PREVIEW : Stars End (PC)
Stars End
Stars End is a multiplayer sci-fi survival game set hundreds of years in the future, in a star system colonized by humans escaping their dying home world.
Start with basic supplies and find a way into space – without any loading screens! Players will have the opportunity to travel the system to seek out resources, completing missions and uncovering mysteries – while building strongholds in space and planet side, continually facing the danger of other players.
Utilizing procedural planets, the game world is vast – but it’s not so large that you won’t be able to play with your friends.
The biggest feature of Stars End is planetary warfare and territory control, with hundreds of players populating each server. Be it FPS fighting across planets and space stations, or dogfighting in open space – Stars End brings system-wide combat to the genre.
Make sure you keep your ship locked and your items stored safely in a container somewhere far away!
Features:
- Procedural Planets
- Online Multiplayer
- Story-based Missions
- Exploration
- Survival/PvP
- Territory Control
- Faction Wars
- Mining, Crafting and Resources
- Planet Base and Space Station Construction
- Fast-paced FPS/TPS combat
As someone who has been playing this game off and on for at least a year now, having problems with bugs, putting the play on the shelf, getting back to it after a few updates, seeing some of the glitches have been fixed and things have improved, let me say that this is A WORK IN PROGRESS. And when I mean “in progress” I don’t mean “forever alpha”. The creators of this game have been consistent in their releases, both in terms of frequency and measures of development. With each significant update, the gameplay and graphics are improved. And they listen to their players.
Is the game in a state now where I would consider it complete? No, it has a long way to go. But that is the POINT behind the early access system. You are getting the game at a great price, earlier than the release, and in exchange for being a part of the community and helping the devs finish the game by offering significant feedback, you not only get to play the game long before launch but are also assisting to guide its development in a sense, and of course, you earlier have the game when it releases from EA and the price shoots up.
The devs are putting some serious effort into this, and as someone who broke in earlier in the early process and has seen continuous improvement in the game over time, I think they are doing a great job.
If you’re reading this unsure about the game, I implore you to ignore the butthurt man-children who need to go back to school to learn basic reading and comprehension and pay attention to the devs and the veterans with 10 or more hours logged. Check the forums. Join the Discord. Read through the list of update releases, and pay attention to the date each release occurred and how much new content was included. Do your study, then decide for yourself whether you want to support the devs or not.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s my review.
As a completed game:
NO, but then again it is NOT a completed game.
As a concept:
YES, it has a nice idea that links both space-age survival and a bit of simple survival as well.
As a game as it is now:
NO, it is juggling a lot of story and endgame content, but I consider this is because the devs are concentrating on the core game first before adding in story and substance, which is a great strategy.
As a game with potential:
YES, I do find it entertaining for a while to restart my character after major updates and rebuild from the ground up to see what has changed. The focus gameplay circuit talks to the crafter/survivalist within me that have similar tastes.
As an in-progress project by an indie studio:
YES, the creators are both prolific in their updates and fixes and responsive to player feedback.
Overall, this game is NOT fully developed, so don’t buy it if you are expecting a refined gaming experience. As a game being actively developed, however, consider buying it on sale to support the devs. They’ve been putting their all into this game and I for one do not regret spending my money on it.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- MINIMUM:
- OS: Windows 7+ 64 bit
- Processor: X64 Quad Core CPU, 2.4+ GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti / AMD Radeon R9 270x
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 5 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
- Additional Notes: Broadband Internet connection
- RECOMMENDED:
- OS: Windows 10 64 bit
- Processor: X64 Quad Core CPU, 3+ GHz
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 / AMD Radeon RX 470
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 6 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
- Additional Notes: Broadband Internet connection
