Some of these tasks begin to feel a little repetitive after a while, but Ubisoft figured out long ago just what to have cooking behind the scenes to ensure you’re always coming back for more. Clearing out a whole planet’s checklist of tasks is very satisfying, and levelling up your pilots, ships and weapons individually means you’re always making progress on something. There are plenty of skill trees to peruse and unlock, and flying between planets feels really great. It helps that all of this is tethered to solid core gameplay. Flying around in space, low orbit and even skimming the surface of the variety of alien planets is a lot of fun thanks to a suite of movement options – barrel rolls, boosts, even jumping and gliding of sorts – all keep things fresh and enjoyable.
Combat on planets feels a little simple – for me it boiled down to strafing left and right and holding the fire buttons down – but in space the dogfights are a hoot. It wasn’t long before I got the degree of freedom this offered and really engaged with some stellar space combat. Starfox Zero, eat your heart out.
Presentation:
Starlink looks really great on the Switch – in fact, its sheer scope is up there with some of the systems best-selling games. Planets are vibrant and colourful, battles are explosive and in general the characters look great. I know I keep going on about it, but Fox and the gang are rendered especially well. I love the image of your pilot in the corner of the screen that reacts as they get attacked or knocked about. Starlink is just a very pretty game in general, whether portably or on the big screen.
The audio is good, but not without some caveats. Some of the voice acting is pretty grating over long periods of time whilst others are solid. The music is great fun, but ultimately forgettable. The sound effects, however, are great across the board and really sold each moment and dogfight I found myself in.
Conclusion:
“Starlink: Battle for Atlas” was a huge surprise. I thought the Toys-to-Life genre was dead for good and not coming back, but Ubisoft have come out swinging with a game that already feels like it’s part of a long running series. Everything in Starlink feels like it’s fully formed and iterated upon already, not the usual shaky starts these products have to suffer through. The ships are super cool and the game is a lot of fun to play, despite some repetitive missions here and there – and if you have a switch you owe it to yourself to get it on that. It’s so much more bang for your buck (and Fox is brilliant).
If you have a kid, buy them this. If you’re a big kid, buy it for yourself. It’s great.
- 1 2
You must be logged in to post a comment.