Graphics

It's DARK on the End of the Solar System!

At least, we think that's why Starlancer is so dark. Well, ok, it's not pitch dark, just darker than most space sims we've been playing. The darkness isn't all that bad once you get used to it. However, even on a Voodoo3 3000 we had to turn up brightness to get it at a decent level. TNT2/Geforce owners will really be cranking it.

Ship launch

Woo... behind the cockpit at last

On a positive note, the pale, orange sun and poor visibility in Starlancer helps to reinforce the fact that your side has been driven across the solar system, far away from Earth. The Western Alliance has only Neptune under control, as the rest of the Solar System has fallen under Eastern Coalition domination. But more on that later.

WMG - Whoah My God?

That's about our feeling once we played Starlancer. Far more than the graphical spit, polish and shine that you can see in the screenshots, the smoothness of the game impressed us. All the animations and effects are just stunning. Craft and weapons move fluidly and effortlessly through space. There was absolutely no hint of hesitation on the part of the game to render something - it's smooth as silk. Another interesting note was that it had dithering and didn't seem too pleased with the 16 bit resolution we were forced to run at with the Voodoo3. We imagine that despite the extra gamma problems, TNT2, Geforce and other 32bit 3D color capable card owners will get better images.

Hmm... too bad he's a friendly

Engage Jump Drive!

Explosions are especially impressive. The explosion itself is a white blast, sometimes with the requisite ring, other times not. Then the spaceship will break up into chunks - some just flat chunks of metal, others big blocks that explode further. During the entire process, there are violet-blue streams of gas seeping out of the floating hulk, dissipating into larger and larger but more faded particles. It's an extremely impressive effect - and it even happens on regular fighters. This is as good, if not better than the electric sparks and shock lines riddling the big ships in FreeSpace 2.

*whistles* Puurty

Exiting jump mode

Missile trails are quite impressive, delivering a bluish/purple haze that contrasts sharply with the black and orange sky, leaving a rather beautiful sight, should you actually be foolish enough to stop to look in combat.

Da Big Ships

Big ships in Starlancer aren't quite the massive scale they are in FreeSpace 2, but they are still quite large. They also feel a bit more detailed, especially in the texture department. You can see the windows on the ships, construction lines, etc. The capital ships also have a much rougher, more primitive look than those in FreeSpace. Think kind of like human ships in Babylon 5 compared to those of alien races.