DarkStar One (DVD-Rom)

by CDV Software Entertainment

Product Features

• A vast universe of over 300 solar systems with numerous races, spaceships and battle tactics
• Over 200 different weapons, shields and equipment items
• Tactical weapons such as rockets, torpedoes and mines which fire at approaching missiles
• Upgradeable Darkstar One
• Distinctive weapon types

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000H3HK3U
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 14, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,723 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

DarkStar One delivers fast paced action with a vast and authentic universe, spectacular graphics, freedom of choice and a gripping story. As the young escort pilot Kayron Jarvis, discover clues surrounding a secret your murdered father was hiding. An unknown technology hidden within your ship, the DarkStar One, appears to be the key-but an unforeseen twist changes the course of events dramatically!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not as much fun as Freelancer, August 18, 2006

By 

Richard M. Warnick (Draper, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: DarkStar One (DVD-Rom) (CD-ROM)

Darkstar One (DSO) invites comparison to Freelancer (FL) because the games are so similar. One reviewer even claimed that DSO is "Freelancer done right." Sadly, no. FL had a more exciting story and excellent voice acting-- this game was originally developed in Germany and the English translation is sometimes a bit odd. There are 55 star systems in FL, and 300 in DSO, but the DSO systems have very little exploration potential. The only place to land in each system is the trading station, invariably named "Trading Station."

Combat is a lot like FL, and missiles are fun to shoot (Hellfires almost never miss). The Swarm missile is like a shotgun blast, unguided but useful in close quarters. Shields don't work the same as in FL, so it's possible to take out some of the weaker pirate ships with one Hellfire. The variety of weapons is not as much as in FL. One thing DSO has that FL doesn't is controls to roll left and right as well as strafe in a dogfight.

Unlike FL, the player goes through the entire game with one ship, but it can be equipped with lots of different items. The innovative part is how the Darkstar One can expand itself to create more weapon and equipment slots. One especially useful upgrade allows you to mount turrets that fire automatically at hostile targets, e.g. ships on your tail (wish FL had that).

The side missions are different but can be repetitive after a while, like in FL. You can sign on as a freighter escort to earn money, that was something missing from the original FL. Also, there are occasional distress calls to answer and invitations to join in combat missions. Kayron has a co-pilot named Eona. Sometimes she can be useful, such as reminding you that another ship is on your tail.

Inter-system travel is by hyperspace drive. You can leave a system from anywhere that's not too close to a solid object. Systems are entered through a single hyper gate. Inside a system, there is no cruise engine but you have an afterburner that can be upgraded to get more out of it. Also there is a time dilation effect to speed up routine movement inside a system. There is no autopilot, and formation flying is manual too.

Docking on stations is actually quicker than FL once you buy a landing computer (affordable very early in the game). Inside the station everything is handled in one room (but there is a "panorama" or viewing port to see outside). As mentioned above, there is no landing on planets-- you can only dock at the single trading station.

The trade system, at least in the demo, isn't very interesting. The dynamic pricing that people said they wanted in FL has been implemented but that just means you have no idea whether a trade run will make money. And cargo is carried in unwieldy containers that get towed behind your ship. You have to drop the container to fight off pirates and then pick it up again. Bounties and missions pay a lot better than trading.

If you like to see fireworks, DSO delivers. The Big Bang torp will do a job on large targets like capital ships and pirate asteroids, making fiery shockwaves that spread across the sky. You can even get paid by the rebels for blowing up ships, but the police are much tougher than FL and I haven't been able to escape them to enjoy the money. There is a reputation system that's rudimentary compared to FL, and it doesn't look like crime pays.

In summary, if you love FL this game is worth playing but there are some aspects that fall short of expectations. Unlike FL, Ascaron, the makers of DSO, are talking about a possible sequel. There's hope the game will improve in the next edition.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to a genre that is underrepresented, September 4, 2006

By 

cybersleuth58 "chi-mama" (Northern New England) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: DarkStar One (DVD-Rom) (CD-ROM)

Sure glad I bought the game prior to reading the customer reviews. I did not find this game buggy at all; it runs beautifully on my LAPTOP which is quite new and built to handle demanding games. The game ran in the default resolution set for my computer. It is important to caution prospective buyers to pay serious attention to the game specs. This will not run unless your graphics card - and drivers - are up to date. Also - there are patches, one of which is supposed to address the joystick problems.

There are so few of these games out there! Space adventure games are almost exclusively developed in Europe and we are fortunate if they end up being released here in North America. If you are a devout fan of this genre you know a lot about shareware!

If you want to play a space based adventure game with impressive graphics and a decent story line - this game is for you. If you enjoyed Freelancer, then treat yourself to Darkstar One!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple Fun, November 8, 2006

By 

Chris O. (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: DarkStar One (DVD-Rom) (CD-ROM)

DarkStar One is a fairly simple and straightforward game, that although it lacks much depth, still manages to be a lot of fun. You will spend most of your time dogfighting space pirates and upgrading your ship. The biggest downside is the linear plot that you must follow to advance through the game. The game does offer the freedom to engage in piracy and smuggling, but it makes it difficult to advance through the game if you're being chased by the police and bounty hunters in every system in the galaxy. All of the missions are more or less the same, and will seem a bit repetative after a while, so I find this game is best in small doses. It's also nice that you can save your game anywhere at any time. Everything combines to produce a fun experience for a casual gamer who doesn't want to have to play for hours on end in order to advance through a game. I did initially have some performance issues with this game, although after downloading an update, the game runs perfectly.