Starbound

The genre of science-fiction as been a love of mine ever since I watched my first Star Trek episode when I was about seven. Reading and watching sci-fi is a lot of fun, but sometimes I just need to get into the world myself. And that's where games like Ratchet & Clank and Starbound come in and make my day.

Every planet in "Starbound" is different

Starbound is a new sci-fi action game that was published and developed by Chucklefish, which is an indie game company. The synopsis (from IGN): "Starbound begins with you fleeing your homeworld in a space shuttle, just as it's destroyed by an unknown enemy" - sounds strangely like Superman's origin, but anyway - "With nothing to guide it, the escape pod shoots into space without direction, becoming hopelessly lost in a sea of stars. As luck would have it, the space shuttle makes contact with an abandoned space station and an adventure begins that will take you hunting across the universe."

This online game is both quest and story-driven, and contains a huge universe to explore. "Throughout your travels you'll find new ways to upgrade and repair [the station], restoring it to its former glory. You'll need to find a crew, conduct research, catch rare creatures, and unlock its multitude of facilities. From a factory capable of producing mechs to labs where captured enemies can be studied and trained, the space station contains everything you need to explore the universe" (IGN). Starbound is a "fully cooperatively and competitively multiplayer" online game with multiple servers (PlayStarbound). I do not yet know if there will be a monthly fee, but the people at Chucklefish specifically want to make the game accessible to all people.

Starbound is currently in development, but they will be introducing Beta Testing soon. For updates, go to http://playstarbound.com/. Starbound has a TBA release date of sometime in 2012, though that could change between now and the end of the year. It wll be available for the PC, Mac, and Linux.

DISCLAIMER!: Starbound has not yet been rated by the ESRB, though it will likely be rated E 10+ or higher.




 - Edessa, signing off