STAR CONTROL

 STAR CONTROL takes the old arcade classic SPACE WARS and updates it with
state-of-the-art graphics and sound, and an entirely new strategic level of
play. Players control up to fourteen different ship types as they attempt to
subjugate the Universe (as the Hierarchy), or destroy the Urquan scourge (as the
Alliance). STAR CONTROL requires players to combine arcade tactics and strategic
skills to be successful. Those who like both types of games should find STAR
CONTROL to be a real treat. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)

 STAR CONTROL is actually two distinct games that are cleverly interwoven. In
the first game, you fly a ship against an enemy in a space dogfight. This
tactical module uses an overhead view with an automatic zoom as the ships
approach each other. The strategic view allows ships to be built and maneuvered
across a star cluster.

 In the tactical view, each ship has a unique method of flight and unique
weaponry. For instance, the Earthling ship is slow-moving, with decent turning
ability. It fires a heat-seeking missile with good range and fair accuracy. It
also has a close-range point defense laser system. The Urquan Dreadnought is a
medium-speed ship with decent maneuverability. It fires a medium range bolt that
does heavy damage. It also can release about half a dozen small fighters that
can close with enemy ships and fire independently.

 There are a total of fourteen ships in the game: seven for the Hierarchy
forces, and seven for the Federation. Not only do the weapons and flight
characteristics differ, but so do fuel and crew capacities. The crew capacity
determines how much damage a ship can take. Powerful ships, such as the Urquan
Dreadnought, can take enormous damage. The Arilou can take very little, and may
be eliminated with one good shot.

 Fuel is required to fire the main weapons, and a full level of fuel is required
to use the special weapon/ability that each ship has. As with crew capacity,
fuel levels vary from ship to ship. However, with fuel capacity, more is not
necessarily better. A ship with a relatively small fuel capacity can replenish
more quickly, and therefore can use its special ability more often.

 Ships are controlled by turning and using forward thrust. Inertia effects are
accurately modeled so that ships often shoot past each other, all guns blazing.
In many battles, a planet is present that has a strong gravitational field.
Ships can use this field to slingshot by, and gain on their opponents. But
beware: Slower ships (such as the Earthling and Chenjesu) can be easily trapped
in the field. Damage is taken every time a ship collides with the planet, so a
trapped ship will soon be destroyed.

 The second part of the game is a strategy module in which both sides maneuver
within a star cluster. This strategy module actually comprises nine scenarios
with varying starting forces and objectives. In most of the scenarios, the sides
start at opposite ends of the star cluster. Each side begins with a certain
number of ships and installations.

 Generally, you're attempting to wipe out the opposition. This involves
destroying all enemy ships, or the enemy Starbase. To accomplish these goals,
you must hop from star to star until at least one of your ships is in the same
star system as an enemy ship. At the end of the turn, a battle ensues in each
star system, with ships present from both sides.

 This battle is fought using the tactical module. If more than one ship is
present for a side, each ship participates if necessary, but one at a time.
Thus, all clashes are resolved as one-on-one dogfights.

 In the strategic level, you have numerous options available (besides jumping
from star to star). First, if you have a Starbase, it can build new ships if it
has sufficient funds to do so. Each ship has different costs, with the more
powerful ships costing nearly four times as much as the weakest ship.

 You may build mines on stars with mineral worlds. These mines contribute funds
to your treasury that can then be used to build ships. You may also build
colonies on life worlds. Colonies can replenish ships that have lost crew
members. They also aid the movement of friendly ships.

 Finally, you may construct fortifications on a star system. Fortifications halt
the movement of enemy ships. For an enemy ship to leave a fortified star, it
must succesfully besiege the fortification (10% chance per attempt), or be
joined by a second ship.

 Two or more enemy ships automatically destroy a fortification. A single enemy
ship automatically destroys any non-fortified mine, colony, or Starbase. Note
however, that this is done _after_ combat with any other ships in the system.
Only surviving enemy ships (if any) can destroy installations or fortifications.

 Finally, you may take only three actions each turn. An action includes
beginning construction of an installation, movement between two stars, and
building a new ship. Thus, you must carefully evaluate your priorities and
anticipate possible enemy moves.

 A wild card thrown into the strategic level is the random presence of Precursor
artifacts. These artifacts are objects left behind by an earlier,
technologically advanced race. They are randomly discovered on new worlds, and
augment some aspect of the discovering ship. For example, Precursor fuel packs
increase a ships's fuel capacity.

 If you exhaust the possibilities of the nine Fleet scenarios included with the
game, you may use a construction kit to create new scenarios. The game lets you
customize the keyboard commands so that you may set up your ship controls in any
manner you like.

 The authors also include an option whereby you may hand over control of the
tactical or strategic play to the computer. Thus, if you dislike arcade games,
you can play the strategic level only. And of course, if you live for arcade
shoot-'em-ups, you can hand over the strategic play to the computer.

 STAR CONTROL also supports two player face-to-face play, and should be most
challenging with human opponents.

 You may set the difficulty level of the computer opponent. At Standard level,
the computer player is quite good, but will not use its ship's special
abilities. At Good, the computer player begins using special abilities. At
Awesome, the computer plays a bit more aggressively and intelligently. One
quibble with the game is that the difference between Standard and Good is far
more pronounced than the difference between Standard and Awesome.

 STAR CONTROL uses spectacular 256-color VGA graphics. The close-ups of the
different world types are particularly well-done. However, the strategic and
tactical views are less spectacular, and look almost as good in standard EGA
mode. In addition, Tandy graphics and CGA graphics are supported.

 The game requires 640K of RAM in VGA and Tandy modes, but runs in 512K on EGA
and CGA systems. It may be installed on your hard drive, and is distributed on
5-1/4" disks; 3-1/2" disks are available from Accolade. Copy protection is
handled via a codewheel that's used once at the beginning of play only. AdLib,
Roland, CMS, and Tandy sound modes are supported. The game also incorporates
digitized sounds that play quite well through a standard PC speaker.

 I found STAR CONTROL to offer surprising depth of play. Initially, it seemed to
be little more than an updated arcade game. But the different ship types put a
whole new twist on matters. Moreover, the strategic module, while simple,
provides interesting options to the game player. Add in the adjustable
difficulty level and the scenario builder, and you have a game with a very
long-playing life.

 So, after a slow start, I can now heartily recommend STAR CONTROL to those who
like both arcade and strategy games. If you prefer arcade only, I can still
recommend the game. But if you abhor arcade games, I cannot recommend it:
Although you can have the computer handle the arcade sequences, the strategic
module is not complex enough to hold most strategy gamers' interest on its own
merits.

 STAR CONTROL is published and distributed by Accolade.

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