Writings of Mass Deduction

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #41, and today’s game is “Starchon”.

First a confession: I’m a sucker for spaceships. I grew up on a steady diet of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Blazers. That was nurtured over time with Robotech, Babylon 5, the reimagined BSG, and dozens of others. Video games played their part, with games like the Star Control series keeping me in rapt attention. So Starchon was a must-download, but that doesn’t make it a must buy. Playing it did.

Star Control 2 fans take note: this has a lot of what you love in the ship upgrades and fleet management from that game. Like SC2 you upgrade your main ship, but you also have a main fighter to upgrade and a fleet disposition to decide upon. These light strategic elements give the game a lot of replay value. But the core of the game is ship combat with you flying your fightercraft, allies at your side, against alien hordes. It’s simple enough, yet rewarding enough, to keep coming back to when you have that ship combat itch that needs scratching, and is great value at only 80 Microsoft Points.

Tried this already? Vote below. About to download it? Please come back and vote after trying it.

Know someone else who would want to read the review, or vote? Click “Share This” above and invite them to.