Act: Dreamstars 3 [by Jaishaw]

Game Review: Dreamstars 3
Release: 2003
Genre: Action
Developer: Jaishaw
System Requirements: 4mb video card, DirectX 7, Celeron 500 MMX with 64mb ram
Players: 1 or 2 (co-op)
Price: US $4.95


After first installing Dreamstars 3 I did something that I rarely do.  I started the game and read the entire piece on how to play and then went onto reading the story behind the game.  In this game that is quite a feat as there is a lot of text that you can read through if you have the time to do so.  However, the reason I did it, is that I was only getting more and more psyched up for playing the game.  The story in the game is extremely well-written and could be the basis for a short and interesting sci-fi novel with the quality of writing that was displayed.

After getting all psyched up, I finally went about starting the game.  My first disappointment was that though the game offered 2-player co-operative play, neither player could use a joystick; both players were required to use the keyboard.  Unfortunately, that was only my first disappointment, and many followed soon there after.

Dreamstars 3 is un-abashedly an asteroids clone.  Each level is sent on a single screen map with hard boundaries at all sides of your computer screen.  You control a spacecraft that is well-armed...if you make it so.  Your ship flies about the screen trying to both destroy asteroids and the onslaught of enemies that confront you.  If either you or your laser bullets hits the edge of the screen, each will bounce back in towards the field of play. 

Perhaps thankfully, your ship has a store of energy.  This is really the most innovative part of the game, and is somewhat hard to describe.  Your ship has two items that act like health.  The first is your ships armor/hull strength.  If this number reaches zero, the game is over.  However prior to any points being taken off of your armor, they must first pierce your energy shield.  The energy that you have in your shield is determined by what kind of energy system you have and what kind of shield you have.  A better energy will replenish your shield faster, and a better shield will block a higher percentage of the potential damage from the bullets that hit you.  However, there is another factor that works into this.  When you fire your weapons they take energy to fire.  Each bullet, missile, or ECM, will take away from the energy you have available, which if you remember is also your first line of defense.  So if you fire a lot and hit nothing, you will be leaving yourself more open to being destroyed.

The interplay in strategy between firing and not firing is probably a little overstated, but you definitely have good reason to not fire endlessly and to instead take high percentage shots.  However, a more enjoyable part of the game is customizing your ship, each level will present you with different things that you can put into your ship.  Every item that you put in the ship will affect the speed and quickness that you turn in addition to providing you with different and more powerful weapons.  There is an auto-build feature that you can turn on in order to have the computer pick out the best components for you, but I found building the ship to be so much fun I cannot imagine why you would want the ship to be auto-built.  Another interesting feature is the ability to help save and then to help bring in helpful drone ships that will provide you with more firepower when you are in a crimp. 

Between multiplayer co-operative play, building ships, and a good amount of action, Dreamstars 3 provides a lot of punch for a very low price.  Though it suffers a little in game play and being a little too difficult, the wonderfully written story and various options make it something well worth checking out.


Graphics 7/10
Dreamstars 3 appears to be using 3D models throughout the game.  While the models are definitely nice, the backgrounds leave a lot to be improved upon.  The stars are static and there is no variation in the background other than the black sky next to the stars.  The menus are all well-enough done, with a very nice space flair to it all.  With other recent asteroid based games such as Dark Archon Invasion and Starscape taking the bar very high on asteroid clones, it is difficult for Dreamstars3 to match that quality, but by no means is it a poor game graphically.

Sound 7/10
The music in the game gets repetitive rather quickly.  Though each of the soundtracks is well-done, none of them deliver any kind of real pizzazz.  I believe that the soundtracks are all done in .midi format, so it is more likely a limitation of the format than anything else that keeps the music from being memorable.

Game Play 7/10
Anyone who remembers playing the old Asteroids will remember that it was often very difficult to move your ship where you wanted to move it.  Dreamstars 3 has continued that difficulty, though you could also look at it as a positive.  Most of the newer asteroid based games do not use inertia as much as Dreamstars does.  Based on the weight of your ship, and the amount of thrust and turning items that you have placed on your ship, your ship will react faster or slower to your keyboard movements.  However, with the inertia in the game, often I found myself having great trouble getting the ship to move where I wanted it to go.  Getting used to moving the ship is a great challenge, and it is unfortunate that joystick support is not in the game as it would be a welcome relaxation to your hands to have it.

Concept 7/10
The story of Dreamstars 3 is very well thought out and it is clear that quite a lot of background thought has gone into this game.  The game itself though doesn't offer much new beyond the ship customization.  The game is an updated Asteroids with better graphics and a more in-depth game play.

Value 8/10
With over 50 levels, the full version of Dreamstars 3 will keep gamers playing for a LONG time.  I say that because the latest level you can start on is level 20.  Each level takes a minimum of 1 minute, and the ship-building will add even more time to your time spent on the level.  The game changes difficulty quickly, so you may find yourself dieing time and time again to your great dismay, you will be starting over with a new ship to customize on level 20.  I would have loved to have had a save feature in this game as the difficulty leads to making the game seem nearly impossible to beat as a single player.

Fun 7/10
One of the greatest features of Dreamstars 3 in my mind is the multiplayer co-op play.  So few games have this feature and it always makes the game more entertaining.  In the case of Dreamstars 3, it is the most fun point of the game.  The single-player mode suffers from inconsistent difficulty and a luck factor that will take you from being "the man" to dead without you realizing what happened.  Another issue is that you often end up with one enemy at the end of levels, I've gone 5 or more minutes trying to kill that enemy when I had a weak weapon, all the time just trying to get close enough to shoot the stupid loser.  The game can be frustrating, but played as a two-player it is a delight.

Overall 7/10
Dreamstars 3 is a game that I was excited to review when I saw that I would be the one reviewing it.  I took my time to get into it, and spent several hours on different occasions playing the game.  I think that it is a game that a certain segment of gamers will enjoy quite thoroughly.  Those looking for lots of blasting action will enjoy playing the game with a team-mate.  However, for the solo player I think most will find the game a little frustrating, which is quite unfortunate as the background and build up of the game are absolutely wonderful.

Added: March 20th 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
Score:
Hits: 4232
Language: english