Star Control: Origins, Stardock's reboot of Accolade's famed deep-space strategy-RPG, is now available, so let's take a couple minutes out of our busy lives to kick back and watch the launch trailer.
As the uniquely-qualified captain of Earth's one and only starship, players will set off to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and do their best not to piss them off too much—because humanity is wildly outclassed by pretty much everyone else out there. Ultimately, your job is to keep a lid on things until the folks back home can build a fleet that has a hope of standing up for itself.
The trailer looks promising, and Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said in a recent "pre-mortem" that Star Control: Origins is "by far, the biggest game we've ever done."
"When you look at Sins of a Solar Empire, Galactic Civilizations, Offworld Trading Company, Ashes of the Singularity, Fallen Enchantress and even Elemental, they all have one thing in common: <$3 million budgets. When you're dealing with such budgets, you are focusing on maximum gameplay per every dollar spent. And it shows. There is a certain level of polish that is a luxury at such budgets," he wrote.
But for Star Control: Origins, polish has been a priority. "This is a game that was, effectively, completed earlier this year and has been undergoing polish, enhancement, and iteration ever since," Wardell wrote. "You can't come in 'hot' in this market. It's too risky."
I haven't played Star Control: Origins so I have no idea if it lives up to the hype, but I hope it does. The Star Control games, particularly Star Control 2, were a smart, sharp, and funny blend of genres, and after so many years away (Star Control 3 came out in 1996, and the original trilogy was removed from sale last year as a result of an ongoing legal dispute between Stardock and Star Control creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche), it would be great to see it make a proper comeback. Star Control: Origins is available on Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store.
