DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

REVIEW: STARLINK - BATTLE FOR ATLAS (SWITCH, PS4, XBOX ONE - SWITCH VERSION TESTED)

25/10/2018

8 Comments

 
Picture
Toys. They're good aren't they? Remember how we'd all stand around in a circle in the playground chanting "TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!" until a teacher would come and break us up?

When I were a youth, no matter what toy I had it would end up re-appropriated as part of the Star Wars universe. Train sets. Matchbox cars. The Mastermind board game... Even my niece's Barbie Dream House became a flophouse for dossers (an Imperial base).

In short: I loved holding toys in my hand, and using them as a key to unlock my trousers (imagination).

And yet... the whole games-with-toys thing has puzzled me. I get that Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions were popular for a time, but I was only ever really tempted by Dimensions. Unfortunately,  I found toys and video games to be strange bedfellows - the toys being a barrier to me slipping into the game, and the game restricting the freedom of my creativity that toys usually offered.

I recall writing on Digitiser years ago about releasing add-on packs for games - essentially new outfits, levels and settings, treating games as an infinite action figure toybox. I didn't know it, but essentially I was predicting DLC years before DLC became a real, and controversial, part of gaming. And then the whole games-with-toys thing happened, and made it even more real, and I started to wonder if I'd been a big idiot.

I mean, I loved video games as a kid and I loved toys, but no matter how open world a game gets... you're still working within the limitations of somebody else's rules. When I'd play with my action figures, I could take them anywhere. Do anything with them. I wasn't confined by camera angles and invisible walls. 

But now we have Starlink: Battle For Atlas - which comes with real, physical, toy spaceships which sit on your joypad, and you can customise and have your customisations reflected in-game - and it has me wondering all over again whether I, as a 12 year-old, would've dug it.

Maybe. If my parents had been really rich, and not so poor that they had to get a succession of lodgers, including one called Keith who apparently once chased my mother around her bedroom.

​But that's not important right now.
Picture
SATURDAY MORNING
Starlink begins, and continues, very much like a Saturday morning cartoon. The characters - and world - are all broadly-drawn, everything painted in thick brush strokes.

It's a committed delivery method for a game which is very much a more focused, and accessible, version of No Man's Sky; even the visuals seem to borrow from that much-maligned game. 

Unlike the mostly placid new age meandering of No Man's Sky, the main thrust of Starlink, however, is on combat - be it in space, or on the surface of planets. What it lacks in depth and complexity - most battles can be won by simply locking your missiles onto one enemy and then training your crosshairs on another - it makes up for in accessibility. It affords the player the opportunity to appreciate the cartoonishly epic scale of some of the battles.

It's not all fighting, mind; there's also some light exploration and collecting and side-mission busywork. Structurally, it very much has the hallmarks of an Ubisoft map-mopper - albeit with but a handful of mission types; both in art design and quests there's a feeling of repetitiveness that ultimately hampers the experience. 

However, the USP here is the toys, and the way you can customise them mid-game by physically swapping out weapons, pilots, wing extensions etc. It makes for a pleasingly tactile experience, though, oddly, it's not essential.

You see, for some reason Ubisoft has chosen to make all the ships, extra weapons and so forth available digitally - which is far more convenient, but reduces Starlink to one big storefront for DLC. It's a bit like watching an episode of He-Man that flashes up an ad for a new action figure whenever the character appears in a scene.

Indeed, there were a couple of times when I went to swap weapons that I already owned via the in-game menu, and accidentally took myself to the online store. The hard-sell lodged in my throat like a particularly chunky lozenge.
Picture
FOXY
I played Starlink on the Switch, and like a number of Switch games it offers exclusive Nintendo content. In this instance, rather appropriately, it features the characters from the musical Rent (Starfox). They're rather crowbarred into cut-scenes, but Fox does have his own storyline, and overall it sort of works. Besides, I like having a little model of the iconic Arwing, even if it does feel a little bit cheap and cheerful.

There are othere nods to the Starfox games - you're even encouraged to do a barrel roll early in the first mission, and the enemies kindly offer you their pulsing weak spots (we've all got one of those) to aim at.

Ultimately, Starlink is a solid space shooter that takes a big gamble on whether the inclusion of physical models is enough to encourage players to fork out some extra money.

It's something you'll have to weigh up, especially when you're going to need to buy even more weapons and ships to really get the most out of the idea - whether you go to the shops to get them, or buy them digitally (which, again, suggests the game itself lacks a certain degree of confidence in its own concept).

Suffice to say, I wasn't willing to buy the full set of available ships and weapons, having already spent nearly 70 quid for the core set, and so my experience was limited. As, I suspect, it will be for most players. More ships equates to more lives and a more complete experience, but owning additional ships requires you to spend money - and all of that left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. It's all the more perplexing when you consider that this is a game that is primarily aimed at kids.

Still, how much is a Lego set these days? The price for Starlink and its add-ons is probably comparable, but Lego has the benefit of brand awareness and Starlink is starting from scratch. So... good luck with that.

SCORE: £72 out of £117
8 Comments
Harry Steele
25/10/2018 10:14:08 am

Team Starfox charging top dollar for saving the universe seems very appropriate

Reply
DEAN
25/10/2018 10:45:29 am

The thing that always blew me away about videogames was how you could control what was happening on the telly - just move that stick to the left a bit - et voila - the sprite would jerk awkwardly to the left a bit - BON BON BON.

Now, if you'd have given me a Skylanders portal, a Tree Rex and said to me, "stick that tree man on that and he'll appear in on the tv screen AND you can control him....", I would have blacked out and wet my pants... potentially shat myself- c'est magnifique!

My 2 kids were far less impressed with VR than I was - they just kind of took it for granted in a way that I might have when first hearing cassette tapes playing in the car - zut alors!

And my point is this - nobody gives a shit (in their pant's) about this stuff anymore. Late to the party? Early to your funeral and, frankly, j'en ai rien à foutre.

Reply
Grembot
25/10/2018 10:51:04 am

Every “toys to life” has ultimately been a big old flop so why are they doing this? All the bits and bobs looks rubbish too, how will they make kids interested in this? I just don’t get it.

Of course I’ll be picking up the Switch version when it hits the bargain bin.

Reply
RichardM
25/10/2018 03:09:57 pm

I’m a bit out of the loop having had no Nintendo hardware since the Wii, but reckon this is a bit of a slap in the face by the big N: I don’t want Starfox guys in Starlink, or Dinosaur Planet, or any of that. I want a massive, sprawling, Lylat Wars times a billion space combat, rail shooter +/- land battles with loads of ships and vehikes and stuff.

ALL RA(N)GE MODE!

Reply
RichardM
25/10/2018 03:14:47 pm

...quite like the look of the Arwing model, all the same. Harumph.

Reply
Tom
25/10/2018 03:17:36 pm

I bought this in digital-only form and am entirely happy with my decision. You just get a load-out menu to swap the ship parts, which you get plenty of with the Standard package. Don't bother with the digital deluxe.

Only complaint is it's a bit too easy. I'm going to start again on Hard mode before I bother trying to finish all the side stuff.

Reply
Not My Atari link
25/10/2018 07:57:06 pm

Looks neat, if a little pricey, even for the Digital Only edition, which is what I would like. Looking forward to a sale.

Reply
Rob
27/10/2018 07:41:16 pm

My kids have skylanders, Disney infinity and lego dimensions. The lego one gets played a lot, Disney occasionally, and skylanders not for years. I've been buying them dimensions figures out of Home Bargains for a fraction of the original price, which occasionally stimulates a play session. Thankfully they have not shown any interest in this one, even after it appeared in the local supermarket (displacing Lego Dimensions.)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ