Game News Star Wolves demo is out

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Star Wolves; Xbow Software

Star Wolves 344 MB demo is <a href=http://www.gamershell.com/download_8229.shtml>available for download</a> at Gamers Hell. For some odd reasons the demo is in French, so keep a dictionary handy, and don't forget to post your impressions here.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Thanks, <b>Alan</b>

 

[Spazmo]

HA HA HA! Finally, those long years spent learning the French language pay off!

 

[Seven]

This sucks. Why isn't there an English demo?

 

[roguefrog]

So how is it? I'm at work.

 

[Txiasaeia]

Very, very nice. After trying out Paradise Cracked and reading reviews for Cops, I was a bit leery of anything coming out of Russia, but it's actually very, very good. The engine looks great and apparently scales pretty good, as it's extremely smooth at 1024x768 on a Athlon XP 2000+, Geforce 4200, 512MB RAM. The "RPG" aspects from what I can gleam look a lot like the Diablo 2 trees, but I'm not complaining.

 

[Txiasaeia]

Okay, little more about the game: it's mission based, which means you warp (or whatever) into a system, do what you need to do, then warp out. There's a mission screen where you advance your characters, buy and sell parts, upgrade your ship, and choose missions. Also, there are combat drops (kill a ship, pick up some stuff). Too bad it doesn't have a privateer-style universe, else this would be GOTY material. As it is, it's fun, but without knowing French I dunno how much deeper this game's going to get. Despite the lack of freedom, I'd really like to get my hands on the English demo to see how deep this sucker goes.

 

[Spazmo]

It's not bad at all. First, the game looks gorgeous and runs great on my admittedly beefy machine at largely max settings (basically high resolution). The translation is also quite good--well, the French one is, anyhow. It plays a lot like Homeworld, but on a much smaller scale and with some RPG elements. Each pilot has a Silent Storm-like skill tree. Completing missions earns you points with which to buy these skills. You also earn plain old credits to buy ships and upgrades. You control a squadron of fighters and the mothership they launch from which, like Txiasaeia says, has a neat tractor beam that grabs the weapons and systems left behind by destroyed enemy fighters as well as escape pods, which lets you collect bounties on pirates (you are, after all, a mercenary/bounty hunter in Star Wolves). You get little sidequests popping up during missions and even outright dialog. One sidequest I performed where I delivered a key piece of equipment to a mining outfit short on funds gave me the option of demanding the credits I was promised, letting them off the full fee or getting a free laser weapon for my trouble.

The interface is good and unobtrusive, especially at high resolutions. Things don't always highlight when you wave your mouse at them, which can be mildly frustrating when you're trying to target an enemy ship.

If the English translation is good and mission design stays varied, this could be a great game.

 

[asa]

Je Ne Parle Pas Francais!

 

[Sotka]

Wing Commander any?

 

[Astromarine]

I'm really liking it so far. The storyline is pretty basic and as far as I have seen only at the "impending doom!!1!" stage so far, but it doesn't grate on my nerves, which is a plus. The dialogue is good both in content and acting, and the game seems quite polished. I don't know if it will fullfill all the promise that the early missions have, but it's good enough for me to have already decided to buy it when it comes out in English

NOw to try Seal of Evil, which arrived today.

 

[Astromarine]

Has anyone managed to pass the "convoy escort" mission? specifically, I accepted the side quest to escort that "patrol" member to New Kyoto, and the Triad guy simply annihilate me.

 

[Ap_Jolly]

Very, very nice. After trying out Paradise Cracked and reading reviews for Cops, I was a bit leery of anything coming out of Russia,

That's because those 2 games were made by the same shitty designer (speaking of whom, stay away from ALFA Antiterror).

 

[mhyst]

ah ! Enfin une démo en français.