DARKSTAR ONE PIRATE MISSIONS UPGRADE

The game manages to strike a balance between having enough of a plot to keep you playing and being sufficiently open-ended that you don’t feel you’re being spoon-fed. There’s no doubt that DarkStar One is a rough diamond, but it’s shiny enough that you’ll excuse aspects such as the predictably bad in-game dialogue delivery. The standard routes to wealth and prosperity are available: interplanetary trading, bounty hunting, simple escort missions and, of course, you can sail close to the wind by assuming the life of a pirate. Moving the cursor round the screen directs the ship, while the throttle level is driven by the mouse wheel.Īs far as non-linear progression is concerned, there’s nothing new. The control interface is designed to be simple, so almost everything is mouse driven. However, you’re under no obligation to take on these side quests.

DARKSTAR ONE PIRATE MISSIONS UPGRADE

There are even bonus missions that will unlock some hitherto secret out-of-the-way sector, usually containing one of the alien artefacts required to upgrade your ship. But on almost every system are a range of sub-missions, from hunting down a wanted criminal to “liberating” some cargo from its current owner, that will give you extra cash and change both your alignment and reputation, which, in turn, will affect how other races and systems deal with you. The game follows a linear path as you pursue leads to solve the riddle of your father’s death. As the ship evolves, both its looks and flight characteristics change to reflect the new abilities. So rather than having to buy a new ship every so often, you can stick with the one you’ve got, upgrading weapons, engine size or hull capacity. His bequest to his son is a rather splendid ship – DarkStar One – fashioned from alien technology and possessing the ability to evolve. As you progressed, you bought bigger and better weapons and various other ship upgrades.ĭarkStar One takes this same formula and follows the exploits of Kayron Jarvis, a young pilot whose father dies in a space dogfight. You started off with an old jalopy – replete with small cargo hold and the space equivalent of a peashooter – with 100 credits in your pocket and you made your fortune flying from planet to planet, indulging in piracy, bounty hunting and/or trading, while every so often defending yourself against an aggressive horde of alien invaders called the Thargoids. The game borrows heavily from the 1980s microcomputing classic Elite, which was a game with almost no plot.

Darkstar one pirate missions