Star Control III

Despite being known as an "unworthy" follow-up to the great game that was StarControl 2, this is not a bad game to be completely fair it's inferior to StarControl 2 for sure, the Music sounds older, the Puppets not only misrepresent the old races, but some got too deep into the "Uncanny Valley" BUT, Some songs are nice, some puppets are impressive, not all voices are bad, the story is okay, and the gameplay does remind you of StarControl 2's, though more clunky Also, this game not only has the Nostalgia Factor, but also its part of the series (Albeit in another dimension) So being completely fair, i give the BlackSheep of the StarControl series an 7/10 Its not expensive, buying it helps the series, and after all, it's a look at an Good Old Game! But really while the Orz have a good Puppet... The Syreen man... WHAT?

I would mark my recommendation as "Maybe?" if there was an option to do so. I have some mixed feelings about this game. I bought this game as I had just finished replaying Star Control 2 and wanted to try the sequel and I was pretty hesitant when I found out that it wasn't done by the same original team. Needless to say, the 3$ price tag removed most of my big worries as I wouldn't be out much if it went south. This game could probably be best described as "Ambitious". They were trying to do a lot of unique things at the time in a system that wasn't necessarily optimized to do those things. That being said I think they leaned a bit heavily on the players ability to figure things out themselves. The good: -Original Voice Acting -Fun use of Practical effects for the aliens -A brand new interface to explore and a truly massive feeling galaxy. -Integrated help pages for each of the windows and options. The bad: -No real starting point aside from "Find the other races". -A combat system that, while fun with the pseudo-3D space, felt a bit unwieldy at best. -Completely deviates from the original story line, re-writing the closing details of the previous game in the first 15 seconds. The Ugly: -While the Spinning 2D star map creates a fun concept of 3D space with the galaxy, it honestly leads to more confusion than anything. That you could have stars that fell within your "there and back" range but were actually completely out of range because it was somewhere waaaay in the background could honestly get confusing. More so than this was the fact that for players like me who tend to get a feel for memorizing where my important systems are, when the map begins spinning again then it's pretty much goodbye to whatever landmark systems I used before. -It was incredibly sad to see so many of the alien races that we've come to know and love altered as much as they were. Specifically the Spathi were a prime example of this. The high-voiced and constantly terrified green crab aliens are now replaced with something resembling a naked mole-rat with one eye, relatively normal voice, and dialogue that sounds like it's trying to explain what being scared sounds like instead of just being scared. In all honesty I was waiting for it to start screaming "JAVA!" at any point. If you want or expect any of the races to feel like their old selves, don't count on it. -After a few narrative cut-scenes at the start the game simply opens into the universe viewer with literally NO explanation of what you are doing. The menu thumbnails are mostly non-descriptive, the galaxy is spinning, and there is no indication of how to play the game. While the previous game did something similar, it at least had some lead in to show you a few basic goals. You began in our galaxy and would more likely than not visit earth. The star base captain there would give you a goal, "get some resources from a planet" so you would learn how the lander worked. You would then be attacked and learn combat. It was a bit clunky but it gave you the essentials. This game just give you an interface and expects you to hopefully figure it out.

It's not as good as Star Control 2, but it has its moments. A must for Star Control fans.

I'm playing "Scan the mouse slowly to find the system that the quest system has named," also known as "Star Control: Kessari Quadrant". It's an impressive case study in how to make a sequel that contains a whole bunch of features that nobody had really done before at the time. Nobody with half a brain has done them since then either. I think the reason that I haven't quit is because the promo material was so insistent that there was a good story, that I've decided to look for it. At least the Orz are still funny. Shame that the other races are so stale.

[h3][i]'Seek nothingness of mind, and find peace. Pursue your whirling thoughts, and find ruin. Knowing this, what else do you wish to know?'[/i] [i]Exquivan monk people[/i][/h3] Star Control 3 is a black sheep to StarCon series as much as Heroes 4 was to a HoMM series. To fully enjoy what SC3 has on offer you're clearly need to achieve 'nothingness of mind' that those exquivans were talking about non stop, i.e. don't have any expectations, go in with an open mind. [b]A quick overview:[/b] Highlights - ship to ship combat encounters - simplicity, non demanding gameplay, relaxed chill atmosphere - negotiations with other races and solving their tasks - it's like 1996 all over again Lowlights - sometimes the hints on what to do next are extremely vague or even non existent; easy chance to stuck somewhere in the middle of the game without a guide; - the universe is a static place; every event you see is scripted and non dynamic; [b]Jumping into more details:[/b] - I first played it somewhere in 1997, but was never able to figure out how to actually play the damn thing properly. Now I finally found a time to amend that and was surprised at how the game slowly unveils itself and that it's just a simple fun. Especially when you don't have much time for games, SC3 is not demanding, quite relaxing and is easy to pick up and play in short bursts. - arguably SC3 has the best hyper melee mode ever implemented for StarCon series. This is where SC3 shines the most, and it probably worth buying just for this mode alone. it's very precise in ship rotation angles and their damage boxes, and provide lots of tactics to explore. Pretty much every ship has its own unique ways of dealing with an enemy, with its own advantages/disadvantages. Lot of things to consider when choosing your fighter ship: flying speed, crew number, charge regeneration speed, fire range and damage per shot, alternative fire mode (drones, shields, mines, crew regeneration, etc). Some fun facts - Mycon podships fire a convenient auto-homing charges, but you can catch your own shot if you fly around carelessly. - to recharge a Spathi ship shot you have to make the ship crew to cuss using the ALT fire button - Vux ship is probably the slowest of all but it can launch bio limpets which slow down the enemy ship when attached. - Syreen ships really seem to be the weakest of all for some reason (no firepower, not really a good ALT fire mode). - Clairconctlar ship is a slow flying fortress, but it can leave a teleporter beacon behind which makes it extremely dangerous when it can teleport right beside your ship and discharge all of its firepower - every ship requires lots of resources and time to be poured into it, it really adds a bit more weight and meaning to each one of them. I really like the pseudo 3D perspective for hyper melee, it adds a bit of depth to the combat, and give a cool isometric view on the ships. If you feel lost in it, just hit F6 to enable a plane grid, it will be much easier. If you're still don't like it then hit F5 and it'll give you a classic strict top-down view. - it plays very much like an adventure game set in a StarCon universe. It's like a narration machine. you do some exploration, resource management, discover ancient artifacts, battle it out in melee encounters and then unlock more story pieces and scenarios as you go. - the planet resource gathering mini-game as well as hyperspace traveling sections and all the slow transitions b/w systems and planets were left behind and replaced with planet colonies and resource management system, and automated traveling. And it's for good, IMO. Because, let's be honest, those mini-games maybe be fun at first, but later on become quite repetitive and simply tedious. Now it's all automated so you can focus on race negotiations, exploration, quests and melee combat. Overall it's more like a mini strategy game + fleet battles than a hands-on arcade-adventure game that SC2 was. Which makes it closer to SC1. - searching for ancient precursor artifacts is quite intriguing. Most of them will make possible to upgrade your battle fleet. - the mid 90's style visuals here are cool and underrated IMO. From the rotating planets and worm holes, colony management screen with all the different looking buildings and terrain types, to a classic hyper melee mode representation, and then FMV puppets scenes that give it an early sci-fi movies look - all of it has been done in such a stylish and cohesive manner you don't really see these days. Some indie folks could learn a thing from this game on how to make it visually striking, clean and memorable and yet not cartoony (for a change). SC:Origins visuals for example are extremely dull and childish in comparison. - the music score is nice and pleasant at some parts of it and it can become threatening and disturbing at other parts when needed. Nothing really outstanding but it fits the theme and narrative exceptionally well. I also find it very nostalgic. [b]About the plot:[/b] - the plot itself is entertaining enough and keeps you on the edge of a seat wanting to find out more - there's a leitmotif through out the game that everything is expendable: resources, costy ships, and even planet systems and races - all serve just one purpose of moving the storyline forward. All in the name of saving current galactic quadrant. - the Ur-Quan story is probably the coolest one and somewhat tragic even. You really get to know the story behind them and why they used to be so mean to other races in the first place. - the final Precursors twist is funny but very clever one - overall the plot is quirky and quite imaginative, and even thought provoking at some points, it respects player's intellect. On the contrast if you look at some modern games the plot usually tends to be on the dumb side, treating players as if they are some sort of morons only capable of pushing the ABXY buttons and can only choose from one line dialog options [b]Overall:[/b] If you're a retro gaming enthusiast and you're on a binge for some mid 90's stuff, I recommended it, give it a go. It's a unique game representing its time. It's no secret that the game was released in a rough state, particularly in how it unfolds the storyline and gives you tasks to do. having a short guide on the side helps with that. [b]Some tips for newcomers:[/b] - make sure to understand how to play it, don't go in there blindly or you won't have any fun at all. Hit F1 on each game screen and read the descriptions on what does what, read up on the manual, or simply look up some YT videos to get a grasp on basic mechanics, it helps a lot. - the narrative and the game itself will slowly open up as you progress and will become much more interesting. Don't expect amazing things right away at the start or some silly annoying character that will entertain you, providing some sort of an entry point for a newbie, and then describe every little detail that you could have missed. - make sure you have enough fuel stations in different parts of the world so you won't suddenly find yourself stuck with no fuel in the middle of nowhere - in general, if you stuck and ICOM doesn't provide any clue, and even no timed events pop up as days go by, consider looking up the guide or you'll spend lots of hours just poking around galaxy for solution. Even just to know where the certain race is really helps. Once the story will pick up it will become easier to progress further without a guide, but in SC3 it's not a smooth enough process. It may kill the pace for some people. - make lots of separate saves as you progress, name them accordingly. - change 'cycles=max' param in dosboxSC3.conf to fit your machine (something around 60k should be good)

Wow this aged poorly. Beat this back in the 90s, forgot about it. Bought it on a sale, can't believe how much worse this is than Star Control II. Good ideas, good writing, but ugly as hell and the campaign is not fun. The melee combat is good, but still ugly. Somehow looks worse than a much older game with lower detail graphics.

For now, not really worth the time. Game port/controls appear to work somewhat, voice acting is appreciated. Does not appear to be worth the effort/nostalgia though.

I love this game! That may be a hot take, but even if fueled by nostalgia, I thoroughly enjoy replaying this game once every ~5-8 years. I think a lot of the negative takes come from those who played StarCon2 first and also the fact that it wasn't created by the original creators that made 1 and 2. So I think a lot of my positive take comes from having played StarCon3 first. So if you've never played the series before, it might be interesting to play 3 first to get maximum enjoyment from the series? Anyway, the thing I like about this game is that discovering all the different races and their quirks in this game is magical (or was magical as a kid and it's from nostalgia now). The writing is hilarious and it's super fun to go through all the dialogue sequences with all races. The puppetry also adds a unique visual style to the game that I've never seen done elsewhere. Even if the game's story isn't canon, their are plenty of new races that just a ton of fun in their quirks! It's sad to me to think they'll likely never manifest in any future game (StarCon4 got cancelled, not sure about SC: Origins, but long story short original creators are making a sequel to StarCon2 under a different name.. there was a legal battle, you can look it up if curious). It might be from playing for the n-th time, but this game is honestly quite easy and I think that's fine. Again, the really fun part IMO is traveling system to system and discovering each race, going through dialogue, and running through the scenarios that happen with each race. Otherwise the other elements are just fine. Colony mechanic is fine - there's a little strategy in adjusting the production rates and creating new colonies to essentially create gas stations. The combat has its special charm, but otherwise w/e. The combat AI is pretty bad and sometimes the battles last too long. It's super unbalanced too. Some rock-paper-scissors to it, but some race's ships are simply OP. That kinda plays into the story so I think that's fine too. Not sure if it's an effect of DOSBOX, but the star map does spin way too fast and so I'll just freeze it. Certainly inconvenient and there's def a bunch of other rough edges, but it's also almost 30 years old at this point? I doubt there's many people seeking to play this on Steam, but if you are, this is my advice: If you're looking for experiencing a gem from the old days of gaming, willing to look over the rough edges, and enjoy the magic of discovery this game has to offer, then I'd highly recommend it!

Like Star Control: Origins is a reinvention of Star Control II, Star Control 3 was (and is) a bad, mid-90s attempt to re-invent the original Star Control. I'm a big fan of the Star Control series and played them as a kid starting with SC1 in the early 90's. Gone is the Hyperspace with galactic borders of SCII and in comes the 3D starmap and colony building of Star Control 1, re-imagined with Accolade's attempt at the "hyper realism" that was in vogue in the mid-late 90s. Colors, music, and art is all muted and gray, set in a new quadrant devoid of all life. This could have been remedied with good strategy. Colony building in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but ultimately there is no *reason* for it. Your opponents do not build bases or new colonies of their own; the Hegemonic Crux has a few scant colonies and remain so throughout the game. Enemy ships don't wander systems, so you rarely - if ever - need to engage in combat. And when you do, good luck. Enemies seem hard-wired to flee from you so it's an annoying cat-and-mouse game. Also, ditch the silly pseudo-3D (press F5 switch to 2D - you'll thank me!) as I've never run into a planet so often thanks to that view. My Syreen Penetrator chasing down a DakTakLakPak was always an endless experience. The plot is fine and I find the criticisms overblown. It had some decent ideas (Mycon) but also some stupid ones (VUX/Vyro-Ingo) and some worthless rehashing (Ur-Quan, Utwig). The story is also time-locked giving you plenty of downtime with nothing to do until a new event pops up and allows you to move forward. You can't even safely engage in combat until a certain time-locked event happens; doing so will result in a game over for you being too aggressive. This long timespan between events is the only reason to start up new colonies: it's the only thing of interest to fill the vast, droll void of SC3. Ultimately, this all culminates into a very somber and underwhelming experience. Whereas SC2 was filled with wonder and color, SC3 is a black and gray patience-testing bore, filled with low quality MIDI music and lifeless puppetry along the way. Play it if you're a fan of the series, but hard pass it otherwise and go for the far better Star Control: Origins.

This game is a huge nostalgia trip for me, seeing as I originally purchased it on CD-ROM in I think 1996. My younger siblings and I used to spend hours battling each other in melee mode, and I have always enjoyed the witty dialogue options when speaking to other characters. Also, I think some of the K'Tang "vocabulary" has made it into my permanent lexicon ("technography", "crushify", "ulferior"... just to name a few).

Been playing this since I was in 10th grade! Great game, yes I know that the die hard SCII crowd has some problems with it. But the game in its format has a cool sense of wonder and exploration to it that I have rarely found in any other series. Also the trippy video scenes still tickle me, and look good even compared to more modern games. This game truly gives you the experience of being "in the cartoon" if that makes any sense.

This game gets a lot of flak for not being Star Control II. However, on the whole it plays very well. The diplomatic puzzles are of the same calibre if not better, the Story is pretty much exactly where you'd expect the story to continue from the last game. On the whole, it's pretty fun. There are a few things in the game that disappoint, and on a replay 25 years after I originally played it, the come off as little more then a game that was rushed to market. Land grinding has been replaced with a colony building system which feels like they were trying to (poorly) copy civilization games (or maybe master of Orion?) games of the day. But managing colonies does little to speed the game along other then sacrificing ship production for fuel production if you manage to run out of gas. And that's all the part of the game ads up to: establishing little more then an inter-stellar network of fuelling stations. There's a lot of potential in this, but rather then fun at all it's a meaningless chore and a distraction. Still once the "work" was done, I had a lot of fun figuring out all the races and building my empire. Sure the sense of humour isn't quite the same as the previous game, but it holds it's own. TLDR: SC3 is not the masterpiece that is SC2, but that doesn't make it a bad game.

Some say SC2 was better, which I can't argue. It was a fine game for the time. SC3 introduces unique challenges and another great story line. I enjoyed it from start to finish and know several others who have as well. If you play 2 - 3 hours, I pretty much guarantee you'll be hooked.

I like the melee. I don't like the music. I like how much power the Ur-quan has in. It 8 damage per shot.Amazing!!! Great storyline!!!

Classic. Worth ever penny. I took my time and explored all the dialogue I could due to the interesting writing and to flesh out every unique characteristic for each race. I enjoy the muppet style animations, even though the hand drawn from Star Control 2 were very well done as well. I don't care if the muppet style looks cheesy, I love the cheese. Take your time with the game and enjoy all the creativity put into it.

OMG i am so happy that this game is available here on steam! this was one of the very first games i ever played on a computer, and THE very first game that got me completely sucked into. i know many ppl out there think that only the previous games are good etc, but really - this is a enjoyable game! such nice characters, voice acting and a great story! it is a very old game, and up to no recent standards, but if you keep the time in mind this gem was created, you can probably have a great time with it! i am looking forward till it is installed and then i am up to finally meet some old friends of mine again ^^ THANK YOU STEAM!! (ok, now i find out that you need to actually play the game for 5 minutes to write a review... makes totally sense, but steam, if you only knew, that i have dozens and dozens of hours playtime in this game... ^^)

This game was in a lot of ways ahead of it's time...and not in a good way. It tried to do a lot of things, and some were really good, and many others, not so much. The 3D map for instance, and the entire UX was ambitious, but also demonstrably worse than SC2. You have to wonder why when they were playtesting they didn't just say "you know, what we had was better...like a lot better. Let's go back to it." The story is crap, and it really doesn't play well on a modern computer, but the melee is OK if you can figure out the controls.

Just as game-breakingly politically correct as I remember after all these years. Aliens can attack you, without you having a way to escape (unlike in Star Control 2), and your council votes you out of your job accusing you of attacking them. Also you'll be waiting around a lot in the early game for enough fuel to go anywhere. I was given this game with Star Control: Origins, which I picked up because I remembered Star Control 1 & 2 well, and I once played Star Control 3 through to victory. I tried this game on Steam out of nostalgia. If you do play this, use a walkthrough. Seriously.

I grew up playing this game during grade school. For some reason this was almost the only game my brother gave me. I actually think its pretty decent to waste time and for lols.

OD'd on Benadryl and watched the Muppets until I fainted. It was only when I regained consciousness that I realized I was lucid the entire time and was just playing Star Control III

I had these games on the Sega. LOVED them...DON'T buy them on pc. First of all the Graphic translations are barely legible, second, the timer is messed up. (since its an old game, the speed of the game is sooo fast, you cant play it correctly). While these still remain some of my favorite games, Sometimes, tecnology advances TOO much. Save your 4 bucks.

They made the aliens from Star Control II UGLY! They replaced planet exploration with an automated base building simulation that is unsatisfying, the music sucks when compared with SC2, need I go on? I only played it so that I could finally say that I completed the Star Control series and I wanted to know first-hand how they messed with the Star Control lore.

This is a somewhat maligned sequel to Star Control II, widely regarded as one of the finest scifi games ever made. Like SC2, this is an arcade "SpaceWar" ripoff with a plethora of ships, where you control your own upgradeable super-mothership, fly around the galaxy, interact with comical and interesting aliens and eventually work your way through the grand plot of the game. They opted for an unusual 2.5D combat mode, and that's just one of many experimental gameplay choices. I know the game got a lot of flak, it simply wasn't as good or entertaining as StarCon2, but if this was 1996 I'd definitely recommend it. Today, however, it's an old DOSBox curiousity that's only worth picking up for nostalgia's sake. DOSBox is clunky at best, you have fixed resolution and no widescreen support... I couldn't recommend anyone stops playing CS:GO or DOTA2 for this.

Unplayable, doesn't run well at all

it is hard 2 like understand like moving and shooting

A classic. Still fun and challenging

Still dislike the use of puppets but otherwise still a fun game

Every bit as bad as they said.

A true classic!

Nostalgia central. Love this game.

This game shouldn't exist.

Good game to pass time with

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