Posted November 14, 2013
This is a first impression review of a copy I bought off of GOG. I have played the game for about four hours and have gotten to the fourth tier of employment.
So. Do you like the Sims? Do you like the Sims, but hate the 3D graphics, the architectural aspect of building houses, the livaciousness of woohooing at whim, or the multitudinous ways of interacting with other Sims in the world? Do you want a simplified interface, where you don't have to worry about a full bladder or maintaining your social bar, but instead only need concern yourself with "happiness" and "health"?
Then this game is for you.
Maybe.
To be fair, this is an independent developer, not Maxis/EA, so trade offs are to be expected. A lot of trade offs, as it turns out. Take a look at the screen shots. When you play the game, that's about all the screens you will be able to see. Some of the text may change, but otherwise the screens are pretty much static. But again, independent developers don't always have the time or money to fully flesh out all aspects of a game. What is normally expected is that the dev focuses on one or two innovative gameplay aspects, and that is deemed sufficient for a cheap title.
So what is this game, really? It is a somewhat complex social interaction simulation, where multiple people around you have likes and dislikes. They have their own groups of friends and enemies. They may be irrational, or even bigoted. Person A might like Person B but hate Person C... and A may end up hating B if B becomes friends with C. A certain person might like to go to the bar, but hates playing chess in your quarters, or vice versa. So... a nice social interaction "web". Your goal as the player is to maintain your health (by eating, mostly) and happiness (by buying items at the store or socially interacting) and to do social activities with your friends that allow you to acquire skills, skills needed in order to advance your job position. You use "Spacebook" in order to do so, a greatly simplified take on Facebook. Oh, and occasionally you and a group of the people on the station get sent down to the planet where a good number of the group gets killed. Since some that get killed could be your friends or enemies, this action serves as a hard reset on social interactions. The end goal is to advance through the ranks to Captain.
That's pretty much what it is. So... is it fun?
Somewhat. The thought of playing a really rich, deep, complex social group sim is appealing. This game is more of a sorta bland, shallow simple social group sim. Using "Spacebook" as a gateway to restrict interactions with other sims is... too restricting. You can make a post, you can like someone else's post, you can make and accept friend requests, you can change your relationship status to "in a relationship with" someone and you can invite a group to an event (go to the bar, visit the holo gym, etc). That's it. For me, that's not enough complexity to make choices meaningful. But hey, people enjoy really dull whack-a-mole type social games. Someone may enjoy this game. Except for it's greatest sin.
One of the best phrases I've ever heard comes from marketing. That is, "Under-promise and Over-deliver". Or to go full circle and tie in to A Star Trek reference.
La Forge: "I told the Captain I would have this diagnostic done in an hour."
Scotty: "And how long will it really take you?"
La Forge: "An hour!"
Scotty "Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you?"
La Forge: "Of course I did."
Scotty: "Oh, laddie, you have a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker."
And that's the problem. This game overpromises and under-delivers. This game is called Redshirt, in reference to the Star Trek original series penchant of killing everyone who beamed down to a planet while wearing a red shirt. This game does have you beaming down to a planet and killing off a large part of your "away" mission party, but that is a random event that you can't interact with once underway. There are occasional characters in the game with Star Trek-like names, and there are other occasional references to events in the TV series, but at best they are flavor text. There is hardly anything in this game that fits the science fiction trope, much less the look and feel of Star Trek.
This is not a game worth paying $20 U.S. It's not worth $4.95. It's about a $2.49 game, at best. But given the fact that it specifically targets nostalgic Star Trek fans with it's game title, I would suggest never buying this game. It just isn't worth it.
So. Do you like the Sims? Do you like the Sims, but hate the 3D graphics, the architectural aspect of building houses, the livaciousness of woohooing at whim, or the multitudinous ways of interacting with other Sims in the world? Do you want a simplified interface, where you don't have to worry about a full bladder or maintaining your social bar, but instead only need concern yourself with "happiness" and "health"?
Then this game is for you.
Maybe.
To be fair, this is an independent developer, not Maxis/EA, so trade offs are to be expected. A lot of trade offs, as it turns out. Take a look at the screen shots. When you play the game, that's about all the screens you will be able to see. Some of the text may change, but otherwise the screens are pretty much static. But again, independent developers don't always have the time or money to fully flesh out all aspects of a game. What is normally expected is that the dev focuses on one or two innovative gameplay aspects, and that is deemed sufficient for a cheap title.
So what is this game, really? It is a somewhat complex social interaction simulation, where multiple people around you have likes and dislikes. They have their own groups of friends and enemies. They may be irrational, or even bigoted. Person A might like Person B but hate Person C... and A may end up hating B if B becomes friends with C. A certain person might like to go to the bar, but hates playing chess in your quarters, or vice versa. So... a nice social interaction "web". Your goal as the player is to maintain your health (by eating, mostly) and happiness (by buying items at the store or socially interacting) and to do social activities with your friends that allow you to acquire skills, skills needed in order to advance your job position. You use "Spacebook" in order to do so, a greatly simplified take on Facebook. Oh, and occasionally you and a group of the people on the station get sent down to the planet where a good number of the group gets killed. Since some that get killed could be your friends or enemies, this action serves as a hard reset on social interactions. The end goal is to advance through the ranks to Captain.
That's pretty much what it is. So... is it fun?
Somewhat. The thought of playing a really rich, deep, complex social group sim is appealing. This game is more of a sorta bland, shallow simple social group sim. Using "Spacebook" as a gateway to restrict interactions with other sims is... too restricting. You can make a post, you can like someone else's post, you can make and accept friend requests, you can change your relationship status to "in a relationship with" someone and you can invite a group to an event (go to the bar, visit the holo gym, etc). That's it. For me, that's not enough complexity to make choices meaningful. But hey, people enjoy really dull whack-a-mole type social games. Someone may enjoy this game. Except for it's greatest sin.
One of the best phrases I've ever heard comes from marketing. That is, "Under-promise and Over-deliver". Or to go full circle and tie in to A Star Trek reference.
La Forge: "I told the Captain I would have this diagnostic done in an hour."
Scotty: "And how long will it really take you?"
La Forge: "An hour!"
Scotty "Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you?"
La Forge: "Of course I did."
Scotty: "Oh, laddie, you have a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker."
And that's the problem. This game overpromises and under-delivers. This game is called Redshirt, in reference to the Star Trek original series penchant of killing everyone who beamed down to a planet while wearing a red shirt. This game does have you beaming down to a planet and killing off a large part of your "away" mission party, but that is a random event that you can't interact with once underway. There are occasional characters in the game with Star Trek-like names, and there are other occasional references to events in the TV series, but at best they are flavor text. There is hardly anything in this game that fits the science fiction trope, much less the look and feel of Star Trek.
This is not a game worth paying $20 U.S. It's not worth $4.95. It's about a $2.49 game, at best. But given the fact that it specifically targets nostalgic Star Trek fans with it's game title, I would suggest never buying this game. It just isn't worth it.
Post edited November 14, 2013 by MaxBooger
