Sim: Starport Command [by 89 Games]

Game Review:  Starport Command
Release: August 24, 2004
Genre: Simulation
Developer:  89 Games
System Requirements: 1000 MHz CPU, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, 128Mb RAM
Players: 1
Price: $19.95
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For whatever reason, this year has been the year of the Space Station Sim. Ok, perhaps not really, but with the release of Starport Command, there have been 3 different Space Station building games released this year. Each of them has been fairly different, with the pure comedy of Outpost Kaloki, the very mentally challenging Space Station Manager, and now joining them is Starport Command which offers a piece of the mental challenge in building, and adds preparing your station for battle.

Starport Command is fairly easy to play once you know what you are doing. The game starts you out as the commander of a Starport. At your disposal you have a number of credits that increase day by day unless you have built items onto your station that require a maintenance fee. You can add items to your station from a selectable menu below based on the cost of the item and the available credits that you have. Many items require power and or staff for them to function, which leads you to both power and residential modules. Residential modules allow you to build places for your crew to stay and life support systems for the crew. Power modules help provide power for the station to continue to function.

The real difference in Starport Command doesn't lie in any of the modules I've mentioned so far. You'll find the same type of thing in other games where you build a space station. The big difference here is that you also will equip your station with military modules. These modules include blasters, scanners, ECM and shields.

The reason behind these modules is that in Starport Command, you cannot be satisfied in building an aesthetically pleasing space station. At a predetermined time, your station will come under attack! How well it survives the attack will be based on how well you configured your station. Lots of guns is of course a must, but without shields they guns are likely to become cannon fodder themselves. In addition, the scanners will greatly increase the probability of your guns hitting their targets, so you will want to invest in some of those too. Of course there isn't enough time to build everything, so you will have to be judicious in where you spend your funds.

Starport Command offers 4 different play modes. Starter is there to help you get a grip on how to play the game, though due to some difficulties I had playing, I found that both the 'Normal' and 'Free Play' modes gave me a better understanding of how to play. Free Play mode gives you the ability to build the station without having any enemies ever attack it, which is fun for awhile, but after building the biggest and baddest station I could think of, I really wanted to insert it into a battle. Normal mode is much like the starter mode, but it gives you more modules to work with and less of an enemy threat. The final play mode is 'Invasion.' In the Invasion mode, you face multiple waves of enemies in a much shorter time frame than in the other modes of play. A good looking space station is totally unimportant in this mode as all that matters is getting a functional station together quick, I think most people will find this mode to be reasonably challenging.

Starport Command offers a little different take on the space station sim than has been cast on it this year, and that difference, in the form of an assault on your space station, makes the game rather interesting and should provide gamers another good simulation game.

Graphics: 8
Starport Command runs off of the Torque engine and it really does a pretty good job of using that FPS engine in a different way. The graphics in the game don't have a ton of special effect flair to them, but all of the models are well-designed and well-textured, which leaves the game looking pretty nice. However across the board, from the in-game options screen to a fair amount of the presentation, a little more polish would be nice.

Sound: 6
There aren't any sound-tracks in the version of space, which is really to bad in my mind. The only thing you'll hear in the background is the constant drone of the station, which is effective in making you feel like you are in space, but a little sound would have gone a long ways in aiding the joy in putting your own station together. The sound effects are alright, but not spectacular. I did like the enemy warning sound and voice you get when your base is under attack, and it even caused my wife to rush into the room as she thought for sure there was some sort of alarm going off.

Game Play: 7
Starport Command would likely have gotten a better score in this category if Outpost Kaloki hadn't been released in the last couple of months. That game makes building a space station seem quite simple, while Starport Command actually does the opposite to some degree (though it is noted that it is still probably a little simpler than the heavy duty mental space station sim Space Station Manager). I found myself continually referring the the help portion of the game and every time finding that indeed it was as scant as I remembered it being and it wouldn't be the solution to the problems I was experiencing. When you first start out a game of Starport Command you'll find yourself wanting a tutorial to help you understand what you can do to stop your money from disappearing quite so rapidly. The answer is to build a Starport, but the Starport isn't available when you first start a game and has to be unlocked by building specific items. What are those items? Well when you first start you'll be guessing your way through and likely you'll find yourself, like I did, out of money, unable to build anything more and unable to go back without starting the game over. That is called getting stuck and it happened to me a few times in this game, which was unfortunate. I would suggest that would-be players start with the free play portion of the game as it helps you to get an understanding of the game. In addition to a tutorial, a better explanation of the different modules and how they can help or hurt you would improve this game.

Value: 6
With a couple of other space station simulators out there that offer similar rewards in building a station Starport Command finds itself in a tight crunch for your space station simulation dollar. I would put this one below those, though it is the only one that offers a combat side of the game, and that in and of itself is compelling and leads us to...

Concept: 8
Putting a space station together is an alright task, something that is fun to do for those who like to build things. I found myself enjoying the spatial modeling as much as anything, but the real difference between this game and other space station games is that this one puts a heavy focus on combat and making a space station that can withstand an attack. That is pretty innovative as it takes you beyond the normal staffing and energy consumption management of a typical space station building game. It really is also the most compelling part of the game as you will find yourself dashing to get things together in time for the onslaught of enemies who don't care what the moral on your station is.

Fun: 8
There were moments, especially in the beginning, where I questioned what in the world I was doing by playing this game. There is a good portion of the game that seems to occur without rhyme or reason, and it lead me to becoming very frustrated as I couldn't seem to come up with what my objective was. After I got into it a little deeper and was destroyed by the first alien attack that came my way I started to dig a little deeper and I liked what I found. Setting up a battle station is really the name of the game, and that aspect is pretty fun, though the game modes and lack of modules leaves the game to feeling a little lacking in depth once you get past the initial understanding of how to play.

Overall: 7
Starport Command offers a different style of game playing than most are used to, creating a combo sim/action game that provides an interesting twist to your typical sim game. When a battle is raging and you're desperately hoping your station will pull through, it is really quite fun to play. For those looking for a different spin on building a space station than just the strict building, Starport Command is a game you should check out, with a 30-day money back guarantee there really isn't anything to lose.

Added: October 30th 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
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