So ... have you ever imagined as a kid that you were an astronaut, flying through space? Then suddenly you were made to leave warp and stop at a deserted planet because you ran out of food? As you land you find out that you need shelter and such as well, so you have to kill creatures and tear down buildings and subjugate the creatures on the planet to be your minions and ... wow, that got dark quick!
Let’s back up for a second ...
Starbound takes the player on a journey around the universe as they explore worlds and survive with whatever supplies you can procure. Players of Starbound take on the role of an alien who fled from their homeworld just to end up stuck on another. Each planet you explore gives you a chance to find weapons, supplies, villages, and monsters to help you in your quest to survive or find a place in this kooky universe.
Story
Now since this game is similar to popular games such as Minecraft and Terraria, story can be pretty non-existent. Instead the game focuses on lore, similar to World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs. While some of the storyline is open to all characters, there are aspects of lore that will only be opened to certain race selections. This enables the player to technically write their own story as they explore the almost limitless planets you come across and the aliens you meet in your journeys.
GameplayThe game itself is styled like a 2D platformer, you can run, jump and whack a few monsters just like you would in the classic Mario Games. At the start of every alien’s game is a small tutorial that teaches you how to craft items. Crafting is essential to Starbound allowing you to get better equipment and supplies.
Once you finish these first few quests, you’ll eventually learn how to feed and fight the creatures on the planet, opening up the world to full exploration.
The major thing to understand when it comes to the gameplay of Starbound is that it takes time. Lots of time. Similar to most MMO’s and exploration games, the more time you put in, the more of a reward you are given.
Art
Using classic 32 bit graphics, each world comes with it’s own unique creatures and fauna. One planet can be covered in beautiful green grass, while another maybe a giant volcano. The way Chucklefish programmed the graphics for Starbound is such that when a player lands on a new planet they will be hit with a large variance of different materials, hazards, and monsters.
Did I land on the Cthulhu planet?
This gives players unlimited planets to explore, colonize, and even cannibalize for their own needs.Replayability
As with all MMORPGs there is a degree of replayability, based on race and planets. Since each race starts with their own types of classes players can explore the stories of each type of creature.
Multiplayer
You’ll be playing with lot’s of players in Starbound and some planets will be already colonized and some won’t. Players can work together providing trades and technology, or against each other. Players can defend or assault a planet to procure their supplies from either players or the local inhabitants.
One thing to note, multiplayer does work through the use of servers, similar to Minecraft. Players can host servers for other players to join in and explore. So if you wanna do a speed game of biggest colony within an hour, a pure planet cooperative colonization, or planetary war; it can easily be done.
Final Note
As should be noted, Starbound is in beta! A lot features can change between builds. The game itself can be very limited since features can be taken away to be worked on then brought back up. Currently there are 10 tiers of game play, but be patient, once Starbound is fully released it should be nicely refined so that players can fully explore the stars.
Extras
Let’s see you can pick a fish person, a robot, a plant person, a bird person, an ape, and a human. Why do I see a Futurama dub coming in our future?
