The game looks quite good, after one realizes a very interesting fact about the Space Empires universe: the entire galaxy is 2-dimensional. Every planet, star, and ship travels along the same plane, making space combat a bit less interesting and greatly increasing the chances of accidentally running into the occasional asteroid or planet. This will undoubtedly bother space-sim enthusiasts, but it works well enough. Other than the strange flatness of space, the graphics are respectable, with each ship getting a full 3D treatment overlaying a pleasant background of nebulae, stars, and remote galaxies. Fights also look decent, complete with particle-beams, torpedoes, and lots of explosions. The audio isn’t as impressive, but manages to convey all the sounds one would expect to hear in a space-sim that ignores the silence of the vacuum of space. Starfury also has a rather pleasant musical score which, for the most part, tends to stay in the background where it belongs.
Game controls are a mixed bag—most controls are laid out very intuitively, and are quite simple to use. Ship directionality can be controlled using either the mouse or keyboard, while a small set of hotkeys are available for setting ship thrust and firing weapons. While this usually works well, in some of the more heated combats I found the setup to be a little clunky. All the keys are configurable, however, so it might just be that I have yet to find the best layout for my personal tastes.
Combat itself, a large chunk of the play in Starfury, is done fairly well. Fighting is not the quick-and-dirty “one shot kill”; rather it is generally a drawn-out dance. Much of the fight is spent bringing weapons to bear as they are charged, jockeying to attack the enemy’s weakened points, while trying to keep the stronger shields and armor pointing toward the enemy fire. I enjoy this more tactical approach to fighting, but some may dislike the lack of reflex-intensive combat.
Continuing in the tradition of its predecessors in the Space Empires line of games, Starfury’s code is highly modifiable. I am always excited when I see a developer do this—it means there’s a lot of life in the game after the developer-designed content is exhausted. For those with a bit of programming know-how and time, this means designing campaigns and adventures quickly and easily. For those of us without those talents, this means we’ll be able to reap the benefits of our more creative gaming brethren.
Overall, Starfury is another strong title from the good folks at Shrapnel Games. While not the most impressive space-sim on the market, it certainly has the addictive qualities to eat away the hours. For Space Empires fans, it also gives a chance to dive into that rich universe once again. And given Shrapnel’s track record (and that of their fans) for continuing support for their titles, there’s sure to be lots of life in this game for quite some time.
C+
A entertaining little space-combat simulation set in the Space Empires universe. Not mind-blowingly impressive, but still quite a bit of fun.
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