Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
One of the most hotly anticipated indie games of the past two years will be making its debut on Steam Early Access today, and if you like building, crafting, procedurally-generated worlds, and most importantly spaceships and super cool aliens you are absolutely going to want to check it out.
Starbound is sandbox-meets-space exploration, and its very transparent development process (which has been bursting at the seams with screenshots and teasers) has already led to a significant number of fans... And pre-orders.
Anyone who pre-ordered the game will be getting a Steam key in their email... Right about now, actually. And since that includes me, I'll be regaling NWN readers with stories my adventures in procedurally-generated space next week. For now, here are a few things you should know if you're not sure if Starbound is for you:
Starbound's art style may look a little familiar, especially if you have experience with some of the more popular indie sandbox games. One of the key figures behind Starbound is Tiy, the sprite artist for Terraria. If you've played that then Starbound's two-dimensional resource gathering, combat, and crafting will probably look pretty familiar too. Starbound seems like it will be expanding on that tremendously, both in terms of its actual world (or should I say universe) map and its gameplay. There are also quests to ease you in, which experienced gamers in this genre might not need, though they can be vital for making sure that newer players don't feel too overwhelmed.
The best way to get a sense of a game without playing it yourself is probably to watch others play it. Streams and Let's Plays have become such a significant part of gaming news and culture for just that reason, because there's only so much you can learn from a highly polished video review or promotional teaser. Thankfully there are already a slew of gameplay videos out there that you can watch to get a better sense of what Starbound's all about, most of them included in this handy round-up post on Starbound's blog.
Since Starbound is still in beta/Early Access it's not going to be the right purchase for everyone. There will be bugs and hiccups and features yet to be added, so unless you're dying to get your hands on it there's no harm in waiting for the finished product.
... That said, the best way to express how excited I am to finish writing and start playing is probably a roadrunner-style dust cloud.
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