Giveaway of the Day - Star Interceptor

Installation:

There is no desktop or start menu shortcut created when you install the game. Also make a note of where it’s being installed to (or change the path to one you are familiar with such as Program files). The game tried to install itself inside the previously given away game (Space Prince) for me. Clearing out your cookies may stop this from occurring.

The Game:

The game opens up with you orbiting one of the several planets that you can navigate to within two solar systems. The movement controls while orbiting a planet are limited to left and right movements, whereas while in free space you have full movement control. To navigate between planets and the two solar systems press the space bar to go to the planetary map then click on either one of the planets or the other solar system to warp to that place. You can only enter free space when enemy ships are inbound.

Travelling to the other solar system will enable you to enter combat much quicker than waiting for enemy ships to travel from the other solar system. (when I first booted up this game with no idea how it played, I waited in orbit wondering what I was supposed to do – it took several minutes before any enemy ships were sighted on the planetary map, but once I discovered I could warp to the second solar system or to where the enemy ships were on the map I could get into combat within a minute of booting up the game) I would try and avoid orbital conflict because of the lack of movement control. You will soon lose maneuverability if your engines are hit and it’s impossible to hit enemy targets unless they are in the same plane as you. I tried several times and was killed every time, whereas in open space I was able to destroy enemies much easier. You can see any damage taken via the H.U.D.. Just look to the bottom right for the stylized space ship for details of where you have taken damage. Incoming messages such as invasion warnings can be seen via the message box to the top right of the H.U.D. There are two weapons, the Ion Cannon which takes a few seconds to recharge and the lasers which fire at quite a rate initially, but if you keep firing they do slow down a little. Bombs are displayed to the bottom left of the screen, but I’ve not worked out how to disperse them yet. There are repair stations scattered around the solar system that will automatically fix any damage and replenish energy reserves so be sure to warp to one of these areas if you are badly damaged.

The options menu is very limited with sound and music plus blur toggles. When you first start the game you can select from four difficulty levels, Novice, Experienced, Professional and Veteran.

Controls:

Arrow keys ——-Movement
Ctrl—————–Fire weapons
W——————-Toggle weapon selection (Ion Cannon/Laser)
S——————–Shield
Space—————Planetary Map
Mouse————–Select area to warp to

Conclusion:

This is a very basic space shooter with limited control over your ship when in planetary orbit, which leaves you vulnerable to enemy attack because you can only shoot in one plane wheras the enemy can move all around you. I like the navigation system where you warp to various places in the two solar systems.

Overall I’d give it a 5 out of 10 because of the maneuverability problems. If you like space shooters I’m sure you’ll get some pleasure out of playing this game, but I do think overall it’s a frustrating game because half of the game play has been spoiled because of the maneuverability issues; lets hope the developer listens to the complaints today.

There will be no game giveaway tomorrow, but I have got a few freeware games that i’ll be posting so be sure to check over in the game discussion forums for week 78 to 79. There will be another game given away next Saturday, but not on the Sunday.

Hi when I ran this I was presented with a black hole!

If you get the same press “Alt Tab” to get ouT!

There is no “x” in the top right corner
Kill from Windows Task Manager.
Image name
StarInterceptor.exe