio. What I mean is that the game is still in a beta stage, and it appears to be an early beta at that.

    I understand the game is being designed by a really small team (maybe 1 guy) but that doesn't excuse charging $30 for a game that can not be played. I have tried putting in roughly 6 hours since the "launch" about 18 hours ago. The "launch" consisted of an updated from 1.07 to 1.07b I'm honestly not sure what the update did. The game crashes for me on startup, at race selection, when I zoom out to fast, when I try to colonize a planet the list continues.

    I have started about 10 games, the longest game I have been able to play was roughly 2 hours. This game has done what every major studio has done that has caused me to despise them. It made a promise of a great game, and delivered a beta. If I had been offered a demo I would have tried it and known not to buy this game.

    Wait 6 months then go check the forums to figure out if this game has been fixed yet. Or better yet, send the developer an email and let him know you want a demo before you buy it given how this release has been.

    Given this was an indie title I would have been willing to overlook so many things, but if the bug forum is still bursting at the seams with people unable to play then clearly your game is not ready it is likely not even out of alpha tbh...

    Zero (the developer) releasing this game in this state screams of a cash grab to me. I would not be surprised if in 6 months this game is still unfinished and patches have become few and far between ...

    Ok, so all that being said, what's good? The ship building is really cool all the other stuff you expect from a 4x game has been simplified to make the game "real time". Basically each turn takes 5 real time seconds, but you can pause the game at any time to issue orders or do whatever else. This makes the game feel conflicted to me. Sure, it might trim down the amount of time it takes to finish a game compared to GalCiv or Master of Orion, but the experience is equally diminished. I expect that if this game is ever finished serious 4x fans might get maybe 10-20 hours out of the game before getting bored and returning to the classics. RTS fans may do the same thing, but will eventually return to Sins of a Solar Empire.

    If this game had been released complete I would have rated it in the 5-7 range, but if a game is released as a finished product when it is, in fact, still in beta I have to give the game a 0. That is clearly false advertising and a cash grab by the developer & publisher...    … Expand
  23. xDEATH48x
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    This game is amazing. Anyone who is a fan of Sins of a Solar Empire or Sword of The Stars will love this game. Its got depth, graphics, sound, gameplay....everything. There are somethings that need some fixing but overall a great game from a small company.
  24. XRsyst
    Apr 27, 2013
    8
    A great addition to the 4X genre, especially given the recent drought of acceptable 4X games. The realt-time with pause nature of the game feels more natural than turn based but without sacrificing strategy. The game is not yet perfect, but quite fun and enjoyable. The developer also provides great support and is working hard on polishing the rough edges. Also the game has great mod support.
  25. arcadus
    Apr 27, 2013
    10
    Honestly one of the best space 4x games I've ever played. The mechanics are simple, the game is deep, and it doesn't require any annoying micromanagement (unless you want to micromanage). It could use some smoothing out of rough edges, but the quality of this game is astounding when you considered it's made by one man.
  26. Sc0tch
    Apr 27, 2013
    7
    This game is a bit of a mixed bag but I'd defiantly say I got my moneys worth on the purchase. I've enjoyed every minute I've played the game and I've played for about 100 hours so far so at this point I payed about 25 cents per hour of game play, which is pretty good for me these days. However, the game is far from perfect and is certainly incomplete. Usually I would never give 7/10 to aThis game is a bit of a mixed bag but I'd defiantly say I got my moneys worth on the purchase. I've enjoyed every minute I've played the game and I've played for about 100 hours so far so at this point I payed about 25 cents per hour of game play, which is pretty good for me these days. However, the game is far from perfect and is certainly incomplete. Usually I would never give 7/10 to a game that is incomplete but honestly, the core features of the game are so enjoyable and are enough to save the game. If the developer, which from what I can tell is basically one guy, keeps all the promises he has made about future support for the game then I will have to revisit this review and bump up the score.

    If you are a fan of the 4x space genre and enjoyed games like Master of Orion, Sword of the Stars and Galactic Civilizations then this game is right up your alley. I've found the ship design aspect of the game to be absolutely superb. It takes a little while to figure out how to put together a good ship but it's such a rewarding experience that it all felt well worth it. Seeing the improvement from my early more flawed designs to my later more efficient and effective designs was a very gratifying experience. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the computer utilize some of my ship and fleet designs as well. If you make sure to delete your early screw up designs and keep your save file filled with good designs you will get to experience an added level of challenge to the game when you come up against your own intelligence by facing your own designs in combat.

    The game's macro level colony and economy management is simple to understand once it is explained to you. Unfortunately unless you look up the specifics you are going to have to learn by trial and error. The game only has four main resources to care about production, credits, food and science. Your credit income which is used for espionage and rushing production is completely based on taxes which mainly come from production so those two resources are very closely linked. Production, science and food are all managed by sliders and are direct trade offs, in that the more you focus on one the less you will have of the others. I think the system works and is understandable once you figure it out. I've never found micromanaging resources to be very fun and this game made it fairly easy so I think this part of the game is great.

    Combat is pretty enjoyable in this game. It's really where you get to see your ship designs shine. The ships are designed with blocks on them that you place modules on. Each module has hit points and can be hit by enemy fire. If the module runs out of hit points it explodes. Fairly simple in concept but this adds so much to the design aspect of the game. There are lots of things to think about when balancing a ship for combat, for instance ammo storage, fire power, speed and maneuverability, warp speed, armor, shields, energy storage, ect... A huge part design will be placing your power reactors because when they blow they take a fair portion of your ship with them. Placing them where they are protected and can still provide power to the ship is a challenging and fun.

    The game is unfortunately incomplete. Some races don't have as many hull designs as they should and some of the scripted events are unfinished. At it's core everything you need for an enjoyable experience is there but a lot of finishing touches and polish isn't there. The game definitely seems like it could use more variety in terms of events as at the moment there are really only two complete ones and several incomplete ones.

    Summary

    Goods
    Solid 4x experience at the core of this game
    Ship design is excellent
    Combat is fun to watch
    Macro management of planets is understandable and simple yet important
    Features AI to takeover tasks you'd rather not handle for things like scouting, managing freighters or even colonizing planets (especially good while you are learning as it lets you tackle these concepts when you are ready rather than all at once)
    Unique and customizable races
    This game is really what you make of it
    Built in Mod support The developer has made a lot of promises about this. The mods I've tried so far are basic but do change things up a noticeably.

    Bads
    Incomplete The game still needs some things to be added and a fair amount of polish
    Learning curve This game has no instructions or tutorial so you have to learn on your own or by watching others (plenty of youtube videos out there.). Makes it a very bad starting game for those new to the genre.
    Gets tedious toward the end You'll win the war long before you finish conquering an enemy race. Would be nice if you could just force them to surrender after you destroyed all their ships and take their capital and good planets.    … Expand
  27. dragon0085
    Apr 27, 2013
    2
    I had to create a profile so I could review this game amidst the obvious rating bombing this game is getting for positive reviews it doesnt deserve.

    The game suffers from FAR too much micromangagement, bad user interface to make it happen, bad pacing, and the problem of attempting a realistic space sim but losing playability in the process. I have played all the classics, I am the    I had to create a profile so I could review this game amidst the obvious rating bombing this game is getting for positive reviews it doesnt deserve.

    The game suffers from FAR too much micromangagement, bad user interface to make it happen, bad pacing, and the problem of attempting a realistic space sim but losing playability in the process.

    I have played all the classics, I am the target audience, and I found this game terrible. For reference I have completed games of Space empires, and that is about as hardcore as it gets for 4x games. One of the biggest problems of this game is the scale, and the scroll speed, the fact you constantly have to bounce between system and 'galaxy' view but at a slow rate. To explain, consider a game like master of orion, it took place in a galaxy view, you saw all your stars, and it was clear, you could click on a star and it went INSTANTLY to system view, you saw planets, and could click on it. This game is nightmarish, it it almost a literal size ration of a system to a small section of a galaxy, meaning you have to zoom out...zoom out...oh theres one planet...zoom out...30 seconds later you FINALLY can see the stars. It is literally this bad.

    I understand the game was going for this cool thing where your ships are flying around the system from different sides, dropping in from warp...but it is just so hard to control meaningfully. Systems are HUGE and ships are nearly life size...meaning invisible. No big icons at all. Multiple times I clicked on the ships icon and could not find my ship despite being in the middle of the screen. The stars that are part of the background are not obviously different from system stars, so it was annoying trying to find actual systems.

    So beyond the massive scaling problem (and terrible scroll speed) the pacing is bad. It is real time, but basically the only way to really play is a 'turn based' style of pausing, issuing orders, playing at 4x speed until new orders...pause...repeat. What I hate is how slow your ships move in a system, again it was as if he was going for a realistic sim, at the heavy cost of gameplay.

    The user interface for ships and colonies is terrible. You can have a list of colonies (good) but not actually click on them to go to them (very bad) I mean how obvious of a feature was this to include? Every space game I've played from the 90s on let you click from a list to actually GO TO the planet.

    Last...ship design. It is not good. You have a whole bunch of squares, and you throw stuff in it (imagine space empires if you played it) but the problem is you have a LOT of stuff to throw in, and very little difference. You have a gun that does 15 damage and cost 500 or a gun that does 14 damage and cost 460 and does the exact same effect, woah such depth. You have the annoyance of placing power plants and then connecting wiring to all your stuff. If I wanted to be WIRING my ships I would have gone into engineering. There is no auto complete, and whats worse is there are certain areas that you cant place stuff in. Ship design in normally fun, or at least not a chore, it is very very annoying in this game. There is not a good info screen or anything either to decide if your ship is even good or has good stats.

    In closing there are some things that need improving like scroll speed, but that is a little thing that could get patched, but real things like the far too complex ship design, VERY bad pacing, very bad scaling of ships to systems to stars, and generally not fun because it isnt clear what is even happening makes this a game not recommendable, and this is from someone thats played a lot of them.    … Expand
  28. Pigger
    Apr 27, 2013
    8
    Probably the most fun 4x game I've ever played. It currently has it's share of bugs and requires a ton of polish. However I've had more fun with this unfinished product then I did with Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion, Endless space, and Sword of the stars(the first sots, I don't like the second) combined. The ship building as good if not better then Sots, the empire management and combatProbably the most fun 4x game I've ever played. It currently has it's share of bugs and requires a ton of polish. However I've had more fun with this unfinished product then I did with Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion, Endless space, and Sword of the stars(the first sots, I don't like the second) combined. The ship building as good if not better then Sots, the empire management and combat is better then Sins, and the planet/star system development is better then Endless space. Add on top of that the optional auto managing systems which make even me, the single worst macro player ever, able to fight on five fronts with nine different fleets and you have a great game. I just can't wait for future updates.… Expand
  29. pazmacats
    Apr 27, 2013
    5
    This game gets a 10/10 for letting me design a fleet of ships that will shred the enemy fleets to space debris... The problem is: THere is no documentation (everything is guessing and trial&error, AI uses your ship designs but has no clue what it is doing), and the game is terrible when you try to wipe out another civilization or conquer their planets becuase of the way ground combat isThis game gets a 10/10 for letting me design a fleet of ships that will shred the enemy fleets to space debris... The problem is: THere is no documentation (everything is guessing and trial&error, AI uses your ship designs but has no clue what it is doing), and the game is terrible when you try to wipe out another civilization or conquer their planets becuase of the way ground combat is organized.
    The idea of the game is absolutely great. But everything besides the ship design, ship combat part pretty much sucks.    … Expand
  30. ninjitsu
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    Great 4X. Spent 6 hours straight on it without even knowing it. This is the most enjoyable 4X I've played in a very long time. There's a bit of a learning curve but once you get that, it's uber. Game has a good community and support.

    For me, it's everything I want in a 4X game and there are lots of lazers to go pewpew!
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Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 26
  3. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 10, 2014
    60
    If you like games in the vein of Stars! or Master of Orion, you can sink into Stardrive for long hours. [02/2014, p.73]
  2. GRYOnline.pl
    Dec 9, 2013
    70
    Zero Sum Games has created a worthy addition to the 4X genre. What is more - modders are already creating more and more cool modifications for StarDrive. Ergonomics and gameplay rules should be more user-friendly, but the game itself is far from boring or tiresome. 4X fans will be pleased.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Sep 19, 2013
    60
    For your first and second time, StarDrive brings a refreshing experience resembling Master of Orion. However, as soon as you understand its basic rules, the game is gone like through a Black Hole. [Issue#232]
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