Starlink: Battle for Atlas

It's a clever take on a somewhat redundant genre, and it's hard not to be impressed initially with Starlink: Battle For Atlus. Despite some serious repetition there's a whole lot to like here and the Star Fox content makes the Switch version the one to get, if you want it. Its the closest thing to a Nintendo Switch Star Fox but I suspect you could see it in bargain bins before too long.

Combat does get harder later, but it stops short of doing anything new or interesting. But it does its job well enough for a parent to steal the controller of their kid for a few battles. That old rivalry with Star Wolf needs to be settled.

Starlink is a real little Space Opera open world, which is both very neat in its implementation but also in its gameplay and game system, more complex than it seems. In any case, we take a lot of fun to "clean" all the objectives of these 7 planets, in the purest tradition of Ubisoft games ... And despite its lack of variety. Except maybe with the StarFox scenario on Switch, definitely the best of the three versions even with the (small) downgrade.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas preserves some of the complexity that makes deep space sims so rewarding by striking a healthy between fidelity and delight; a complicated toys-to-life scheme may dampen the experience for some, however.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a promising new IP dedicated to younger players, allowing them to explore a vast and fascinating universe. Despite the bland story and a certain repetitiveness, we were conquered by the compelling gameplay. If Ubisoft is able to fix the weaker aspects of the game, the future of Starlink could be promising. Sadly the decision to sell separately every single element of the game could keep the players away.

Starlink Battle For Atlas is probably the best way of doing a toys-to-life game, but the game itself is a bit repetitive. Thankfully the fights are spectacular and there are many amazing combo's to make, which kind of saves the game.

While Starlink may be a bit expensive for some, there's a tremendously fun game hiding beneath the toys-to-life options. The core combat loop stays satisfying throughout the journey. It's a great first entry in a new IP and I'm excited to see what else Ubisoft does to expand on the universe and gameplay.

The toys are unnecessary, but Starlink: Battle for Atlas is still an enjoyable space adventure.

A good game that's robbed of greatness by a lack of ambition and terrible toys-to-life implementation. Everything it gets right – the clever mix-and-match shipbuilding, the combat, the controls, the imaginative alien worlds, the decent space opera storyline – can’t escape the vortex of tedium that comes with pedestrian mission design, planets that are mechanically the same, and the crushing knowledge that people who buy just the Starter Pack are getting an unquestionably inferior experience.

Clearly, Starlink: Battle for Atlas is repetitive and its storytelling is more than conventional. But the dogfight and the big open world are just so much fun. A good addition to the toys/video games cross-over.

This is as close as I’ve ever come to the action Picard experience. The rush of breaking orbit, discovering ancient ruins; these are the surface pleasures of the sci-fi daydream. This game does not offer up the spiritual majesty of truly great science fiction, the full Picard diplomat uncovering new truths about life, but it doesn’t have to. It’s precisely what I’ve been searching for for a long, long time.

Starlink is an interesting and enjoyable open-world game, one that fully understands the appeal of exploring new planets and dogfighting in the cold depths of space. With a small fleet of ships at your disposal, it can be a lot of fun to progressively assault and weaken the Forgotten Legion's hold on the galaxy. It's just a shame that if you're interested in the physical models, you'll have to spend more to get the same experience as the digital version.

The game did manage to successfully birth a soul into those pretty pieces of plastic. Players will want to nurture them, and Atlas is a fine enough place to do just that.

It’s clear there’s some friction between the vision for Starlink and what we’ve come to expect for Star Fox as the two don’t mesh together perfectly, but what Ubisoft manages to accomplish is pretty remarkable. It’s a good game with a lot of small flaws, and this imperfect union shows amazing potential. It’s repetitive and certainly could use some more polish, yet it’s still strangely addictive and fun. If Nintendo is smart, they’ll continue this collaboration with Ubisoft, only hopefully next time it will be a dedicated Star Fox project instead of a tacked-on console exclusive.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a fun game that adults and children alike will enjoy. The planets are beautiful and the amount of customisations that can be made in the game is impressive. Ultimately, the missions get a little bit repetitive and the Nintendo Switch version leaves a little bit to be desired in the visuals department, but as far as Star Fox goes, this is better than most Star Fox games in recent times.

Starlink is a fun game, with great toys to play with and solid combat to back it up. Unfortunately, the sloppy story and barren explorable worlds hold back what could have been a great return to form for the toys-to-life genre.

Frustrating platform elements and rote missions prevent Starlink from being as good as its promise deserves.

A fascinating combination of gaming trends that doesn't quite stick the landing. [Issue#336, p.68]

It's a shame that, for all those nifty custom USB sockets, there's no real connection to be found here. [Christmas 2018, p.112]

Instead of forcing story-based planet missions into a game that doesn’t have an interesting story, Starlink should have doubled down on space combat. If it did, the flaws in the story would have been outshined by the constant joy experienced while dogfighting in space.