This game had so much promise when I started backing it, and it still has so much promise.

Sadly, despite five years in development limbo, it does not deliver.

Cast your minds back, three or so years if I recall correctly. I was an innocent young lad going about my day to day business, when my friend sends me a message telling me about this new game in development. It's called "Starbound", and it looks like Terraria in space, but with so much more to it - an endless, infinite universe. I'm entranced, and I buy the crap out of it. Playing through early versions, I can tell it's rough but has promise, so much promise.

I check back every now and again, seeing how things develop. Things are looking good. I play a few hours here and there, but there always seems to be something missing. Something missing which, I assume, will eventually be added in.

Fast forward to today, and there's still something missing. I still can't quite put my finger on it. Haven't played very much of the new version, since my characters were all wiped (after being promised this wouldn't happen, but hey, these things happen).

Anyway, good things first. Starbound is a game with a fantastic atmosphere. I love the art style, the music is grand and the snarky comments on every single item in the game really pull me in to this living, breathing universe.

Sadly, everything else pulls me right out. The controls are floaty, so I fall to my death over and over again. The combat is absolutely awful (and others have already elaborated on that far better than I could). The UI is a joke, and contributes to maybe half of my (many many many) deaths as I frantically try to swap to a sword and end up limply patting my enemy with a stick of corn. I've experienced recurring lag with enemies, even though I'm playing singleplayer (I'm taken to believe this is a fairly common issue).

The universe is massive, yet so shallow that it could probably bring a tear to Todd Howard's eye (take that, Bethesda). There's no reason to stay on any planet for longer than necessary, essentially making every planet an identical "fetch what you need and move forward" half hour outing (simultaneously removing the feeling of slow-paced wonder that comes from exploration). Dungeons aren't very interesting, in my opinion. Railroaded linear quests absolutely destroy any sort of natural progression which is usually fairly necessary in an open sandbox game.

That's not to say I haven't enjoyed Starbound. There are moments of absolute brilliance tucked away in the game. Exploring new planets can be awesome if you tune out the fact that it's only cosmetically any different from the last one - the massive amount of varying art assets are a high point, and I give immense credit to the game's artists. The same goes for building a base (though in earlier versions I always used admin commands to give myself an unlimited amount of construction materials). I like the ability to make homes for settlers, and build a large town.

All in all, Starbound had so much promise. Promise that seems to have been more or less wasted in favour of working on small additions and not really working on the major 'feel' of the game, if that makes sense (I mean, spaceship pets? Really? Why?). I still have hope for the future of the game (especially with mods), but at the moment it just feels empty. I love the game, and loathe the game. I've gone on for quite a while now, so I should probably end here - Starbound is a brilliant concept badly realised. I wish the devs luck on improving it, but it seems like it's too far gone by now.



One small caveat: Starbound isn't as similar to Terraria as many are saying. For one thing, Terraria is consistently quite good.

This game had so much promise when I started backing it, and it still has so much promise. Sadly, despite five years in development limbo, it does not deliver. Cast your minds back, three or so years if I recall correctly. I was an innocent young lad going about my day to day business, when my friend sends me a message telling me about this new game in development. It's called "Starbound", and it looks like Terraria in space, but with so much more to it - an endless, infinite universe. I'm entranced, and I buy the crap out of it. Playing through early versions, I can tell it's rough but has promise, so much promise. I check back every now and again, seeing how things develop. Things are looking good. I play a few hours here and there, but there always seems to be something missing. Something missing which, I assume, will eventually be added in. Fast forward to today, and there's still something missing. I still can't quite put my finger on it. Haven't played very much of the new version, since my characters were all wiped (after being promised this wouldn't happen, but hey, these things happen). Anyway, good things first. Starbound is a game with a fantastic atmosphere. I love the art style, the music is grand and the snarky comments on every single item in the game really pull me in to this living, breathing universe. Sadly, everything else pulls me right out. The controls are floaty, so I fall to my death over and over again. The combat is absolutely awful (and others have already elaborated on that far better than I could). The UI is a joke, and contributes to maybe half of my (many many many) deaths as I frantically try to swap to a sword and end up limply patting my enemy with a stick of corn. I've experienced recurring lag with enemies, even though I'm playing singleplayer (I'm taken to believe this is a fairly common issue). The universe is massive, yet so shallow that it could probably bring a tear to Todd Howard's eye (take that, Bethesda). There's no reason to stay on any planet for longer than necessary, essentially making every planet an identical "fetch what you need and move forward" half hour outing (simultaneously removing the feeling of slow-paced wonder that comes from exploration). Dungeons aren't very interesting, in my opinion. Railroaded linear quests absolutely destroy any sort of natural progression which is usually fairly necessary in an open sandbox game. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed Starbound. There are moments of absolute brilliance tucked away in the game. Exploring new planets can be awesome if you tune out the fact that it's only cosmetically any different from the last one - the massive amount of varying art assets are a high point, and I give immense credit to the game's artists. The same goes for building a base (though in earlier versions I always used admin commands to give myself an unlimited amount of construction materials). I like the ability to make homes for settlers, and build a large town. All in all, Starbound had so much promise. Promise that seems to have been more or less wasted in favour of working on small additions and not really working on the major 'feel' of the game, if that makes sense (I mean, spaceship pets? Really? Why?). I still have hope for the future of the game (especially with mods), but at the moment it just feels empty. I love the game, and loathe the game. I've gone on for quite a while now, so I should probably end here - Starbound is a brilliant concept badly realised. I wish the devs luck on improving it, but it seems like it's too far gone by now. One small caveat: Starbound isn't as similar to Terraria as many are saying. For one thing, Terraria is consistently quite good.