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Even though Ascaron has a particular focus on strategy and management games, this did not stop them to try to make a space simulator, naming Darkstar One. As some of you already know, or heard, Gamespot and IGN have awarded this game with some high notes, but this is where we come in.

This review will either shatter your expectations, or strengthen them. As this is the first in the line, there is no history behind the game, only that it intends to offer the player an intense and exciting story and it gives him a lot of freedom in his choices. Better than X3? We’ll see.

For a better view of the gameplay, I will compare it to X3: Reunion, which is quite similar in almost every aspect. At first I did not know what to make of this game, it seemed so simple. This thought was quickly blown away after the training, as I saw the full capabilities of the game.

Not only can you trade goods just like in X3, but you can also smuggle illegal goods for a better price. To make up for the smuggling risk, cause without risk it would be just no fun, the game features a nice small GTA system. As such, in every GU controlled system, you will always find police ships that scan every ship for these goods. If you are caught, you will gain a couple of wanted points, up to a maximum of five.

Of course, there are a number of ways to avoid this, like the good-old fashioned "run for your life" method, or the more un-orthodox methods like jamming their scanners. Of course, this method has some chance of backfiring. In addition, if you lay low for a while, the wanted level will also decrease.

Note that every system under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Union will be looking for you, so it is best to just wander in Neutral systems, or Rebel systems. The same goes for these systems, as each has its own government who opposes smuggling.

Another major difference that I saw was that you cannot buy other ships; instead, you just upgrade yours. As such, you can make it a fast scout with light weapons, or a slow cruiser with plenty of armament and shields. Even though this seems like an easy job to just upgrade your ship, it is not.

First of all, you have to acquire some alien artifacts that can either be found hidden within some asteroids, or by freeing systems of pirates. Additional, you may get them by completing some missions. Secondly, you have to acquire a certain number of these organic artifacts, a number that will increase at higher levels.

Upgrading will allow you to mount more and better weapons, turrets, or just increase hull durability, ships speed and many other things, depending on what you upgrade. Besides this, the developers included a "spell-like" weapon that you can upgrade along with your ship to become more powerful. This weapon can increase the recharge rate of weapons, shields; it can take out enemy shields, leave enemy ships dead in space, or just stop time, depending on what kind of "ammunition" you use.

Next off in the list is fighting. The feeling is just like in X3, you can control the movement with the mouse and side-dodge incoming shots. In addition, you do not have any help from a targeting computer, so you have to hit them right. To help the player with aiming, the weapons have a very limited range of only one unit, making it quite hard to miss, or take out enemy ships from afar.

Just like trading, you can make a living out of fighting as well. Each system will pay you for any pirates you shot down, thus making you into a hunter. Either this or you can join the pirates and become a pirate yourself. As such, you can become either a pirate/hunter, trader/smuggler or mercenary/killer. When you reach these ranks, you will also gain some bonuses or penalties, depending on what you become.

An honest trader will make more credits out of trade, while a smuggler will have the police watching him more closely. Of course, you can always loose these penalties by moving a little to the opposite. As such, with all of these in mind, I can only say that each new game will be unique in its own way, except the storyline of course.

A bit of history.

Several centuries have passed since the Great Galactic War that had been a devastating escalation of conflicts between the races. It all began with a misunderstanding, the so-called Damokles incident when the Mortok destroyed the Terran cruiser Damokles during a routine inspection.

War broke out between the Terran and the Mortok. Arrack and Raptor became involved siding with the Mortok, while the Oc’to supported the Terran. The Thul delivered weapons to all parties involved and then attacked the weakened opponents.

The Great War ended after forty years although none of the opponents was declared victorious. The Terran sustained the heaviest losses as all their systems were virtually destroyed; the Thul had gained the most by almost doubling their territories due to their smart warfare. They avoided most of the battles, protected the borders of their territories, and provided the opposing parties with weapons.

The Terran promoted establishing a Galactic Union in order to prevent such a devastating war from breaking out ever again. All races should participate. The Thul, however – a people of Terran origin – showed no interest in a Galactic Union. The Great War did not affect them negatively and they regarded the desire to establish an intergalactic body as a weakness of the other races.

Moreover, across all races everyone was opposed to the Thul’s genetic experiments or despised them. The Thul regarded these morals also as weakness, after all, the Thul regard all other people as undisciplined semi-civilized beings driven by organic instincts.

This attitude also defined their behavior towards the other races: They ignored the decisions of the newly founded Council and steadfastly pursued their controversial experiments way beyond the ethical limits of the other races.

Finally, they were excluded from the Council. Afterwards, the Thul completely isolated themselves from the other races. They disappeared for more than three decades. They were comfortable in their chosen isolation and turned their attention to advancing their research. With each new implant and every enhanced nanobot, they still strive for perfection.