- This is exactly the action, with all its pluses and minuses. The local physics does not claim to be "Newtonian", and a collision with an asteroid or an alien ship at cosmic speeds does not lead to instant death. Get some damage there and fly on about your business. Star Conflict doesn't come for stunningly accurate maneuvers. People come here to relax and have fun. From understandable entertainment: shooting their own kind from futuristic guns.

Game modes

Alas, due to the weak popularity of the project, the owners of ships of the maximum level are inexpressibly bored. The search for equal opponents for a fight will take about five minutes, after which you find yourself in a fight of a maximum of “four against four”, of which half for some reason are bots. Holding back emotions, through force you play out and weave into the hangar. Forever (okay, just for a long time) refusing to take for a walk the newly bought long-range frigate of the fourth level - the pinnacle of imperial technology.

And after all, many are unfair to the game, if six months ago it really wasn’t very fun, now they have added so much content that it’s enough for one and a half mediocre online action games. The process of changes continues almost continuously, since the end of April, among the combat modes, the “Battle for the Sector” has appeared, the battle of three races (Empire, Federation and Jericho) for control over part of the galaxy. This is where truly experienced fighters sit their pants, dismantling newcomers even on simple ships.

What other entertainment options does Star Gem offer? Firstly, "Standard battle", boring and predictable - you need to capture all the enemy beacons. Primitive battles of this kind are not popular, usually most gamers sit in the so-called "Arcade battles". From arcades in which there is no more and no less than in the "Battle for the Sector", but this is so, a lyrical digression. There are four types of "arcade" battles. In Detonation, you need to take EMP - bombs and blow up enemy stations with their help, preventing the enemy from doing a similar trick. In "Beacon Hunt" and "Control" you need to score a given number of control points by capturing certain points. The most interesting thing, for my taste, is "Reconnaissance in combat", where each team has a captain, and while he is alive, you can recover an infinite number of times. Alas, it is impossible to select a specific subspecies of Arcade Battle, although such an option would not hurt.

Do not want to fight with living people, but do you want a plot? To your attention PvE - four special tasks of an attacking and defensive character with bots as opponents. The bots here are not at all as stupid as they are expected of them - they know how to attack en masse, and hide behind shelters (space stations or asteroids), and adequately choose targets. Usually there are a lot of AI-controlled enemies flying out on a mission, my first PvE battle was lost because our quartet of ships imagined themselves to be immortal, having received a natural click on the nose from the first wave of attack aircraft attacking our shipyard. It was then that it became clear that things are bad with respawn in PvE, I would even say disgusting. And rightly so, there was no point in pretending to be four musketeers and climbing on interceptors into the thick of it.

Technique

Stop. I have already described a lot of things here, but for some reason I did not bother to tell about the terms. Vehicles in Star Conflict are divided into three classes: interceptors, attack aircraft and frigates. Simplified, they could be called light, medium and heavy ships, but we will not do this. Why? Yes, because each subspecies has its own role. And if a frigate with a phase shield installed should be closer to the imaginary front line, supporting its own, the stars themselves ordered the Imperial with the disintegrator to stand further away and sting more painfully. In the end, his supergun hits 10-12 kilometers, which is almost the maximum range for a weapon.

Theoretically, of course, you can try to achieve a similar range from an attack aircraft, for example. In Star Conflict, there are a lot of combat and auxiliary modules, by installing which you, one way or another, change the characteristics of the vehicle. For example, increase the damage, but at the same time reduce the accuracy. However, we will be careful not to give any advice on the configuration of ships here, everyone rebuilds the equipment for themselves, and there are simply no universal solutions.

Before flying into the fight, be sure to look into the contracts section, taking on several missions. Completing them raises your reputation with the chosen faction, which means that sooner or later you will get access to new modules, weapons, and vehicles. There were no particular difficulties with the quests, tasks like "Get one victory" or "Deal the final blow using rocket weapons" are completed by themselves. Unless, of course, you do not hang in space, completely forgetting about what is happening and admiring the surface of a nearby planet.

However, it will not work for a long time to admire - someone will definitely fly in and put a couple of missiles into you, finishing off with lasers. Battles in Star Conflict rarely last longer than five minutes, usually with one side gaining an advantage quickly and then confidently winning. Not because of their own coolness, but because of the discord in the camp of rivals. You rarely see the well-coordinated work of fighter or interceptor units, all the professionals seem to have migrated to the “Battle for the Sector”. And the “green” youth loves to rush forward with joyful cries, not thinking that an insidious enemy is hiding behind the neighboring asteroid.

Best space action

Like it or not, we have one of the best space action games in front of us. With a rather large list of modes, a large number of ships and just an incredible number of modules installed on them. Will the tandem of Gaijin and Star Gem be able to promote the project? The fate of those who are not indifferent to the vast expanses of Star Conflict depends on the answer to this question.

After starting the game, pay attention to the "Development" tab. In it, you pump a virtual hero who sits at the helm of a ship. In total, there are thirty-six perks to choose from - twelve per nation. But only one of them is allowed to be taken at each level, and at first it is not easy to be torn between an increase in the speed of restoration of the shield, an increase in its volume, or additional resistance to damage. We will give one recommendation: look at your favorite class of ships and remake the hero for it. Rearranging perks, fortunately, is not prohibited, although such operations for surgeons of the future cost a lot of money.

Team shooting simulator in a space setting. For a year now, open beta testing has been going on, thanks to which the project, like a rough diamond, takes on a more perfect shape. At least, he took on a shape already perfect enough to state with confidence what he is. We will now deal with this statement.

Just another MMO.

Three factions are fighting for existence in the damned back of the galaxy - the Empire, Jericho and the Federation. The latter are traders without a clear hierarchy of power, the Jericho people are supporters of transhumanism, from infancy indulging in the amusements of the technical improvement of their own bodies, and the Empire is the Empire in Africa. Isolating the plot background from the narrative is not the easiest task, because it will open only to the most attentive. A couple of sentences here, a slight mention there... It's easier to admit that the plot is rudimentary.

The design of the ships is pleasing to the eye. Cherished attention from an inexperienced MMO user from the very first minutes will require an exorbitant amount, because everything will have to be figured out empirically - even in local training, a poor player will not get a single hint, immediately a battle to the mountain in outer space. The trend only intensifies over time: you will not hear a word of help about upgrading the ship, about the rules and types of battles or monetization schemes. All by myself, all by myself.

And you will have to amuse yourself exclusively with skirmishes on spaceships of the wall-to-wall format. God forbid confusing Star Conflict with space sim - there is nothing here but closed, albeit very extensive, spaces for sorting out relations with enemies. You should not look for revelations in battle modes: there are five of them in total, and in each one you can easily recognize well-known deathmatches, capturing points and battles for possession of an item. If you were born under the constellation of a pacifist and categorically do not accept beating avatars of living people, the guys from are happy to offer you PvE battles. True, it is quite obvious that the development team did not make a big bet on them - boss battles and the joint defense of a friendly cruiser are made very much for show here. By the way, contrary to expectations, playing on the gamepad was not very convenient. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the joystick is stupidly not supported.

Bash and play.

When choosing a faction for battle, it is difficult to make a mistake, since the branches of ships in them practically do not differ. Nimble interceptors, armored hulking frigates or balanced attack aircraft of various sides of the conflict offer you absolutely identical furrows of the galaxy. The development tree, on behalf of the developers, extends a palm to the player with a request to gild the pen: in order to open a new ship, you need to pretty much pump the previous one. What will be your surprise when you find that the next space ship has minor improvements compared to the previous one, and the external difference is purely cosmetic. And yes, you can also find out what awaits you only by experience. Having bought.

An immodest amount of currencies came out in the game - as many as 9 pieces. And this is not counting the two types of synergy that are spent on improving starships. A pilot's license, a local premium, is purchased with galactic standards, which, of course, are bought with real money. Otherwise, various upgrades will require various investments: loans, synergies, or faction guarantors. The latter are of three types - two options for the Empire, Jericho and the Federation. You can earn treasured guarantors by completing various contracts: shoot down five ships, capture a couple of points or blow up a lighthouse, win, and stuff like that. You can only be a mercenary in one of the six directions at a time. If you want to desert - for God's sake, but then mercenary work on another branch will start from the beginning.

Same. Same. Constantly the same. Particularly inveterate space shooters have access to the capture of sectors, just join a corporation. And it started: in the first phase, all participants in the conflict look at the map and ask what sector they would capture, and in the second they converge for a coveted piece of space in a single fight. Whoever controls more abstract territory gets more bonuses. But ships of all ranks participate in the massacre, and there are 15 of them in total. But buying a rank 15 dreadnought and punishing all offenders is an idealist's dream. In fact, the modules installed on the spacecraft are of key importance.

An engine, a power unit, a shield, a hull, a computer... Upgrades for each ship class are different, and it will not work to rearrange, say, a frigate's blaster to an interceptor. To understand the usefulness of a particular module, the well-known “buy-and-know” scheme will help, which is preceded by a thinner wallet or several painstaking hours of fun grind. Based on the description, you can choose favorite upgrades and buy only them, but then you run the risk of being unpleasantly surprised by the limitations of the virtual counter - apart from your favorite module, there will not be even a dozen candidates for purchase. You will also have to make a choice when implanting a pilot. Each level of development offers three options for permanent bonuses, radically different from each other.

The same tanks, only in space? Yes and no. There is no strategy and tactics here, but there are peppy battles in three dimensions. The local donut requires fierce zadrotstvo, the reward for which is as minimal as it can be. The lack of training and the option to preview purchases cause a low entry threshold, but a high desire to leave. Five PvP modes and inconsistent PvE arenas, beautiful but identical ships, and, in general, the most arcade shooting games with minimal meaning - all this.

The genre of multiplayer team fights is becoming more and more popular. Soon we will be able to fight not only on the ground ( World of Tanks), but also in the sky ( War Thunder And World of Warplanes) and on the sea ( World of Warships). Well, right now you can go into space - just download and install the team action.

The developers of the StarGem Inc game are well versed in the space action genre. Ship battles are made at the highest level, they are dynamic, interesting and spectacular. The rules are simple: you have to fight in two teams, each of which must capture three enemy beacons while holding their own. Another way to win is to destroy all rivals, but since each player is given three ships to fight, it is very rare to win in this way.

There are three classes of ships available in the game, and they are perfectly balanced. A heavy frigate, for example, is well protected and carries a very powerful weapon - falling under its fire, you can die in a matter of seconds. But it is so clumsy that in close combat it is guaranteed to lose to a lighter and more maneuverable ship - it will simply be destroyed by going into the tail. Therefore, you need to fly on a frigate with a cover that will “throw off” an enemy ship that has broken through. Team play is the key to success. In battle, there is a place for both reconnaissance and support ships, "heavy artillery" and many others.

The battles in the game go at high speeds. Maps - vast outer spaces - are clogged with a variety of debris that can be skillfully used to get out of the attack or, conversely, quietly approach the enemies. There are no super-powerful weapons that can destroy all life on the other side of the map, so the battles unfold at short distances. Almost every opponent is able to surprise. For example, there are ships that can become invisible for a while. This ability can be used both to exit the battle, and in order to quietly hide and wait for the enemy to appear nearby. Other starships are equipped with anti-missile traps, or a more powerful shield - all these features must be known and taken into account in combat.

In between fights, it's time to dig into the hangar. There is clearly an influence here. EVE Online. Don't expect an easy life - just like in EVE, with the settings of starships, even the initial levels, you can dig for a very long time. Three classes of ships, several types of different weapons, a huge number of modules - any starship can be easily customized to your own style of play. A melee ship, a sniper frigate designed to operate from cover, a support ship that "works" for comrades - there are many options.

Advanced modules and better weapons become available as you level up. It is traditional here: experience is gained in battles, and then spent on advancing along three branches of development. At the same time, you can upgrade your reputation with different factions: each gives you access to more advanced modules and ships. To do this, you just need to complete a variety of tasks in battles - for example, destroy several enemy ships using certain weapons. And, finally, do not forget about money - good ships cost a lot, and after the battle you will have to fork out not only for ammunition, but also for repairs.

The combat and economic systems are worked out for a solid five, but there is still one global problem: there is criminally little content in Star Conflict. A couple of maps, the only game mode, indecently long pumping - after a few days it gets boring here. Meanwhile, many interesting elements can easily be added to the game, from clan wars on the universe map to advanced PvE modes: there are probably many pilots who like to shoot not only live players, but also bots.

Now Star Conflict is a great game for fans. There are beautiful and exciting battles on spaceships and the opportunity to spend hours poking around in the hangar. If you are not a fan of the space fighting genre, we advise you to wait a few months: according to our information, a major update is planned for the game, which will greatly expand the list of features.

How to play? Download the game client, register and play. The game is shareware.

Star Conflict system requirements: OS: Windows XP SP3 Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon II Video card: 512 MB NVidia / AMD Radeon / Intel (HD 3000, HD 4000) with Pixel Shader 3.0 support (excluding AMD Radeon X1000 series) RAM: 1 GB RAM.

Once upon a time, about three thousand years ago, the inhabitants of the Earth left the planet forever. The Infinite Galaxy was divided between star empires and independent alliances. And now, when in the most remote point of the Universe, in Sector 1337, vast territories of the abandoned, destroyed and extinct great Forerunner civilization were discovered, a real struggle unfolded in the Galaxy.

How it all started

Representatives of the Empire, mercenaries and simply "new Indiana Jones" - all rushed to find treasures and artifacts of the mysterious Forerunner. And the entire heritage of civilization would have been plundered, if not for the strange phenomena taking place in this Sector. Any living organism that fell into the field of influence of this anomaly immediately died, thereby greatly complicating the predatory actions of representatives of the Galaxy.

But this does not stop those who see an opportunity in free money. Few survived in such circumstances, but these lucky ones left with a huge fortune. That is why the game Star Conflict is based on the opposition of three factions: the Empire, the Federation and Jericho. Who will get the right to possess the heritage of civilization? Each gamer needs to choose an organization on whose side he will fight, which can be changed during the game.

Playable factions

Empire

One word Empire speaks of a powerful coalition of strong, all-powerful fighters who are completely loyal to their emperor. Their main goal is to develop and increase the boundaries of the power of the Empire. Their strength is a powerful fleet that is almost impossible to defeat. Technique of defense and technique of attack knows no equal. And this is not surprising, because the most intelligent and best scientists in the Galaxy work in the scientific block of the faction. The Empire spares no expense in the development of this block and therefore receives the best innovative equipment accordingly.

Federation

Representatives of this faction are mercantile and freedom-loving merchants and resellers who do not obey anyone. The scent for a good deal is in their blood. Their fast ships are ideal for transporting goods and are well equipped. They may be inferior in strength to the Imperial fleet, but in terms of safety they are unmatched. Each of their weapons, each part of their uniform is aimed at protecting its owner. Their power is focused on trade.

Jericho

Representatives of this faction are a huge group of formidable and tough scientists. Their main goal is to develop the physical capabilities of the human body with the help of science. From time immemorial, the Jericho people have been perfecting their body and mind through research and experience. It comes to the point that, reaching adulthood, only a few retain a human appearance. Their strength is in advanced technologies, information about which they strictly and inexorably guard.

We surf outer space

Ships are the main weapon in this game. For energy points, you can and should develop your combat vehicle, as well as purchase new ones. In addition, Star Conflict has a real money system. You can buy new additional devices for the fleet, increased profit per battle ratio, pilot licenses, etc.

Ships are divided into three classes: frigates, attack aircraft and interceptors. Each type has its own advantage and its own parameters, which help to choose the best ship for a particular battle and for conducting tactics.

So, frigates, with their low speed, have a strong armor ability, they are suitable for attacking the enemy from a long distance. Equipped with 4-6 guns. Stormtroopers are designed to reinforce their supporters, equipped with four guns and missiles. As for the interceptors, these ships have little protection, but as scouts they make deft steps and effective maneuvers. Equipped with two guns and missiles.

The battle can take place in the mode as PvP, and PvE. The gamer chooses the mode to his liking. Several battle maps have been developed for each mode. Each of your fights comes down to whether you can master a particular territory or not. The more land you win, the more likely it is that your faction will win and get the mysterious artifacts of a mysterious civilization.

The review of Star Conflict is coming to an end, but before you go to play, you should take a look at the minimum and recommended system requirements of Star Conflict.

In early autumn, the starship action movie solemnly left the MBT and at the same time received a major update that turned it from a thoroughbred session into a kind of online universe. The key word is "peculiar". The focus is still session flights.

Sticks and gears

Team game. "Stay together, or we'll be smeared!" - advises strong-willed captain's voice. Business advises. Sticking together is the most important, although not the only detail of the mechanism of local team interaction.

Part of the reason is the difficult combat system. At crazy speeds, delighting enemies with laser special effects and covering enemy ships with bright energy flashes is not only wonderful in itself, it also feels great. But you do not learn right away to navigate on the fly in three planes. Often, after another series of maneuvers, the ship briskly flies upside down away from the scene of the fight. Fortunately, the pilots have a full-time radar, so you quickly get used to the frantic pace.

Where the sight looks, the ship flies there (if you do not use the free sight function) - an arcade game, what to take from it. But management is easier to master than in any.

There are not too many maps with enclosed spaces, and this is rather frustrating. But these are especially pleasant to drive at ultra-high speeds.	Attempts to catch by surprise most often fail (this does not apply to ships with a built-in Chameleon stealth module): we can see everyone who is visible to our allies. And those instantly scatter across the map.

With star fights raging everywhere, coordinating action is no easy task. Under such conditions, it would be useful to refine the team navigation. Now he manages with a laconic communication system: you can “highlight” this or that object on the radars of your comrades and report something in voice chat, but the overwhelming majority of pilots do not like to use it. But it's one thing when this system is used on land and in the air... and quite another when it comes to space, where up is easily confused with down, and "left" and "right" are even more relative concepts than usual. .

Although with the squadron played, where they do not shy away from communicating by voice, orientation problems are solved by themselves. And claims remain only to a set of modes. On the fertile soil of interstellar battles, phased captures of space bases in the spirit of Assault from, epic collisions of cyclopean frigates, as in (by the way, this has been promised for a long time and maybe even soon), spaceship races, squabbling over asteroids or even entire planets ...

But for now, there is a standard set of six PvP modes available: team deathmatches, holding points, capturing the flag, and other ways to push starships head-on.

In space - emptiness?

The new mode - "Invasion" - in fact, the same open world, divided into forty-six sectors. The mode has huge potential, and it seems that it will be seriously developed in additions and patches. Now flying in outer space is more of a contemplative story - it does not have the aggression that is happening in session battles.

Of the activities in space - piracy, the fight against piracy, the elimination of an alien threat. We kill at breakfast, we kill at lunch, and we definitely spin a couple of starships for dinner. In breaks, we consider the huge quiet outer spaces that we have to fly over to get from sector to sector (although you can “jump” into sectors with large stations instantly, but it will cost a pretty penny). The choice of classes, however, is almost the same everywhere. Unless in zones with free PvP, where you can fire at any ship, it's more fun.

Ship branches correspond to three factions: Jericho, Empire and Federation. The ships of the first one have a strong energy shield, the second one has an outstanding combat capability, and the Federation puts it on speed.

But in any case, if you want PvE, then it's much more pleasant to spend time in instanced missions. Now there are seven of them, the tasks in them are plus or minus the same, but the action is much more concentrated - you don’t have to waste time on flights.

One detail, two details

But with the setting of the ship, complete order. They allow you to modify the engine, capacitor, hull, computer, shield, change weapons, fasten combat modules with new abilities. Add to this a die of forty-five talents, and it turns out that the same model can be assembled in a lot of different ways.

Before PvE missions, they explain in general terms what is happening and where to fly to earn a reward. A full-fledged plot is promised for the future, but so far it does not smell like that.	In the territorial war, battles for sectors on the global map are in full swing. Income from captured areas is divided among the players of the corporation that owns them (similar to clans).

In this situation, it is not enough to assemble your ship - you need to balance the flotilla. Of course, one cannot count on the choice of random comrades at the helm, but in the company of familiar pilots one can experiment. What if everyone transfers to engineering ships that can restore the shield and strength of allied ships? They are not very fast, and they do not differ in range ... but what if it works? And if it doesn't work, you can dilute such a detachment with a couple of fortified frigates. Or interceptors. Or frigates with interceptors. Or attack aircraft with armored interceptors. There are plenty of options.

* * *

While it is difficult to judge whether the developers made a mistake by taking a step towards the open world. On the one hand, you have to compete not with just anyone, but with EVE And . On the other hand, despite the love of space and online roots, these are very different games. EVE paints pictures of economic adventures and corporate conspiracies, Star Citizen, apparently, intends to pass for a simulator. same - a pure action movie, high-speed, fun and without any pretensions to realism.

One way or another, as a session "about space" game, it was quite a success. Refine the unfinished, add the missing, remove the unnecessary - and firmly settle in this niche. Let's see what the developers will focus on in the end.

Pleased

Upset

• flying and shooting is pleasant and fun;
• space is beautiful;
• careful customization of ships.