Starvoid Review

Zeal Game Studios and Paradox Interactive brought a new game to the market called Starvoid, a futuristic multiplayer real-time strategy game that features fast-paced battles, a various amount of upgrades and class-specific builds.The game is best described as a mixture between League of Legends and Red Alert. While the game certainly looks like a space-themed version of League of Legends, the game has some original key features that provide a unique experience for the player.

Starvoid is a game that puts the emphasis on conflict. This is pure war. While the game certainly has a vast amount of real-time strategy elements, there is no resource gathering, base building or diplomacy, and although there are various upgrades that can be bought with the ingame-currency, the game features no actual research. Basically you pick one of the 4 available classes, tune them if you feel the need to do so, and start to attempt blasting your opponent away. The classes match different play-styles, ranging from characters that rely on stealth to characters that are unstoppable tanks.

Starvoid tends to be a bit chaotic when the player starts out, because there is no tutorial.  However, the game does have an ingame help system built in, showing the player popups with information while they are battling online. As with most games of this genre, the game tends to have a steep learning curve, but once you’ve figured out the controls and manage to get some kills, the game can get quite enjoyable. Once you have picked a character, also known as a commander, you are able to join matches online and start building your army, consisting of a variety of robotic allies. Not only can the commander create several units; he also has full control over them, making the game a very tactical one. On top of this all the commander has a range of special abilities, that can be activated by several hotkeys.

Unlike most MOBA titles, the commander is not the most important unit in this game. If you don’t want go get shot to pieces in a flash, you will need to bring a small army of units, ready to carry out your commands. When the commander dies, all the units die aswell, so keeping a safe distance while letting the units do the work is advised. Units come in various sizes, ranging from infantry to heavy tanks. Making a balanced army that can defend and attack effectively can be quite hard in the beginning, but if you manage to pull it off you should be able to avoid dying instantly whenever you run into an opponent.

As mentioned before, the game offers a vast amount of upgrades ingame, letting you alter the units in a way you see fit. The amount of upgrades is slightly overwhelming at first and takes some time to understand. That being said, one can always test upgrades and units in a match, since matches only take about ten minutes. When it comes to variety and replayability the game is a little dissapointing, since there are only three maps and three gamemodes available. The maps look decent, but tend to become a little boring after a while.

The three different gamemodes are sabotage, battle and team deathmatch. In sabotage you will need to reach the base of the other team and destroy it with bombs. Each player starts out with ten bombs, but killing a player gives you their bombs. In return, if you die, you lose all your bombs, so the mode is all about risk versus reward. In battle mode you will need to capture nodes and defend them, not allowing the other player to recapture them. The nodes need to be captured in a specific order, and the first team to capture them all wins the game.

Team deathmatch is simply a fragfest where your team needs to destroy the other team. Tactics matter a little less here, as this is just a free-for-all brawl. Teams often walk up to each other right away in this mode and start shooting each other in the face. If you’re going to play this mode, prepare to respawn a lot, because commanders tend to respawn in the middle of the battle, giving you little time to prepare for an incoming opponent. To make the game a little more easier it features 4 pre build characters that are fairly competitive. This is a relief, because you won’t have to bother with all kinds of upgrades right away and have access to units and skills you would normally have to unlock first. While the game features an ingame currency shop, there is some content that needs to be paid for: classes. The game gives you 4 classes when you purchase it and additional classes can be bought for a few dollars each.

The options menu is nothing special, but does allow V-sync. The game can be played in various resolutions. Team balancing is a little annoying, as players can jump in at any given time, which can result in having your fun 2v2 match spoiled because it is suddenly 3 versus 2, giving one team a large advantage over the other. In team deathmatch this matters little, but capturing nodes in battle with a man less seems like an impossible task. Starvoid is a nice real-time strategy game with some unique features. Hardcore real-time strategy players that want a MOBA game with various elements will find this game enjoyable, but the casual gamer can quickly become bored of this game.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.