Star Control: Origins

I have been aware of and influenced by the Star Control games for 30+ years at this point, but I only finally completed one here in 2025. I have to say, I am sorry it took me this long, but I finally understand what I was missing (even if I realize this was not really made by any of the same people as any of the previous titles).

Star Control: Origins is a series of deep and intriguing contemplations about the nature of exploration, war, friendship, motivation, religion, deception, and self-justification, all wrapped up in a game where you explore large swaths of the universe and meet dozens of alien races with their own goals and motivations, sometimes breaking to shoot lasers at tiny ships or pick up valuables on a Little Prince-sized planetoid, and all in a setting graphically reminiscent of Paw Patrol. And it is fantastic.

If I have anything at all negative to say about this game it is that you move slowly enough at the start that it took me a few tries to actually finish exploring the starting solar system despite me exploring similar solar systems in a few minutes at most by the end of the game. Once the pace picks up a bit, so too does the game's fun, and honestly both continue accelerating pretty well together. You feel like you are progressing not only mechanically but also socially and, like, civilizationally, as you continue putting together the pieces of the grand mysteries of what the hell is going on and how in the world you are involved in it all.

This game reminds me in some sense of the System Shock remake--and yes I realize that came out -after- Star Control: Origins--but both crucially recognized that great design is great design, and keeping almost everything about the original game(s) intact when recreating things for a modern audience, while smoothing over any infamously rough aspects of the design or mechanics, proved absolutely the right call in both cases. Star Control: Origins even basically kept the same music that played when you flew through hyperspace in Star Control ][, which certainly made my Demoscene heart happy to hear. And I even saw that the developers smoothed over things with the developers of the first two Star Control games and seemingly they started integrating their designs by the time of the expansion here; dare I hope for a Star Control IV: Origins II? That would probably end up my favorite space game ever if it came out as well as I am envisioning.

Star Control 2 was of my favorite games back in the 386 era. Despite the controversy at this games release. It is a worthy Star Control title, I enjoyed it, and I wish there was more. It's hard for me to judge this game alone without the rear view nostalgia of the original games so take this as a biased review. It's clear Stardock respected the original game and had something to add.

If you're into space exploration and adventure while exploring different planets and meeting, befriending, and/or fighting all sorts of aliens then this is the game for you.

It's a clear love letter to Star Control II, with heavy inspirations from the original story line. Star Control II is still one the best games ever made, so the fact that this is a modern version of it, makes it worth the play by default.
The alien encounters are polished and are equally funny and entertaining as the original. Fighting alien space ships still gives the thrill and excitement, especially since your vessel is slowly upgraded during your quests, allowing more effective weapons, etc. The only part which is less compared to the original, is the resource gathering on planets. The 2d planet map has been replaced with a 3d planet and it just doesn't feel the same. In the original, you'd see all resources at once, which made you plan a path to collect all minerals as fast as possible, which was fun and exciting. The new 3d visualization lacks this overview, resulting in just randomly going around trying to find the minerals.
Nevertheless, still highly recommended for people who loved the original and those who enjoy space exploration in a large universe with whacky aliens and humorous encounters.

Excellent Star Control 2 reboot. It feels a bit unfinished, some of the plot points seem hastily abbreviated, and most races have voice acting while others don't.

Still, if you're hungry for a space RPG with fun 2D ship to ship combat this game delivers.

A great little game from Stardock that has some lighthearted gameplay and a lot of fun dialogue.

I really, really wanted to like this game. I bought it because one of my favorite writers (Chris Bucholz) was the chief writer on this game. Unfortunately, it's just not really any fun. A lot of mismatched gameplay features, many of which just aren't any fun, pile onto the wonderful script.
EDIT: I gave this another go, after playing the original Star Control games (the second one is available free on Steam under the Ur-Quan Masters). It took a while to "click" - once I realized it's a fairly faithful remake of the original, and it should be played through the lens of a 20+ year old classic, it made a lot more sense. You don't need to strip mine the galaxy, and the addition of the quest guide was huge. I'm moving this to a recommend - it's got its flaws, but the writing and humor are great, and the game itself is only like 12 hours to beat.