Starpoint Gemini 2 Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Starpoint Gemini 2
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Starship action

Starpoint Gemini 2 is the kind of open ended game where one can choose to get the biggest trading ship they can, hire some mercenaries for protection and then simply start moving through pirate space in order to see how long they can last against their attacks.

Or they can switch sides and get cloaking and powerful offensive weapons in order to simply move around space and prey on the ships that lack an escort and the firepower to fight back, regularly blowing them up or assaulting them with marines in order to then tow the carcass and sell it.

The variety the space sim has to offer is solid and it’s great to see how Little Green Men Games has managed to take a genre which has lacked any AAA releases in the past few years and made it feel interesting and engaging once more.

Story

Starpoint Gemini 2 does have a single-player campaign that gamers can explore, focused on a young protagonist who loses his father in a mysterious attack and then aims to track down the guilty parties, which in turn ties into the wider conflict which is taking place in the sector between rebels and a powerful central government.

The setup is not especially promising and even the developers quickly allow gamers to either stick with the narrative or simply enter freeroam and start exploring the game world on their own, essentially developing a story of their own as they take on missions, choose which side of law they want to fight on and which factions they want to gain favors with.

Impressive sights
Impressive sights

Starpoint Gemini 2 basically allows gamers to choose a personality and role play it as they discover new goods to trade or they find the ship best suited for quick strikes against high-value targets.

The choice of three initial classes accentuates the feeling of RPG, with each one getting its own skills and progression, but despite some differences, the variety in the space exploration title is mostly linked to the goals players set for themselves rather than to the choices they make.

Gameplay

Starpoint Gemini 2 is a space-based third-person action title which allows gamers to explore a massive sector in space, engage in combat with enemies, trade, upgrade their ships, develop tactics and then either complete a single-player story or simply move around freely doing whatever they like.

The focus of the game is the ship the player owns, which can be outfitted with a wide array of weapons and systems, and can be upgraded and customized in interesting ways.

Gamers can control it as it moves across the game universe and in combat, and they can use Space to switch between control of the systems and direct choice of the flight path.

The universe of Starpoint Gemini 2 is big and moving between missions and points of interest takes time, which would have made a time compression mechanic a good idea, but it also offers players a chance to look around, find interesting areas to further explore, or enemies to take down.

Movement can be amplified by using warp gates, but they cost money, so the best option remains to simply move all power to engine and accept that it takes time to move across space.

When combat takes place, gamers need to first choose flight patterns that maximize exposure of the target and minimize their profile, while also controlling primary and secondary weapons fire.

There are also special abilities to use in order to boost capabilities and consumables like shields and cloaking can also make it easier for gamers to take down capable enemies.

It’s also important to manage how the ship uses power, dividing it between engines, shields and weapons.

There are plenty of engagements which devolve into slugging matches, with big ships simply throwing ordnance at each other, but there are also fights in which the enemy Artificial Intelligence tries to run away, moves to take advantage of the shield presence, and deploy their own consumables.

Of course, Starpoint Gemini 2 is not only about combat and gamers also have the option to focus on pure exploration or on manipulation of the economic model.

Gamers can also choose to get mercenary ships as support and can recruit officers for their own vessel to boost its power.

Battle time
Battle time

There are options to be a fair merchant and simply move goods from one planet to another, taking care to read the news and spot trends, but there are also illegal goods that can be obtained and smuggled into stations and other locations as long as the law enforcement does not detect them early.

The biggest problem with the game is the time it takes to move from one exciting moment to another, and there are also moments when the core mechanics are poorly explained and gamers need to explore the array of tutorials to find out how to perform a task.

Ideally, the game also needs more quest types, as the various challenges can become annoying through their repetitive nature.

Graphics and audio

Starpoint Gemini 2 is a space-based video game that can certainly look impressive, especially on a solid PC, and I suspect that there are plenty of gamers who will be happy to simply let their ship move through space at times in order to simply sit back and enjoy the scenery.

We know that the space around us is mostly comprised of nothingness, with small numbers of particles moving around in the void, but the development team at Little Green Men Games understands how to deploy stars, nebulas, particle clouds, planets, asteroids, and other ships in order to fill out the game world and make it exciting in every moment.

Starpoint Gemini 2 also has a lot of details for the various vessels that gamers can control or encounter, and the battles certainly deliver some cool special effect moments.

The quality of the voice work is less impressive and there are moments when the actors do not seem to have a clear idea about the characterization of the roles they play, but the music created for the space-based game makes up for that, with some very cool tracks that manage to evoke the feeling of discovery and awe that exploring a solar system can generate.


The Good

  • Impressive sights
  • Some cool combat moments
  • A lot to discover

The Bad

  • Limited story appeal
  • Missions can be repetitive
  • Bad voice acting

Conclusion

Starpoint Gemini 2 is a very solid entry in the space simulation genre and a dedicated gamer can spend tens of hours exploring every area of the included Gemini sector, finding cool secrets and battling a range of enemies, some capable and some not.

The sense of exploration is the main draw, although the downtime between action sequences might be a little annoying to many.

The combat systems are also engaging and give gamers plenty of options, but there are moments when the range of options seems too big and it’s easier to delegate firing to the AI and simply focus on movement and special skills use.

Starpoint Gemini 2 also has a lot of mods offered in the Steam workshop already, adding more variety to the universe, and the development team seems focused on making sure that all bugs that the community reports are eliminated as soon as possible.

story 4
gameplay 8
concept 8
graphics 9
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 

Starpoint Gemini 2 Images (13 Images)

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