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. Kallale
    Apr 26, 2013
    8
    Great game. Have spent a considerable amount of time playing it over the last few weeks. The game has a few bugs but the Dev releases patches almost daily. The game takes the best parts of similar games from this genre and meshes them together. It allows for modding and has many available on the forums.

    Game has a lot of potential but it is somewhat incomplete. Looking forward to the    Great game. Have spent a considerable amount of time playing it over the last few weeks. The game has a few bugs but the Dev releases patches almost daily. The game takes the best parts of similar games from this genre and meshes them together. It allows for modding and has many available on the forums.

    Game has a lot of potential but it is somewhat incomplete. Looking forward to the content in future updates. Definitely worth the $30 price on steam.    … Expand
  2. zanderjh
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    After playing the beta for a good bit now I can say that this game is very worth the money. The dev is constantly working to fix any grievances that users have, and the game has stolen dozens of hours of my time.

    On the downside, there are still many bugs that can occur and there can be some performance issues, though they are mainly solved.
  3. Vasot
    Apr 30, 2013
    9
    Great game i am enjoying it. It is way more fun from Endless Space which has an awful card-battle system and it feels like a better 4x title compared to Sins of a Solar Empire which does not have any deepness beyond big battles
  4. Grubfist
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    Anyone who loves customization will love this game. It is well developed and has a developer that actually cares and actively responds to their forum. It is a great game overall, and some features are still being implemented, so it's getting even better!
  5. maninthebushes
    Apr 27, 2013
    5
    I got this game one day before it came out of beta, because I have been looking for a game like this for a while, and did not find anything that I really liked. This game has hit the spot. I have sunk 12 hours in, and can't wait to lose another 100. There is still some bugs in this game, some performance issues and some problems with the ordering of ships refusing to go where you want.I got this game one day before it came out of beta, because I have been looking for a game like this for a while, and did not find anything that I really liked. This game has hit the spot. I have sunk 12 hours in, and can't wait to lose another 100. There is still some bugs in this game, some performance issues and some problems with the ordering of ships refusing to go where you want. This frustrated me a little, but it did not break the game, nor take away from my enjoyment of it too much.

    If you are looking for a solid 4x space game, with nice graphics, good audio, then this is it. The modular design is what you will be spending a lot of your time on, so if you think that this would annoy you, be forewarned. Have not looked at any mods yet, but if there is a solid set of tools, hopefully some great mods will appear soon too.    … Expand
  6. Reolos
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    I grew up playing MOO and MOO2. Those games set the stage for my whole gaming life. What Zero has done here is the same for the next generation. Simple to learn, yet deep and fulfilling. The races really "feel" different from each other, and each random galaxy plays completely different from the last. The ship design is what we all drool over, and min/maxers really find their niche inI grew up playing MOO and MOO2. Those games set the stage for my whole gaming life. What Zero has done here is the same for the next generation. Simple to learn, yet deep and fulfilling. The races really "feel" different from each other, and each random galaxy plays completely different from the last. The ship design is what we all drool over, and min/maxers really find their niche in this game. Before you delve in, the research trees can seem pretty minimal, but in practice, they do last till deep into the game. There are some late game frame rate issues, but with such an attentive game designer, and such a supportive and wowed community, I am sure these will work themselves out. One other fantastic selling point: Early beta mod accessibility. At game release, there were at least 15 working mods, and that just scratched the surface. This game is going to be playable and replayable for a very long time. Zero is the man, buy this game if you like happiness...… Expand
  7. worm22
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    Been beta-testing this game and I have to say, it's a good old-school style 4x with simple and extensive mod capability. I don't usually bother with modding (what can I say I'm lazy), but it was so simple I started before the game was even officially released.
  8. Karst
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    I am generally not a fan of 4X games, however I found that Star Drive was more of a 4X/hybrid, solving many problems that plague 4X games, such as inability to control game speed and complete lack of any real diplomatic options. Star Drive does have an emphasis on its combat and modular ship building, while other areas such as Diplomacy or Tech are still Robust, but not quite as deep.I am generally not a fan of 4X games, however I found that Star Drive was more of a 4X/hybrid, solving many problems that plague 4X games, such as inability to control game speed and complete lack of any real diplomatic options. Star Drive does have an emphasis on its combat and modular ship building, while other areas such as Diplomacy or Tech are still Robust, but not quite as deep. The presentation and feel of the game are excellent, in particular the art assets for the Alien races. Like most 4X games, the game takes a bit of learning before you've got a grasp on whats really going on, but that just comes with this type of game.… Expand
  9. EvitoCruor
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    129 hours clocked since beta and a good 10 hours since official steam release. Havent regretted one minute i've spent with it.

    Level of polish in audiovisual terms is amazing, good in gameplay terms. One of the most active developers i have seen in my two full decades of gaming history with devotion to his product rarely seen. Minor amount of bugs, much less than you'd expect from    129 hours clocked since beta and a good 10 hours since official steam release. Havent regretted one minute i've spent with it.

    Level of polish in audiovisual terms is amazing, good in gameplay terms. One of the most active developers i have seen in my two full decades of gaming history with devotion to his product rarely seen.

    Minor amount of bugs, much less than you'd expect from indies in general and stellarly better than most major publishers with a turnaround time for fixes to issues being measured in days not weeks or months.

    While it might sound a bit corny to some i'll take the risk regardless, this could very well shape to be the second coming of jesus (spiritual successor to MoO2).

    Easy enough to learn basics, yet decent amount of depth and expanding all the time. Recommended for scifi buffs of all stripes, strategy gamers usually but not for faint of heart looking for a quick casual fling.    … Expand
  10. HenrikNystrom
    Apr 27, 2013
    10
    This game is extremely entertaining, the colony management, diplomacy, and exploration is up there with civilization. The races/factions are diverse and entertaining. However, where this game pulls ahead like no other is ship design and combat. Every module on a ship is placed into a hull by you, and then in combat, the ship takes damage realistically. Place armor between incoming fire andThis game is extremely entertaining, the colony management, diplomacy, and exploration is up there with civilization. The races/factions are diverse and entertaining. However, where this game pulls ahead like no other is ship design and combat. Every module on a ship is placed into a hull by you, and then in combat, the ship takes damage realistically. Place armor between incoming fire and your reactors if you want to live.… Expand
  11. 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
  12. Sethar
    Apr 27, 2013
    7
    First, the bad: StarDrive is a good game, but it was not ready for launch day. In my opinion it should have been delayed another few weeks. Echoing the other comments I see here, the biggest issue right now is the game instability and the late game slow down/lag. This alone is a reason to keep it in beta. I understand games these days are fluid with the ability to patch and update onFirst, the bad: StarDrive is a good game, but it was not ready for launch day. In my opinion it should have been delayed another few weeks. Echoing the other comments I see here, the biggest issue right now is the game instability and the late game slow down/lag. This alone is a reason to keep it in beta. I understand games these days are fluid with the ability to patch and update on the fly, however there is a certain standard of stability and reliability I think is expected of an officially launched title, and this game does not meet that criteria.

    The second troubling issue is that while the mechanics are sound, the game itself lacks depth. The research trees need to be broadened, diplomacy needs to be deeper, and there needs to be more weapons/ship components. It reminds me a lot of a game called Star Ruler, which was fun but needed some additional polish which in time was added both by Mods and the developers themselves.

    That all being said, the developer has shown to be an extremely dedicated and motivated individual, and I have no doubt in my mind that these things WILL be added, in time.

    The game itself has excellent core content, the concepts are well designed, economy makes sense, and combat is fantastic. Modding is built in right from the beginning, and multi-player is on the horizon. If anything, this game has some great potential. I hope it does not become another Star Ruler, where it was not financially viable to create another expansion/continue updating.
    If I had to do it all over again, I would still buy this game again today.    … Expand
  13. 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
  14. DaTa78
    May 24, 2013
    8
    This game is not the best in the world, but then again, it may be the only recognizable 4x REAL-TIME space game that I haven't seen in the market in a long time. However many people posted negative reviews over the memory leakages or the cost of the game, but in all honesty it is foolish to rate it anything below a 6 or anything above an 8. This game was made by a kickstarter developed byThis game is not the best in the world, but then again, it may be the only recognizable 4x REAL-TIME space game that I haven't seen in the market in a long time. However many people posted negative reviews over the memory leakages or the cost of the game, but in all honesty it is foolish to rate it anything below a 6 or anything above an 8. This game was made by a kickstarter developed by a staff of 1 person, literally 1 person, so it is obvious it was priced at $29 to not only pay back investors, but to also return the cost to the developer.

    In the current form of the game, it is single player playable, but lacks multiplayer. On the good news the Developer has promised to continue patching and updating the game in the future, which grants optimism into expecting multiplayer, but in the current state it does not have multiplayer. The game also has had before patch 1.11b multiple instances of memory leakages in late game and is still be patched because of that reason. Options menu doesn't give many choices... or much at all.    … Expand
  15. papajohns
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    Amazing game. Everything you want in an empire builder. While the economic and diplomatic elements aren't as deep as say gal civ or civ5, you still have control over what kind of empire you want to create. Managing colonies is simple and easy, letting you focus on the RTS elements like fleet building and space battles. The only gripe I have with this game is that in the later stages the AIAmazing game. Everything you want in an empire builder. While the economic and diplomatic elements aren't as deep as say gal civ or civ5, you still have control over what kind of empire you want to create. Managing colonies is simple and easy, letting you focus on the RTS elements like fleet building and space battles. The only gripe I have with this game is that in the later stages the AI doesn't come close to competing with any decent player but im sure zero will tweak this in the future… Expand
  16. yarpirate
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    The game performs great and has lots of character not seen in most 4x games. I look forward to seeing what the developer has in store for this game in future expansion packs. Diplomacy and alliances could use some fleshing out along with random events and flavor added to the experience but other than that it's much better than most offerings in this genre. This game stands tall withThe game performs great and has lots of character not seen in most 4x games. I look forward to seeing what the developer has in store for this game in future expansion packs. Diplomacy and alliances could use some fleshing out along with random events and flavor added to the experience but other than that it's much better than most offerings in this genre. This game stands tall with awesome space strategy titles like GalCiv2 and Distant Worlds.… Expand
  17. Garden
    Apr 27, 2013
    10
    I played this game since the beta-access (over 80 hours) and I love it! Of course, it has its problems, bugs and so on... but have to give 10 points, because I spend so much time enjoying it.

    This game is done by one developer and it is awesome! The feeling, the battle, the idea behind this game is so nice, you will love it. If you are not sure about buying this game, check some "lets    I played this game since the beta-access (over 80 hours) and I love it! Of course, it has its problems, bugs and so on... but have to give 10 points, because I spend so much time enjoying it.

    This game is done by one developer and it is awesome! The feeling, the battle, the idea behind this game is so nice, you will love it. If you are not sure about buying this game, check some "lets plays" on youtube. There are good previews which can help you with your decision.     … Expand
  18. 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.
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. AColdOnion
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    The best game i have played yet this year and its only 30 BUcks!!!! Stardrive will keep your brain imersed in galatic stratagy....This game has amazing gameplay/graphics/replayability...It is quite hard to imagine that only a single person wrote all the code for this...I will be playing this game all through the year before i get sick of it...
  22. 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!
  23. deadfader
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    TL;DR version first! This is easily the best 4x space game in years. It's not the most perfect 4x space game ever, yet, but by far the most pure fun. I could go on, and on, but to try and cut down what's good about it, I'll stick to the 4 standout parts. 1. It remembers when 4x's were FUN Do you remember when 4x games bothered with things like "fun", "charm" or "wit"? When you couldTL;DR version first! This is easily the best 4x space game in years. It's not the most perfect 4x space game ever, yet, but by far the most pure fun. I could go on, and on, but to try and cut down what's good about it, I'll stick to the 4 standout parts. 1. It remembers when 4x's were FUN Do you remember when 4x games bothered with things like "fun", "charm" or "wit"? When you could assume that by "4x" they would try to make each of those "X"s was it's own fun thing to do rather than some set of chores? When there was any concept of "gameplay" beyond managing unending tedious lists of supplies, or fighting to understand some abstracted-far-too-far funsucking interpretation of space combat?

    OK, well, Stardrive remembers what 4x games used to be like. It remembers Star Control 2, it remembers Master of Orion 2, it remembers Escape Velocity. Not simply that it's a game like them, in the same genre, but something like they were like. It's some relic from a time when people made strategy games that were any fun at all, only with gigantic 3d spaceships firing dozens upon dozens of multibarrel chainguns, torpedos and Freespace 2 style beams at each other in 3d, rather than little sprites. It even recalls a time when it might have been considered fun if the player could aim and shoot something occasionally! Everything you build can be controlled, either as a lone wolf, a squad or with literally every ship you have maintaining formation with you.

    2. Personality -

    Easily the best and most inventive collection of frenemy races in a 4x game since Alpha Centauri. Every race gets assigned Civ4/5 style behavioural traits per-game on top of their race characteristics. Every one can be interrogated about the other, and have a dozen or so responses to questions and proposals based on how they feel and how things have historically gone down. They're also absolutely beautiful to look at, and their animated "portraits" ooze personality. It's a 4x game where someone would bother to write lines and lines of detailed, in-character flavour text: how much of a throwback is that? I know right?! But it adds so much and it's so great they did it.

    3. Ship building and COMBAT -

    This part is awesome. It's not the usual mess of, "oh, I upgraded my tech to lasers 4, so now I'll put 3 laser 4s on rather than 5 laser 3s", etc, etc, zzz, zzz. Nothing like that. Combat is realtime pausable and RTS-like, with configurable AI formations, and configurable behaviours down to a point where you can specify what any one ship in a fleet of hundreds should be doing on 6 different behaviour sliders. Ship design is an epic balancing act, every component has a different physical size in the ship, power draw, health, facing, range, etc. Loads of different and specific weapon types too: ion guns to drain power from unshielded ships (and it's not that ships are "shielded" or not individual shields can be knocked out and you can zap anything exposed!). Chainguns. Huge long lance torpedos. Point defence guns. EMP lasers. Boarding parties on shuttles and counter-boarding barracks. Ships that have onboard factories to make loads of little escort combat ships. There's just so much sheer STUFF, and the Lego-like ship builder is very easy to use. The game hits this part so far out of the park it's not funny. And of course you actually get to fly anything you build around, and blow stuff up with it. Simply awesome, awesome, awesome.

    4. Developer "gets it" -

    This guy has a lot of the right answers to things modding? "of course you can mod it, I made it pitifully easy and everything sits in xml". Or "I saw you guys wanted feature X this morning so I spent the afternoon putting it in the game". In the couple of weeks I've had the beta, performance and stability has massively increased from where it was to begin with, and the dude was throwing out multiple updates per day. So, so good to see a developer care whether you are enjoying the game, let alone enough to do something about it immediately!

    I mentioned it's not the perfect game, and it's unfortunately true that it could really use a large rebalance and annoyance-cleanup in things like the UI, AI, and other elements. It's not showstoppingly horrible by any means, or some new SOTS2/Pegasus style disaster. But, fact is, when you have a lot of elements of the game that are outstanding, it really makes the few parts that are ordinary look a lot worse.

    All up though I played the crashiest, worst performing, inexplicably weird version of the game, for a couple of weeks, and spend around 90 hours on it. For the most part, having an absolute blast. When the core game is actually fun to play, the other stuff fades into the background. Even in mutant beta form this has been one of the best games I've played all year.    … Expand
  24. Ghostman
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    Awesome Space RTS game with a lot of (working!) great ideas and concepts. It's the first game since SoasE, which fascinated me enough, to play it more than 80 hours. But it has to be mentioned, that Stardrive is updated every few days and has reached release status just today(!) Moreover the communication and feedback between programers and community is extremely good! :)

    What I liked    Awesome Space RTS game with a lot of (working!) great ideas and concepts. It's the first game since SoasE, which fascinated me enough, to play it more than 80 hours. But it has to be mentioned, that Stardrive is updated every few days and has reached release status just today(!) Moreover the communication and feedback between programers and community is extremely good! :)

    What I liked the most about Stardrive, besides the typical game play things like RTS and 4X elements, are the innovative new concepts for ship designing and fleet battles. It is possible to build all kind of ships, with a loadout, that I know from SciFi movies, games and books. (But not the look I'm sure, there will be graphic mods soon)
    - ST Federation Ships: Strong Shields, 360°Phasors and Torpedos
    - ST Klingon Ships: Fast Birds of Prey with strong forward disruptors
    - Star Wars: Star Destroyers with strong 360° slow firing plasma weapons (relying on fighter crafts to engange small crafts)
    - BSG: Carrier Ships with many fighter crafts (loadout can be individual, too), strong armor and close range point defense guns
    - Stargate: Atlantis style star bases with shield/armor ignoring projectiles.
    - Freelancer: Galaxy wide warp-enhancing "autobahn" network buildable similar to the jump gates routes in the game.

    Other cool features:
    - Ships need a lot of power generators or power cells to fly with FTL speed. (My first designed ship could only warp 3 seconds and fell out of FTL! ^_^)
    - Boarding parties can caputure/defend ships
    - EMP and energy depleting weapons
    - Repair and resupply modules to assist other ships
    - Warp Speed inside of Solar Systems can be limited/disabled in the game options, making planetary and orbital defenses more effective
    - Weapon angles can be adjusted manually, which makes broadside attacks possible
    - "TAB"-key shows volatile subsytems and weaknesses of all ships, making precision attacks with fighters possible.
    - cute Owlwoks :)

    Negative points, that prevented me from giving 10 points :
    - Language localization is not available at the moment.
    - Cloaking devices are missing. :(
    - It is possible to conquer well defended planets with 10-15 ground troops. Planetary shields, orbital defense stations or fleets don't prevent invasion troops from landing.
    - Ships can fly around in the whole galaxy from the beginning. No outposts, supply bases or technologies are needed, to extend the ship range.

    Stardrive is definetly one of the few gems in my huge collection of mostly average Space RTS and 4X games. Ad unlike some other games in the last years, Stardrive didn't let me down. (Yes, I'm directly looking at you, Legend of P...!)    … Expand
  25. Lucitus
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    I'm playing this wonderful game since early march, and I'm still blasted away. It's been a long time since the last addictive 4X game (the last I played so excessive was Master of Orion 2). So, for all space faring conquerors, it's one of the most interesting titles out there. Different, customizable races, a full functioning ship yard with different unique ship designs for every race,I'm playing this wonderful game since early march, and I'm still blasted away. It's been a long time since the last addictive 4X game (the last I played so excessive was Master of Orion 2). So, for all space faring conquerors, it's one of the most interesting titles out there. Different, customizable races, a full functioning ship yard with different unique ship designs for every race, nice to look space battles, ground battles and enough micromanagement for your colonies to feel a feedback. Sure, there a a few things that I still miss (otherwise it would be a 10 rating). First, I miss a bigger tech-tree. There is enough room for more. Second, it lacks a multiplayer part (but development is underway). So, when this two points are changed, it gets a 10 … Expand
  26. TheDarklite
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    StarDrive is an interesting game indeed. SD is a real-time space 4X nodding back to the good old days of Master of Orion 2. The game features exploration, exploitation, diplomacy, design, construction & finally destruction.

    At the beginning of each game you must choose a race, this will decide what hulls you get to use during play (more on that later). It will also allocate some preset    StarDrive is an interesting game indeed. SD is a real-time space 4X nodding back to the good old days of Master of Orion 2. The game features exploration, exploitation, diplomacy, design, construction & finally destruction.

    At the beginning of each game you must choose a race, this will decide what hulls you get to use during play (more on that later). It will also allocate some preset traits for you. Traits give you both bonuses and deficiencies. You are given so many points to spend on traits and it is up to the player to balance them accordingly with negative and positive modifiers.

    Once you have decided on the race and traits you get the standard options of galaxy size, opponents & AI difficulty. Launching the match is as simple as pressing "Engage!"

    Once ingame things may appear a little daunting. You are occupying a little planet with no more than a small handful of ships. But in time, you will slowly explore and locate newer and better planets expanding your empire as the game progresses.

    During play you will come across both friendly and less-friendly forces, as well as anomalies you will need to investigate with troops. Eventually you will end up in a war, and then you will find yourself engaged in this games' spectacular combat. It is the main draw of StarDrive.

    This may be a negative thing for some players. For as much of a diplomatic game it can be, it often ends in war. It *is* possible to win by assimilating other races into your Federation, but war is often outright unavoidable.

    So this means combat is at the end of the day, StarDrive's main focus. Thankfully it does it amazingly!
    You will need to research technology such as missiles, cannons, lasers, new hulls and so on. You will then need to open the Shipyard and actually design the ships yourself (the game does have some pre-designed ships that become available as tech progresses, but where is the fun in that!).

    This is where StarDrive excels ship design! Placement matters. You need to put armor in the right places, bulkheads around reactors, set the arcs on your turrets and tell your ship what way to face when engaged. It is brilliant. Damage is directional and critical systems can easily be knocked out in combat.

    Essentially, when thinking about combat this game plays like an infinitely bigger and better version of Sins of a Solar Empire where you design your own fleet and pray it proves effective! We all knew the comparison had to come up eventually.

    Let's move onto the races and AI.

    The races themselves are astonishingly beautiful and are all animated. They loop naturally, but it is great! They also each have background music/noise. The haunting theme that plays in the background when dealing with the Draylocks always comes to mind when thinking of this game.

    Each race speaks to you uniquely and has their own personality.

    Diplomacy itself is certainly there and certainly important, it's just it isn't utilized as much as you might like. Once war breaks out (which it will), diplomacy matters little. Outside of war you can trade technology, make alliances, engage in trade treaties and more. After long enough, a race may be willing to join your federation meaning you get all of their planets and units.

    Some races require you to defeat a major enemy before joining, others may need you to show military dominance. Others simply just need time and trust.

    You can also partake in espionage to steal technology, sabotage planets and even incite rebellion.

    All up diplomacy could be worked on, but it is much better than what you get in a game like Civilization V.

    AI unfortunately can be rather aggressive even on easy. If you have a weak military, there is a good chance a race will declare war on you. This can occur even moments after you meet them (Opteris are often very aggressive). This could do with some adjustments particularly on the lower difficulty settings so as to avoid scaring newer and less confident players away.

    During war itself the AI can be quite dangerous sometimes. This is amplified by AI using your past ship designs from previous games... the designs that were effective!

    The soundtrack is nice but not "in-your-face" and does a good job of conveying atmosphere.

    The controls are logical and get the job done effectively.

    On smaller maps the game can be played as a large RTS able to be beaten in an evening of warfare, or it can be played on a huge map where longer term planning is needed and it becomes like a true 4X of old!

    Considering StarDrive was developed by a single man, this game is just unbelievable! He had help with art and sound assets, but the core game was coded by him alone.

    StarDrive has incredible polish, particularly when compared to recent installments in the genre. Think of this as a cross between Master of Orion 2 and Sins of a Solar Empire focused on ship design and combat and you will get an idea of what the game entails.

    This game is brilliant, and is worth both my time and yours!    … Expand
  27. Thirdguy
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    This is the game that i have been waiting for, for a long long time and if you are a fan of space and want a slight challenge then i recommend this game. The default game unfortunately is extremely easy even on the hardest difficulty because of some exploits with marines and bombing but if you play it with gravity wells or even with 0 faster than light travel till you leave the hole systemThis is the game that i have been waiting for, for a long long time and if you are a fan of space and want a slight challenge then i recommend this game. The default game unfortunately is extremely easy even on the hardest difficulty because of some exploits with marines and bombing but if you play it with gravity wells or even with 0 faster than light travel till you leave the hole system giving it a sins of the solar feel then in my opinion the game is amazing it still has a bit fleshing out to do and the creator Zero who is a one man team genius IMO is generally on most bugs when reported like a flash and i have no doubt that he will flesh out the research tree and add a bit more life to the game but for what it is atm i am extremely happy with it. For thoughts with worrying thoughts with the the highly negative reports coming in all i would say is look at the forum or even you tube videos out there and decide from what you see from that i think people are to quick once they see one or two negative things with the recent 4x failures out that to just say well nice try yet another failure and i think that is a very unfair judging to this game dose it have flaws yes but i highly believe with my over 200 hours of play that it has amazing potential and if you don't like to wait for it to get better than give the game maybe 2 more month and look at more videos and give it a second look then. In closing Zero has done an amazing job with giving a space rts game a new feel with strategy with its non lane warp system and amazing ship modifications and the fact this game was designed with modding in mind makes me looking forward into the future with this title.… Expand
  28. bioburn
    Apr 26, 2013
    10
    Already have more than 40+ hours logged into my game.Quite the amazing game ;-).
    I joined the beta testing back in January, dying to play some good 4x games.
    Now, onto the finer details: what does this game have? 1. beautiful diplomacy screens you are entranced by them and sometimes don't want to close them, don't be deluded by the certain woman sitting on the chair...(you will    Already have more than 40+ hours logged into my game.Quite the amazing game ;-).
    I joined the beta testing back in January, dying to play some good 4x games.
    Now, onto the finer details:

    what does this game have?

    1. beautiful diplomacy screens you are entranced by them and sometimes don't want to close them, don't be deluded by the certain woman sitting on the chair...(you will know once you play the game)

    2. amazing races, each is distinct,diplomacy screen makes them even seem more real

    3. fantastic ship customization, you literally can make a ship loaded with weaponry that might be destroyed in a few missile hits, or a shielded beast that can withstand punishment, perhaps you want to have a frigate with marine teams to take over the enemy ships-the choice is yours

    4.planetary combat deploy your battalions from your core planets to invade the enemy planets,
    gives you the armchair general feeling of successfully distracting the enemy at certain points while taking over their planet

    5. mods lots and lots of mods enhance its play-ability, I'm sure many of you have seen how Arma II, and Skyrim have become popular thanks to mods,-well Stardrive as well!- it already has a few mods from the beta version.

    6.combat you build your ship, now, for most games that would result in hit-points and so being counted up, but not in Stardrive, in Stardrive where you place your armour, weaponry, power station,and shielding is important. If you have weak shielding or armour to your aft, the enemy could easily puncture the hull there and destroy your power station. If you have no shields for your weaponry, they could disable all your weaponry. If your ship is facing quick enemies, you need to be sure your ships are equipped with combat thrusters.

    7.events still in the early stages, however, there are lots of events in this game, such as warp being disabled momentarily, or getting into contact with an early pre-space race

    8. music Stardrive has its unique style of music, just check out the diplomacy screens!

    9.planet development you can develop every planet you own, or set an governor to handle the 'economic' issues while you go far onto the front-lines to battle the enemies

    Like many games out there, there is room for improvement!
    However,if you are a 4x fan, or like to customize every ship, this is the game to get.    … Expand
  29. Bbolt859
    Apr 26, 2013
    9
    This is an amazing game. I got the pre-order beta 4 days ago and have already played 28 hours. The only reason I did not put a 10 is because of a couple small bugs (half of which were fixed with yesterday's update). I really suggest that you try this game out, it is definitely worth it.

    It has really good Ship Designer and allows for tons of customization and specialization. The fleet    This is an amazing game. I got the pre-order beta 4 days ago and have already played 28 hours. The only reason I did not put a 10 is because of a couple small bugs (half of which were fixed with yesterday's update). I really suggest that you try this game out, it is definitely worth it.

    It has really good Ship Designer and allows for tons of customization and specialization. The fleet mechanics are great too, one of my favorite features of the game. The combination of managing your empire, it's research, and it's military is in the the top tier of 4X games. If you don't like managing everything in the game though you can automate governing, construction, scouting, and ground combat.

    The developer is really quick with updates and fixes too, you can expect an update for the game every week. He is also active on the forums and plans to add even more features in the near future.    … Expand
  30. Dracolich6z
    Apr 27, 2013
    9
    I've spent a great deal of time (wayyy more than I should have) both playing and modding this game. Space strategy games like Master of Orion and Sins of a Solar Empire are immensely enjoyable for me so this was right up my alley. For a one-man dev team on a tiny budget, the game is amazingly well-done.

    Neutral: Overall game difficulty 1 being Easy 10 being Hard 6 or 7 IMHO    I've spent a great deal of time (wayyy more than I should have) both playing and modding this game. Space strategy games like Master of Orion and Sins of a Solar Empire are immensely enjoyable for me so this was right up my alley. For a one-man dev team on a tiny budget, the game is amazingly well-done.

    Neutral:
    Overall game difficulty 1 being Easy 10 being Hard 6 or 7 IMHO

    Pros:
    Easily modded, even for low-knowledge users
    Aggresive and interesting AI (with caveats)
    Fun with lasting replayability
    Wonderfully executed 4x hybrid concept
    A worthy successor to the magic of the Master of Orion franchise

    Cons:
    Lack of content. More importantly, amount of unmodifiable assets. That which is availible to be modded are easily modified but things that lack content (Ex: randomly generated events, sounds, Space hazards, unique planets, music, pirates, bonus modifiers, more interesting artifacts) are not open to user-created content.
    No space-dangers: Fly into a sun or explore the galaxy without worry of a single negative outcome.
    Performance/crash issues
    Lack of music variety
    Military strength calculations!!!
    Unique resources
    Racial differentiation or diversity
    Lack of fluff nothing interesting to see or explore
    Short-tech trees
    No multiplayer
    Low complexity AI ships

    In conclusion: High potential but currently low content. Still loving the game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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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