Star Citizen

GENRE: Sandbox MMORPG
PLATFORM: Windows
DEVELOPER: Cloud Imperium Games

OVERVIEW

Star Citizen is a next gen buy to play space simulator MMO RPG where players span an entire sandbox universe filled with hundreds of star systems, planets and locations and take on the life that they wish; from powerful trader, military pilots or nefarious pirates harassing the trading lanes robbing AI and players of the goods players are free to do as they wish. Players will occupy a persistent universe made up from thousands if not millions of players.

KEY FEATURES

- Developed by Chris Roberts, the man behind Wing Commander and more
- Class free game play where players can choose their own roles
- Dynamic economy that will automatically create missions
- Exciting and fast-paced combat in space
- Customise your ships with thousands of accessories and items
- Vast universe to explore both in your ship and on the ground as your character
- Unparalleled graphics geared towards PC gaming
- Free to play – no subscription

GAMEPLAY

Star Citizen is a completely sandbox experience but players will take on the role as a pilot set in the distant future where mankind spans an entire universe. The key difference with the game in comparison to other common MMORPGs is that your character has no level or skills, relying on your own personal reactions and reflexes and combat, but more importantly focuses on the quality of your ships and how they have been modified purpose. Play as anything from a Bounty Hunter, Mercenary, Merchant Trader or Pirate.

Players have complete freedom to do as they wish and switch between roles, the player that has spent half of their gaming life as a cargo trailer, navigating dangerous trading lanes and fending off pirates (no doubt often losing their cargo to these nefarious space thieves) may one day snap and decide can beat them then why not join them and take up a life of piracy for themselves. Such a choice is completely possible as players are not bound by a class or particular role, though their ships in their current form may not quite up to the task.

SHIPS

There are dozens of different ships to choose from as base models within the game, from smaller dogfighting ships to larger cruisers and even cargo ships for hauling resources, there is a ship to accommodate every style of play and given role available within the game. How players choose to equip and customise their ships will determine how well they succeed in their chosen tasks, players are able to customise everything from Shields, weapons, avionics, thrusters, engines, reactors and even the cockpit decoration. Ship really is an extension of the player and can be personalised of mechanically and cosmetically to however the player wishes.

DYNAMIC ECONOMY

The game itself has a dynamic economy working off the needs and wants of various corporations, and NPCs, planets and more. For example if a factory requires a specific metal alloy as part of its resources for creating a particular type of missile then once it runs out of that alloy it will cease production and send out a mission on the job board for someone to haul the resource to their factory. These jobs may be taken up by AI will then begin to fly from one planet to another and can be intercepted by players as Pirates, or players themselves can try to bring the goods.

In the event that the above resource did not reach the factory due to pirates in the trading lanes then this has multiple effects; firstly the factory may then add a secondary mission asking for help to destroy the pirates, the missiles will still not be being produced and so they will be harder to come by, which in turn will increase their demand and potentially drive up prices to players purchasing them until the issue is resolved. A variety of different dynamic events from planetary disasters, pirates and blockades can trigger such events and missions.

SQUADRON 42

As homage to the original Wing Commander players will be able to play through a single player campaign that is available off-line but still takes place in the Star Citizen universe. Players actions will dictate how their co-pilots and the NPC is aboard the carrier ship react to them as they are soul introduced into the wider sandbox universe.

Even though Squadron 42 is a single player campaign it can also be played online with friends that can aid you in the tasks and even accompany you in your own ship taking on the role of your wing man and co-pilot.

UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF DETAIL

As the Game Is Being Developed Specifically for the PC Using the Cry Engine3 this is allowed a much higher level of detail both graphically and with the physics engine as well as the scope and detail accessible within the game world. The universe is divided into over 100 star systems, each of which having multiple planets and each planet having numerous points that players can land upon which they can then explore as their character in first person viewpoint’s, visiting bars, merchant’s or exploring hangers to check out various ships. Using some of the best sci-fi concept artists who have worked on various blockbuster movies from Star Wars to Star Trek the game has been given an unbelievable amount of detail to characters, ships and locations.

With this cutting-edge technology the game has also allowed support of the Oculus Rift for a further enhanced gaming experience.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

Currently Unknown