Time for Star Trader!
Status: Played it
Thoughts: I like that Star Trader has 2 different game modes. The spaceship shooter mode and the planet-hopping day trader mode.
Let's start with the strong adventure mode. The graphics are good. I like the tracing as the different locations load up onscreen. It gives the game its own flavor. And you are genuinely a trader. Buy high/sell low never gets old! You look at reports and see which planets where prices are the most favorable for supply runs or sales. Like a real-life stock market, the prices keep fluctuating. This game allows for couch co-op local multiplayer of up to 8 people, which is a rare treat! There is even a food/health component though it is a little too opaque.
Where the game falls off is the action portion. The wireframe shooter has sluggish controls and unsatisfying missiles/lasers. It is boring. You can die if you are hit too many times. If you don't die, you didn't have much fun. And there will be many more of these sections to come. It is possible to keep paying off the space pirates and avoid battle, but the game needs the variety of action and adventure.
Star Trader would have been much better off as a pure adventure with planet and trading options expanded. The battle section could be redone as text-only. Removing the graphics and joystick control from battles would have allowed them to offer a text-based battle system that is much deeper. Or even have auto-resolve combat where you choose the inputs. This is another game where they wanted more than their engine could offer, though I am glad that they got half of it right!
Rating: 2.5 out of 4 Continental Breakfasts
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