Re: Starpoint Gemini 2 Post by gideon25 Tue 10:14 pm In honor of the release of Starpoint Gemini 2: Collector's Upgrade by PLAZA, I am working on a new Table.I didn’t play the first Starpoint Gemini so I was going into this blind, but I don’t think playing the original is necessary for understanding and enjoying this sequel anyway. To speed up, use Left Shift for boost. To strafe up, use the Space key and to strafe down, use C. MOVEMENT Use the standard WASD keys (move the LEFT ANALOGUE STICK on a controller) to change the direction of the ship and QE (D-Pad left/right on a controller) to roll. Learning them is as straight forward as it can get. Having notched up significant time in this open-ended space experience it was about time I put some words together.Starpoint Gemini 3 features simple FPS-like controls.
You want to survive for more than ten minutes in space, after all.Before I continue, despite some similarities of theme this game is not Elite: Dangerous or Star Citizen. Buttons, skills, pop-up menus, information screens they all suggest that you’d be extremely stupid to dismiss the tips. These can, of course, be ignored, but judging by the complexity of the interface it wouldn’t be a smart move. It’s the kind of title I love to get lost in for long spells then return to later when there’s some free time.Upon first launching the game, you’ll be bombarded with tutorial tip screens.
Unless you undertake a significant amount of reading about the various controls and features before hand, it’s all a little confusing. While the story attempts to teach you the game mechanics, it doesn’t do it particularly well. There’s no cockpit view whatsoever, which is a massive hint that there’s more to this than flying about and shooting stuff.Well, okay, there is SOME shooting stuff.LGM have attempted to add a story to the game to entice players into the universe, but it’s definitely not the game’s strong point. Starpoint Gemini 2 can best be described as a tactical space sim with exploration and missions. If you’ve read otherwise then don’t be fooled.
All have their own advantages depending on the situation and half the battle is understanding when to use which view. There’s the turret view which allows you to swing around the ship so you can track everything around your vessel the mounted view which sits you just above the ship and a third person view which sits you just behind the ship. I can’t stress that enough.Let’s not dwell on the campaign though, because while it’s worth persevering with for an hour or so, the game has much more to offer if you just let it take you along for the ride.Getting to grips with ship control isn’t that easy at first, because there are number of ways to view the action. The voice acting is also quite terrible. The campaign seems like a bit of an afterthought, further demonstrated by the fact you’re prompted to opt out of it not long after starting.
LGM have created a pretty massive universe, and, with it all covered up by the ‘fog of space’ until you explore the different regions, it can feel a little daunting. When you’re under heavy attack the situation can get a little frantic, so it’s essential that all the hotkeys and UI have been mastered well in advance.Starpoint Gemini 2 is vast in scope. When battles get intense you at least have the option to let the crew take control of fire while you mess with the balance between the skills, ships shields, weapons and power. Whether it be taking direct control in combat or setting the ship to fire at will. This works well, and while you’re travelling from A to B you can peruse through the menus to check the logs, check finances, perks and skills, ship systems and more.LGM have given players freedom with the controls and, thanks to this, players will likely tackle each situation differently. As ships have location based shields, being aware of what’s attacking (and from where) can be the difference between life and death.There are essentially two ways to command the ship taking control of the movement directly, or by hitting the spacebar to relinquish control to the mouse pointer, which can then be used to carry out direct actions on the multiple interface options.
Feel free to use this as a handy guide yourself (click for larger version.)Ship upgrades like the T-drive are essential to survival as the enemy get increasingly tough the further afield (um, astar?) you travel. Using the gates costs money though, which for me was just further incentive to undertake more side missions and work towards equipping a T-drive for quicker jumps (without the need for gates.)The vastness of space. It’s a bit of a cheat but removed a lot of the frustration by being able to travel vast distances by navigating along the T-gate routes. During the early campaign missions it took ages finding the most effective route so I ended up hunting down a complete star chart to make things easier.
They can also help you to discover more of the universe by seeking out anomalies, wormholes and potential targets for profit.The main attraction of Starpoint Gemini 2 is the ability to lose yourself in the single player space exploration, but it has that steep learning curve. These alerts give you the freedom to hop between missions and ultimately increase your wealth. When you’ve got enough cash you can also buy a new ship which is always a nice incentive to keep playing.As more of the universe is uncovered you’ll hear alerts from the ship’s computer about entering hostile space and new freelance mission updates.
Starpoint Gemini 2 Guide Mods Available In
There’s enough depth here to keep space adventurers playing for some time and with mods available in the Steam Workshop, there’s a steady stream of new content and tweaks to experiment with.If you’re looking for a strategic space sim with combat, exploration, strategy and the ability to roam freely around vast universe then this will be for you. Starpoint Gemini 2 may not be pushing visual boundaries, but it’s solid enough and has plenty of atmosphere with its soothing music and variety of space locales as you travel around the universe. Especially if you like green.Tackling this review over a longer period of time than usual has helped me appreciate the work that’s been done by LGM. A space sandbox title like this is almost expected to be hard to master you just need to persevere for a few hours and it’ll start feeling rewarding.Starpoint Gemini 2 does a reasonable job in the visuals department. All of this should not be a problem for those prepared to put in the effort, however. And that’s scratching the surface.
It’s a shame that the single player campaign isn’t up to much, but if that doesn’t bother you, then Starpoint Gemini 2 is definitely worth a purchase because it’s thoroughly enjoyable as an interstellar sandbox.
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