TL;DR: At the verrry bottom, ya heathens!

This game, wow. It is eating away at my soul here. Like I need to sacrifice another small vessel for creds so I can sleep again.

I bought this game cause I had a gut feeling it was what I needed in a game right now. Yeah sure there are others like it, but I just wanted singleplayer and something really solid and fun. An man was I in for a treat! I had no idea I could enjoy a game so much again, like back in the day with all the old systems around and gramps was trying to figure out why the TV is calling him.

So far the story has been very engaging with some smug and unsavory characters, not to mention a bunch of stuff to do on the way. Clearing asteroid fields for some spare loot to fill that cargo hold, capturing enemy ships to either sell or dock for your own collection. Beaming aboard your crew to steal stuff for you on a old mining field or enemy ship in battle to turn the tide an steal it for yourself, you will have to tractor beam it the whole way at impulse speeds to the nearest planet or station of course, who wants to do anything the easy way any way? Psssh.

You have your classic worm holes you can use to travel or them good ole relays for cash, but who wants to waste money?
Also you will run into random slipstreams in which you can use to traverse.. well the verse, by steering your ship properly through it. Be warned about worm holes though you can loose people, but don't worry you can get more red shirts at the nearest docking bay :D.

Even combat is savvy. Tell your people to fire at will, take the helm do it yourself or root all power to engines as the words of Firefly's Jane "Let's Moon'm" cascades from your lips like lavander and oats. Be a commander, be THE commander. Hire merc ships to roll in your space posse, have a fleet of some bad to the bone misunderstood ship captains looking for redemption and love among the stars. You can of course also customize your ships colors and a few decals, but the real bread n' butter is the all the parts you can fit the ships with. An there is a lot of parts ranging from pulsar cannons to rail guns.

You are not constrained in anyway wanna be that scruffy looking nerf herder? You can! Got that Serenity Smuggling Fever? This game has the cure my friend! Wanna travel across space corralling convicts like Cowboy Bebop? See you space cowboy, I'll be chilling with Jet. Wanna make enemies of a gang Outlaw Star Style? Look no further time to pop that space cherry Gene Starwind! Need to feel like you're back in Star Fleet Academy with Kirk? Picard? Reicher? Janeway? Tuvok? Classes start as soon as you hit the buy button cadet! An tell Neelix I sent ya ;D.

What is also great is that the devs have been very responsive and helpful working with the community to solve issues, active devs have really made this product shine and continues to better. I do hope you get the game and enjoy as much as I am.

In my conclusion yes I recommend this amazing game, I have spent the last few years just really yearning for something, but sure what exactly. When I saw this I knew my sacrifice to the Game Satan had finally been heard. The graphics are solid and just breathtaking, the gameplay is as smooth as Bruce Willis's bald spot in The 5th Element. An steam workshop also? All I can say is beam me up Scotty, we can do it Captain this time we have the power.

TL;DR: Game good. Combat fun. RPG Loot Funsies. Space much of. Do lots o' stuff. Very shiny graphs. Much impressed. You should buy it too.

150+ Games in my account. This is the first one that makes me write a review:

+Addictive Gameplay
+Beautiful Graphics
+Amazing Soundtrack
+Awesome Community
+Sleepless, highly motivated Devs that listen to this awesome community


+/-There's no real "Build your Empire" aspect as in the X-Series (yet) (Since I loved Freelancer, I don't miss that though)

-This game will reduce your social life to a minimum, Beware!

So, If you played and loved freelancer in particular: Just GRAB IT!
If you like space games in general: Take a close look, think about it, then GRAB IT!
To all other gamers: IF you GRAB IT, this might become a gateway drug to space game addiction. You've been warned

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Click for Gameplay Trailer - Preview

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I Like:
+ beautiful graphics
+ amazing soundtrack
+ huge map
+ 30 factions
+ many ship modifications
+ good RPG elements and mechanics
+ different jobs
+ random missions
+ many weapons and ships
+ good combat system with special skills and energy managment

I Dont Like:
- no multiplayer
- unfair fights at higher rank
- simple and repeating side missions
- no landing animation
- time-consuming traveling
- many weapons similar

You take a starting ship and go your own way through the galaxy. Complete a number of missions and activities to level up and grow stronger (actual 13 missions in freeroam mode), such as trade contracts or assassination attempts. The map randomly generate missions as you progress and explore. Players can ignore the story even if they choose campaign mode, and simply wander the stars as a rogue craft. The universe is a vast and dangerous place! Don’t forget to upgrade your ship, as during these missions you’re sure to be attacked by space pirates in search of a quick salvage.

The feel of a huge universe where u can be what u want, from a economy based mega Trader, to a Pirate in a search for a better loot.
Buy your ship, upgrade its capabilities, choose from a variety of sizes: from small and fast gunner, big slow freightleiner for hauling your precious cargo to a nearby station, or just a mega military carrier in a massive battles.
It’s possible to fight with manual aiming, but there is a “fire at will” command that can allow you to focus on your other tactical options. Directing power to shields or weapons is a possibility, and so too are the cooldown abilities that can boost your defenses, mobility or reflect damage back at your enemys. Larger ships have the option to launch fighter . If you have troopers on board, you can board an enemy ship.
The battles can be hard. You find yourself dying and restarting multiple times, so be sure to save often. It's also difficult to say what weapons and other gear best suit your ships, so be sure to save before you buy just in case the item you purchase doesn't mount on your ship.

The game use some RPG elements. You gain experience points by doing stuff, and as you gain levels, you can spend them on skills to enhance your ship in various ways. You can also give your captain new skills to gain various bonuses. There’s the stat-building, which occurs as you tweak your captain’s abilities as well as the enhancements of your ship. And of course, you can pick a path to play in the game, focusing on combat, trading, or even a bit of mining.

The visuals great at times. The cosmos are beautiful, planets and stars aren’t the only things to have gotten an upgrade. All the models look great and if your PC can support it, the particles and textures really shine. The only thing I don’t like is the UI. It could be a bit more visible.I’ve found that sometimes parts of the text will actually clip off the top or bottom slightly as well. With a game that is this information heavy, that’s not good.
Open space universe is a delight to see and feel. many transport network hub ranging from ships T-Drive capabilities to riftways and wormholes, many asteroid fields and beautiful crafted nebulas. It all gives you a feeling of a real galaxy, in which your adventures will make a big impact on a world.

Big necessity for a Sci-Fi is a decent set of sound effects and ambiance. Admittedly at times the noise brings a sense of loneliness, but this only helps to really sell the whole space experience. I’m very happy with the sounds etc. All of the weapons have cool sounds. Not all the sounds are perfect though.
The voice-overs are bad. The same 10 or so repeat over and over again as you travel. In combat, your foe taunts you--repeatedly--about your ship's lack of weapons and its age and your combat prowess.

Classes of Ships:
- 8 Gunships
- 8 Corvettes
- 8 Frigates
- 8 Destroyer
- 8 Cruiser
- 5 Battleships
- 6 Dreadnought
- 5 Carrier
- 5 Freighter
- 5 Freightliner

Overall,great game! If you like science fiction and Freelancer, this is your Game!


Sorry for my bad english. This is my review account, because the low playtime.
Thanks for reading! If you Like my Review, give me a Thumbs up in Steam.
Your help is greatly appreciated :)

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Starpoint Gemini 2 is a bit shallow and a bit pricey for what it offers, but it is still enjoyable. Overall the story was okay enough to keep me going, and the combat was fun enough to make my stay in Gemini enjoyable. If you are itching for a space sim that is pretty easy to get into and doesn't require a large time commitment to win (around 24 in-game hours for me), this will scratch that itch pretty well. Otherwise, you may want to think carefully on buying this game unless it's on sale.

However, the developers appear to be actively working on improvements to the game as time goes on. Some concerns raised in this article may be addressed as time goes on. Keep an eye on the updates page if you're interested in this product!
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The good:

Visuals are nice, music is nice, starship aesthetics are good too, and the combat is solid. The universe feels big, and provides a pretty immersive experience of traveling through space. Said universe is also populated by various starships as well, usually around space stations and various other miscellaneous space structures. There are many different factions that like to use certain types of ships and lay claim to different areas of space, and you can easily see heated space battles taking place at faction borders. The HUD takes a little getting used to, but is pretty nice once you learn it.

The game itself is a bit grindy as it uses RPG levelling mechanics to determine what ship you can pilot, but I personally didn't mind it that much since the combat was pretty fun.

The not-so-good:

The story is okay. The Voice Acting for the story dialogue ranges from terrible to okay.

Side-story missions boil down to "repair structure there for $$$ and XP" or "kill enemies here for $$$ and XP" or "ferry person over there for $$$ and XP" with little fanfare. After you finish the main story, all you can do are the missions described earlier.

During the main story, certain factions and places will be purportedly destroyed or crippled, but what this actually means is that you will just pretend that the story happened while in practice the universe remains largely intact and unchanged.

Certain mechanics are a bit shallow (i.e. hiring crew = looking up which dude/gal has which bonuses, click hire button). Also, while you *can* be a merchant or asteroid miner in this game, it seems to be much eaiser just to capture enemy ships and tow them back to a planet/station where you can sell them.

Character progression is RPG-like, yet character skills/perks can pretty much be ignored. Your character's power is MUCH more dependent on what type of ship you are piloting and how well it is outfitted. The RPG mechanics are more akin to a gating system, where your level determines the type of ship you can pilot.

For me, the entire game was a bit grindy. This was how it went down: capture/sell ships until I can afford the next weight class of ship, do missions (sometimes main storyline) so I can meet the level requirement of said ship. Repeat until I have achieved highest class of ship.



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Multiple plotlines in the game.

The "Escape Velocity" series of games (plot-heavy 2D shooter space-sim) implemented this rather well; there were multiple plotlines for each main faction AND there were also a lot of side plotlines too.

Examples of side-plots: testing prototype weapons for a starship arms company, or ferrying vacationing CEOs to a jungle planet for big game hunting, or helping a rockstar go on tour throughout the galaxy only to discover that he's a robot! Or picking up a random stranger and ferrying him to a planet only to discover that he's a leader of a small sect of colonists who are trying to resist pirate incursions, and he implores you to help them with their plight since the Powers That Be in the universe are far too busy (or corrupt) to deal with the pirates.

I didn't just do these missions for cash, but to see the story unfolded; to see how these characters reacted to these sometimes tragic events in their lives, and how they would deal with it.

I think it's good to have a big Main Storyline as the main attraction, but there's plenty of room in Gemini for smaller guys with fascinating struggles and dramas in their own lives that an aspiring starship captain can be a part of.

Being able to hail and talk to other ships and planets.

You don't need to have dialogue trees for every one. But it'd be nice to be able to beg for mercy from a pirate and buy him off with credits, or just say hi to random ships and planets. In this vein, they'd also have a message for when you greet them, with each faction having a different way of talking to you. Perhaps even with a random pool of different types of responses from each faction that vary in tone depending on your standing with them? This is a bit small, but I think it would help with game immersion.

The ships, planets, and space stations could use more flavor text.

Though it might seem like a huge hassle to write up descriptions for every space station/planet/starship, you can build an EXTREMELY immersive narrative with these and make the game feel alive. Again, the "Escape Velocity" game series (mostly Escape Velocity Override and Escape Velocity Nova) used flavor texts/descriptions to great effect.

Why is this station in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by hostile space? Are they revolutionaries or sympathizers with another faction, or are they just badasses? Why is this Frigate cheaper than this other one? Oh, the company that manufactures this one wanted to push out a model to get an edge over their hated rival company who was taking their sweet time with their own model. Hey, this Corvette saved an entire company from the brink of bankruptcy! This Carrier design looks like a UFO because of a revolutionary new frame that allows for rapid fighter launching while providing overlapping fields of fire from all of its turret batteries? Cool. This Dreadnought looks like a eldritch abomination because their designers desperately welded a lot of spare parts together and accidentally created a ship that could challenge all previous starship design conventions? Neat!

Planets and some space stations presently have short descriptions with a little flavor text. But it doesn't help that these blurbs are only accessible via starmap. When a player is on the starmap, their first instinct is not to click "info" and read; they want to get somewhere quick. I think it would have been better if you saw the write-up in an unobtrusive static text box on the bottom of the screen. This provides incentive for an exploration-oriented player to land/dock on every planet/station that they find so they can see the little blurb there. These descriptions can really flesh out the factions and gives you an idea of why they exist and how they conduct themselves (i.e. how they treat citizens, local planetary economic problems, policy problems, military actions, natural disasters, etc.).

Overall, more flavor text would be nice so that the universe that the player travels in would feel more alive.

Also, it would be nice to have an in-game chart of which ranks correspond to player level.

OK. this is awesome!! Think Eve Offline. From mining to full combat you are not constrained in any way, you can be a pirate, trader, miner, fighter, merc, whatever you want to be!

This is from a post I did on the forum and decided to add it here following a suggestion to do so.

SPG 2 The Good, the Bad, Oh God the Insanity


If you’re on the fence as to whether you should get this or not it will all come down to what you are looking for in a ‘space’ game.
This is not Eve Online so get that out of your head. Seriously, if you want EO you’ll need to go log into EO. There is no online multiplayer, no gate camping players, no griefers and no gankers.
That being said, this game offers something EO and many others, online or not, have simply forgotten or just don’t care about. Interactive Devs.
Yep, you read that correctly. The Devs are extremely active in the forums. I’d hazard a guess and say 99% of all issues, questions, comments etc. are answered near instantly.
They take concerns very seriously and look for ways to address them as quickly as possible, faster even it seems.
While this isn’t to say other Devs aren’t around, personal experience has shown they just don’t answer, are too busy, don’t care and on more than one occasion… are downright obnoxious and rude.

So +1 for Dev support seemingly 24hrs a day every day…

Community… holy crap, where to begin…

There are a lot of helpful people. One or two I have noticed try to step in when the Devs FINALLY get some sleep. This doesn’t mean there aren’t more filling in those roles, only that I can’t read, re-read, and re-re-read each and every post over and over to see who is filling those roles. Though, I will admit, sometimes the forum reading is an exercise in hilarity.
Serious questions for the most part get serious answers. Once in a while they spiral out of control with loose jokes, odd references and such, though more or less after the issue has been handled.
Remember the active Devs from earlier? Yeah… they contribute too.
Don’t be surprised to find one or more of them plowing into your thread to partake of whatever silliness is afoot. Oh yes, my friend, they are characters indeed.
On the whole, the community is developing into a large group of knowledgeable friendly people looking to help out any way they can. Yes, some can be offended easily, but I have yet to see an all-out flame war like everywhere else. In fact, most people just apologize if they upset someone and move on, including myself.

So +1 for a truly friendly and helpful community.

Graphics…
Nothing that will stress your system too terribly. High end or low end, it seems everyone can find a setting that fits the bill and allows them to play. I have seen one or two instances where certain systems (read Laptops) refuse to allow the game to run, but I have yet to see more than those.
Even then, the Devs are still trying to figure out how to get it working on those couple of problem machines. Interesting, since most would just tell you that your system doesn’t have what it takes and to go get something bigger.
All in all, the graphics are very nice indeed. Nothing mottled, disjointed or misaligned. No missing pixels here and there or stand in objects for missing items.

So +1 there for that…

NPC’s…
What do you expect? They are NPC’s. They shoot at you, they kill you and they keep doing it. Unless you kill them first, in which case, they die rather well and don’t whine about it. I seem to remember an account of griefing done by NPC’s, though I believe that was a one-off. Funny though.
They get tougher as you progress through the game. Different levels, different types and different areas. They fight each other if they are opposing factions and will turn on you if you are low enough rep with one, or both. In which case, run.

So I give a +1 for good NPC mechanics.

Missions…
Lots of them. They are everywhere in both aspects of the game. Free play or Story line there are tons. Decent rewards for the time invested as far as I can tell, probably a bit too decent considering some missions you just have to click a button and repair something.

I’ll give a +1 here too.

Storyline…
For as much as I have done, it progresses well. Seems to have substance and a bit of plot for as far as I have gotten.
But…
It is buggy. Missions sometimes fail out. Sometimes you overshoot a zone and they get canceled, dropping you out of the storyline and into free play mode. Other times, you just crash out of the game.
They are working on the bugs as fast as they are made aware of them and that helps out a lot. More often than not, you can just reload from a save point and try to continue.

No points for this one, still needs work.

Mods…

There are more than a few. Something for everyone I suppose. Uber ship, got it. More money, got it. Star Trek themed ships, go those too.
From Star Trek to vastly improve (overpowered) beginning station inventories, there is something to fit most everyone.
The game has a mod community growing faster than the game itself. Even at least one mod I saw that will completely change the game to Mass Effect themed ships and even a new storyline that appears to be in the works.
The Devs seem to support unlimited, no holds barred modding.

So definitely +1 here.

Oh, lest I forget...

Community input...

Look in the game. Look at achievements and improvements. You will see all the signs of active community involvement that has been taken seriously. (mostly)

Yeah, +100 and some Oreos for all you community peoples that report bugs, request content changes and overall general improvements.

All in all, for me, this has been one hell of a ride… and it’s just beginning. The game is only getting better and more is on the way.
If you’re on the fence, get off it. Buy the game and join the fun in the community.

And the insanity? Glad you asked...

There are the elite few who can claim this. They watch you at home while you play. They see you in your boxers. They wear your boxers, like I am right now. The Devs are part of this group, I know one, whom I shall leave nameless, who has watched me in my boxers. Yes, some of us are insane... And that is the fun of it all.

Sincerely,
Virikas

P.S. +1000 to the Devs for allowing us to be insane, taking us seriously when needed and for being on top of everything, everywhere, all at once, every day... always.

Now... which one of you took my boxers, Meep.

The next best thing if you want something similar to Eve and Freelancer. More arcade-ish Sci-Fi space shippy RPG. Start with a small gunship, make your way up to dreadnoughts and carriers by trading, doing freelancer missions like repairing a damaged space station, transporting a VIP from A to B, getting commodities to a planet or scanning anomalies, or just hunt criminals in hopes to get a huge bounty. The game is beautifully done, has a large selection of ships and weapons, the combat is fun although some say the camera is a bit slow, and there's a lot to do in it. Buy it! Throw money at the devs!!!! DOIT!

Overall the game is pretty awesome, but it could use some polish.


PROS:

Nice variety of skills and perks available.

Great variety of factions and areas of control.

Good selection of ships.

Can capture enemy ships.

Like the blueprints idea.

Like the compare weapons and ships.


CONS:

Traveling over 10 units takes a couple minutes.

There are four equipment slots to use and only about four that I found were actually useful, ie. shield recharge, strengthen attack, scavenger bots, hull repairs. Even then, I rarely ever use them.

Crew members do not have special abilities, but rather only bonuses. A single slot for a special crew member. Assuming only one special member exists in the game and is almost impossible to gain because the blueprint takes 20.

Blueprints are super difficult to find, but very rewarding IF you ever complete them before becoming near god strength already. I completed one for a nice fighter hangar jet, but the rest remain far out of reach while I am practically invincible with all the best enhancements and warship.

The only truly useful weapons in the game are rail guns and maybe missiles. I say maybe missiles because they are only really useful if the shields are already down and rail guns can usually take care of it anyway. Lasers are useless. Plasma is too slow to be useful except for mining.

Level 70 bounties are easy kills for a level 50 that has a good battleship with maximum upgrades. I think I may have beaten one with the next class down at a lower level too because you can stay behind them and they cannot fire back.

Travelling outside the known universe area leads to infinite enemies and loss of whereabouts on the map. Travelling too close to the sun does the same thing except enemies will start to randomly die from heat damage.

Cannot see what is on a captured ship until it is transferred to the garage and crew is transferred as well. Crew losses will occur if the captured ship has less.

There are three kinds of heavy weapons, but I failed to see any real difference in shockwave damage.

Exploding ships nearby do no damage.

Has lag and slowdowns most of the time.


SUGGESTIONS:

Make traveling without gates a little faster when in full engine mode.

Make some artifacts that last indefinitely / bonuses or useables that fit in equipment slots.

Change the decimal enhancement descriptions, eg. 0.5, with percentage values, eg. 50%.

Please fix weapon range. Bonuses are not being counted.

Add a barrier on the edge of the map to prevent getting lost in the void.

Give a warning for pending heat damage when getting close to stars.

Show radiation areas on the map.

Show map sections that are partially visible on the edges of the map.

Allow transfer of weapons and cargo from ships in the garage without transferring crew.

Make plasma weapons hurt shields more, but damage hull less.

Make lasers damage both shields and hull with shield punchthrough for damaging systems.

Make railguns work best on hull, and less on shields.

Do a similar rock paper scissors with heavy weapons.

Fix the pathfinding.

Improve AI for wanted bounties.

I must preface this by saying, I don't write many reviews at all, but when I do though, it means I really enjoy the game.

This game reminds me a lot of the X3 games, but the interface is a bit easier to get a grasp on.

Pros:
- Mod support
- Great music, think Mass Effect & EVE Online style.
- You can be anyone you want, and do whatever you want, there's a campaign mode, and freeform mode.
- Nice interface.
- Beautiful graphics.
- Runs smooth, haven't experienced any crashes.
- Combat is fun.
- Controller support.
- There's a large selection of ships & weapons, and you can upgrade your ship.
- All of the above points help with immersion, you really feel like you are in space driving your own ship.
- The developers work hard and are engaged with the community. They do have their own forums where they answer questions, etc.

Cons:
- Space can be a bit lonely at times, but, it is space after all.

TL;DR - If you're looking for a game that is part X3, part Eve Offline that can also serve as a stopgap until Star Citizen & Elite Dangerous, you could do a lot worse than this game, especially when you consider the game is currently only $28.

8/10

Well-made hybrid of SG1 and Freelancer. with light RPG elements on top.
Pros
+Vast selection of ships from fighters to dreadnaughts and carriers
+Engaging combat
+diverse systems
Cons
-Lack of persistent objects. You won't see ships traveling from one system to another, because they are always generated when you enter a system.
-There is like 30 factions, but reputation system is two-dimensional. So when you help one faction you improve/worsen relation with the rest of them.
-Below average performance.
7/10 (8 of 10 if the they fix bugs and improve optimization), worth buying if you are into space genre. If you are not, you can wait for Christmas sale, a lot of things should be fixed by then.

My initial reaction to the game was "Wow, this looks like a massive sandbox space sim! Just look at how big the area map is and how many factions there are. I'll be playing the game for tens of hours!"

Well, after a while I started to realize the game had lots of problems with being a LOT more shallow than what it promises at first. Setting aside the optimization issues and how easily the game can be prone to crashing, It boasts and impressive ~50 factions with a reputation system that ended up being nothing more than a glorified Good / Evil alignment system. If you do missions given out by the good factions you get +rep and they will be friendly to you an the evil ones will be hostile. Vice versa you do missions given to you by the bad guys and your rep shifts to their side making them friendly to you. Unfortunately that is as deep as the faction system goes. Factions don't change opinions as they are completely static.

The static factions leads to me next problem. The whole world is static. There is absolutely NO sim element in this game to speak of. The game has NO economy, NO dynamic factions, NO dynamic world events. When we speak of sandbox you think of open worlds with things to do in them, but all it is here is the same map as the campaign, just without the campaign missions. Since the game lacks an economy and dynamic factions it makes trading all but a dull and soulless experience. Also, since the world isn't dynamic, there is no real territory control for the factions either. I mean they have their own territories, but they are completely set in stone. You cannot capture territories for the differenct factions. This leaves you with the same Assassination, Taxi, Cargo ferry and Repair missions to grind over and over and over again.

How is the combat then if the other aspects are non-existant and hollow? Well, the combat is rather decent, but what kills it for me is how the game is level scaled. Each time you level up so do your enemies. After certain points their ships get upgraded. If you do like me and other people may have done and only grinded missions for money and XP you'll quickly find yourself in a situation where you don't have enough money to upgrade your ship but you are starting to be too weak to do missions and half the time you simply have to turn around and go away since the RNG pitted you against enemies that simply outclass you. This can be avoided if you salvage derelict ships for parts or capture them and sell them, but then it means that the level scaling system is balanced if you play in a certain way which is horrible, horrible balance in a game that claims to be a sandbox. Simply put if you aren't maximizing your money gains per level then you'll find yourself run into issues.

It just isn't a good game in the end of the day, and it certainly is no sim either, which is what I was lead to believe. There are no simulations happening behind the scenes, everything is static. The game is hardly an open world sandbox either. It seems to be a loose term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It's a sandbox world if all you had was the big open box without any of the sand in it to be shaped and sculpted by your hands. The game COULD be good, because the flying around, the skill system, the ships, the combat etc. feel good and are fun, but the content within the world is non-existant, unless you want to count repeating Kill X (Assassination and Rescue missions but both work the same. In rescue missions it means that you have to save an NPC ship, but so far they have served as reliable allies that help me take down the enemy ship faster rather than someone who needs help), Fetch Y (there is fetching and delivering cargo and serving as a taxi for VIP, but it works the same mechanically for either mission type so it's only different by name) and Repair Z (there's also Scanning anomalies as missions, but mechanically it works the exact same way as repairing so there is no real difference here either) missions as robustful content.

Updated review as of October 1st.

First impressions: Broken. With a lot of potential.

Secondary impressions: It's an acquired taste. It does grow on you. But it's lopsided. Strong gameplay props up a (very) weak campaign.


Initial review:

This game may be out of early access, but do not be fooled. This is NOT a finished product. Not even close. It is sorely lacking in decent voice acting, and the campaign hangs together by the thinnest of threads, and liberal deus ex machina. Frequently you will look at the screen in confusion and ask "Who is that? What is happening? Why am I supposed to do this?" The game approaches storytelling in a very basic, almost childish way.

Even in my short time in the game, I have already encountered several borderline-gamebreaking bugs. Such as non-functional campaign triggers. And equally game-breaking, though no bug, is the games tendency to assume the player knows more that he does. This game needs a softer introduction, not to mechanics, but to world-building. As it is, it's a mess.


I am giving the developer the benefit of doubt, and I will continue playing. I do believe there is a lot of enjoyable content to come. But "it gets better later" is not a defence that a genuinely good game would need.
Let me put it like this: I am playing the game simply because it is the only game of its kind currently available. If it weren't for the fact that I have played Freelancer into the ground repeatedly, I would be playing that. It is a superior experience in every way.

Currently, I still regret spending money on this game. Therefore I am choosing not to recommend this game.


Update #1:

After a few more hours, I can only confirm my first impressions: I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the game, and my enjoyment of it suffers as a result. Time and time again, I am told I need to go to some place I don't know of, to meet a person I've never heard of, to get a thing which I know nothing about, for reasons that are never made clear. To call it frustrating is an understatement. The game is seemingly an unending series of unanswered questions. Primary among them: "Why am I doing this?"

This is not intentional mystery, this is just really, really bad writing.

Which is a damn, crying shame. Because the game itself, mechanics and graphics, are solid. Ish. A little shallow and clumsy, perhaps, but the closest I have come to Freelancer since Freelancer.

I wish this game was better. But it isn't. I wish I could love this game. But I can't.


I have given this game more than its fair share of chances. I have given it more than the benefit of doubt. I have acted on faith, on the belief and the hope, that this game "gets better". So far, this has proven to be wishful thinking.

I'll research the Gemini universe, and see if that gives me enough points of reference to piece together just what the hell is going on in the game. Then I'll give the game one last chance to pull itself out of this confusing funk and make some damn sense.


Update #2:

That helped a lot. A now have a fair grasp of what the game was assuming I knew by heart all along. It made the campaign bearable, though still not good by any measure. But at least I'm no longer tearing my hair out (as much) over the lack of proper world-building, exposition and adherence to storytelling 101.

I still can't recommend the game, despite that I am now beginning to enjoy it. Chances are that you won't be as patient as I have been, and I fail to muster any decent arguments as to why you would wish to be.

I am not good with words at length, so this will be a list explaining reason for recomendation rather then a long boring essay.
In my opinion, I see this as the spiritual succecer to X3 Albion Prelude.

My list of simularities and differences:

Similar:
-Open World: An entire world to explore, with no zones restricted by barrier due to a story.
-Combat: Potential for massive space battles, from just your ship to entire fleets
-Command: Abilitie to command fleets
-Choice of Style: A wide vareity of missions and professions, from cargo hauling to bounty hunting
-Content: Tons of ships to choose from, all with customization of weapons and systems
-Factions: Faction Relation is a hige part of both games. This could also be considered a difference, as they both implent the concept very differently how ever.

Different:
-User interface: Starpoint has a MUCH simpler UI then X3.
-Ship size: X3 had MUCH wider variety of ship sizes, From Huge capitol ships to small fighters. Starpoint, not so much.
-Universe size: Starpoint has a much smaller game world then X3.
-Travel: In X3, you used gates to get places. In starpoint, you pick a direction and fire up your engines.
-Graphics: X3 had some pretty impressive graphics for the time, and they still can impress even today, almost ten years later. While they do still look good, Starpoint has more modern methods, that give it a much more up to date feel.
-Learning Curve: X3 was a brick wall with this. Starpoint, in contrast, is extremly easy to learn.

All in all I recomend this. X3 vets and newcomers to Space games alike can all find something to enjoy here.
I hope my compare and contrast list helps explain my reasoning as to why I think this is like a new game in the X-series

Very much recommended. a very good space opera game full of originality and good ideas.
A unique RPG experience made with spaceships, and the best developer support ever.

Besides, with 861 positive reviews and some negative cretin reviews which say "this does not work on XP" when XP is not supported, what can you expect?

If you liked freelancer, x3, and want a different, original experience, made with acceptable VA and a lot of support, take this :)

TL;DR version - GET IT! Fun as heck! Some minor issues and bugs but devs are hard at work on fixing them!

Ok as far as space games go, this is "easy to get into" and "fun" to me. Easy once you actually READ the tutorial tips and understand how it all works. And it's fun cuz I found myself needing to "just go over to that next unexplored sector" to see what's there.

However, you can't compare this game to another game like X, or Star Citizen, or Elite Dangerous. It's like asking if Diablo 3 is like Skyrim - they simply can't be compared fairly. The only thing in common between this game and the game you want to compare to is just that the action takes place in "space". How it makes the gameplay fun is different from the one you want to compare to.

If you want to ask "Does it have <this feature> like <the other game you want to compare to>?", don't. Go back and read my previous comment.

What I can tell you is that this game feels like an RPG more than a Space Combat game. There is a story. You upgrade your weapons and armour. You kill your enemies and loot their corpses (derelict wrecks). You use what is better than yours and you sell what is not. See? Just like an RPG.

You can do some trading, but I don't concentrate on it like I would have in X or Elite Dangerous. In the end, the question is - does it make you feel that you want to play this more? Does it make you want to see what happens next?

The answer is YES for me.

This review is written on 9/20/2014. Also known as ver.0.8004 or something.
THIS DOES MEAN THAT THIS REVIEW IS NO LONGER VALID.
SG2 is officialy out now. difference between 1.0 and 0.8 could be huge. I have no intent to update review, just know that it is no longer valid. Partially or fully.

Allright, now that I have enough money to buy a carrier, I think I am ready to review this game.

The gameplay- as in, space battle- is like freelancer, but better. large battles, and also boarding and capturing ship option. They are indeed awesome. You can even play the carrier ships with hangers which allows you to fight with smaller fighters. Sweet.

However, there are some things that I did not quiet enjoy. Imagine an open world game- say- Skyrim without any(main or side) quests. Would you like to play it if it was on space?
Because right now, that is what it feels like to play SG2 at the moment. Now that you know my abstract opinion about this game, you can read further on about my opinions of positive or negative points about it.

Good parts:
You can shoot(and blow up) ships in space.
Basic gameplay works like Freelancer.
Auto-targetting(and yes. This is optional. you can switch to manual and auto any time in combat). I cannot express how useful this is.

And here comes the bad parts.
Not-so-good parts:
Balance issues- Money gain-wise and balance wise.
For example, you start with the BEST WEAPON in the ENTIRE GAME for certain class.
I also think railguns are overpowered.

About 50% of the time enemies do not blow up and just become derelict, and you have to blow them up manually-which is pain in the butt.

Earning money is- I don't even... This is the best to worst money earning method list in SG2.
1. Bounties(which does not reset, making it limited source of income.)
2. Ship selling via capturing them.
3. Blow up enemies, take their stuff and sell it.
4. Blow up space rock/junk/stuff and sell it.
5. Doing quests.
6. Trading without Freighter and/or Free-T-gate pass.

Here is the thing.
If you exclude bounties as a source of income, getting enough money to buy a new ship in this game is either hard or tedious, depending on how grind-tolerant you are. Buying ship using the method mentioned on list number 3 and below is like trying to pay your 30 year house mortgage.(5 and below is like doing so with 50% of minimum wage.)

Really, quest gives you nearly NOTHING. For the quest driven person like me having nothing to do really kills it for me. Not to mention that there are like 5 freelancer quests - which are not so exciting.(classic kill, deliver, capture, smuggle)

For me, there is no other reason to play this game other than to buy new ships, and it is tedious.
I wish that this game blooms and provides amazing mind blowing epic main quest later, but I cannot evaluate the future potential because it is not here yet. So at the moment, This game does not get my recommendation.


And further on will be my nitpicking on what the game may need in the future. (large to small)
1. Main quest.
2. Face cam for other ships- all those accursed docking procedures and those damned security ships talking to me before firing at me really stuck to me in the Freelancer- and I think it will benefit SG2 greatly if face cam or chat is implemented here. If only talking thing in the game is the computer, it would be terribly boring.
3. Cheaper ship or more rewarding method for source of income.
4. Customizable main character.
5. Confirmation button(simple y/n) when hiring a new officer WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE.(One mistake and you will be searching all over the universe for your lost officer.)
6. Ability to compare ships in your garage with the one you are using.
7. Ability to see what items ships in garage have equipped.
8. Upgrading grappler does not increase your item collection range.

9/28/2014 - edited some parts for clarity, some parts for grammar mistakes.

I recommend this game because of the following

• The minor bugs are actively being fixed
  
• The devs are responding on the forums
  
  Exploration
• Space feels large, but it's only one solar system
  
• Plenty of travel shortcuts
  
• The map has to be uncovered by visiting each sector
  
• There is, sort of, an autopilot for easy travel to a waypoint
  
  Combat
• Combat is fun
  
• Auto-fire if you don't feel like aiming
  
• The controls work well, controller support
  
  Graphics
• The visuals look good (DirectX 11)
  
• All of the screenshots are from the in-game engine, not works of art.
  
• The planet-side artwork is nice
  
• The space stations and ships are varied and have style
  
• The game is well polished
  
• Simple user interface
  
  Equipment and Loot
• The ship fitting is pretty simple
  
• There are multiple types of ships, weapons, and multiple styles to choose from
  
• There is a collect all button to make looting quick
  
• There is a quick way to sell everything in your cargo hold
  
  Other
• You can do more than just shoot other ships
  
• You can choose free-roam instead of doing a campaign
  
• You can crash into a planet
  
• Achievements with in-game bonuses
  
• It's able to be modded
  
• Easy to learn
  
• Music and sound is good
  
• It's not complicated, but I am also a fan of complicated games

What's bad about it? Not much, just things I personally prefer. Others might consider some of these to be Pros

• No multi-player options
  
• No empire to build
  
• Freelance missions do not have much variety.
  
• The officer system is a little strange. You can only hire them in their original location, they go home when you fire them, then you have to fly back there to hire them again.
  
• You can't equip ships unless you are piloting them. This can cause you to lose crew or be forced to sell cargo.

You might like Starpoint Gemini 2 if you like these games. Freelancer, X3-series, Eve Online, and space based games in general

Most have taken to calling this EVE offline, but I find it to be more EVE Lite or Diet EVE. Think the core concepts of EVE in an open sandbox map rather than many separate systems, but with the waiting 5 months for a skill replaced by grinding for a few hours and all the player interaction removed.

At the end of the day you're left with all the things that made EVE great, with none of the stuff that makes it only suitable for people with vast swaths of time available. You can jump in, do a quick mission, save and jump out. You don't have to worry about being dicknailed by a ship fifty levels higher than you at any given time, and you get an experience that's much more simple than EVE.

I'll reccomend it. I've come across some bugs, and the voice acting is really, really bad at times, and just pretty bad at others. Personally I think the 20 bucks out of pocket I paid (had 6 bucks steam credit) was in the right area for the game, maybe a little high. I'd say buy at 5-15 for sure and 20+ only if you like the sounds of EVE Jr.

Really good fun, was worried about some of the EVE comparisons but tho it does lack first person/cockpit view its not to its detriment and it seams to make the fights more tactical and less frantic also i havnt done any spread sheet crunching yet.

pros

Big seamless world with lots to explore, compleat with random space anomalies worm holes and nebulea

lots of different ships at diffrent lvls to fly

All the different playstyles youd expect, fight, trade, pirate ect

space drugs

its fun

its not X rebirth

cons

seams like quite a grind to earn cash for ships but kind of expect that and it makes that first ship upgrade seam all the more special

it has crashed on me a couple of times (nothing game breaking ) but meh that will probably get fixed in time and the auto save is pretty good

Finally out of Early Access, Starpoint Gemini 2 is a great entry point into the genre. While you're waiting for things like Elite and Star Citizen to come down in price (or release), this is an excellent stop gap game. While the science behind it isn't world-accurate like other games, the pure amount of things to do and systems in play is excellent. Workshop support is excellent and the modding API is well detailed on the developer website.