Startopia
$19.95		(Win95/98/ME) (DVD Case) (STARROPPR)

Publisher: Eidos

Animated Violence / Suggestive Themes

Ratings:

9/10 from Eurogamer

The Ultimate Space Station Simulator of the Future!

Imagine a place where starships, space stations, and planets have been fully restores. Imagine alien races hand in hand under one united barrier. And imagine leading an entire civilization back to the glory days of the old empire.

Welcome to Startopia - Welcome to our future.

Building a Better Future

In the aftermath of an intergalactic war between powerful alien races, a once thriving network of starships, space stations and planets are left lifeless, scars of the apocalypse. As stationmaster, your mission is to rebuild the abandoned space stations, reunite the surviving alien races, and restore the old empire.

Populated by a diverse and often volatile alien species, each space station is alive with crime, commerce, leisure pursuits, racial animosity and friendships. With this in mind, reconstruct and operate your station by managing the diverse skills inherent to each of the various resident aliens, and protect your personnel against threats such as meteor showers, alien vermin infestations, space pirates and nasty plague outbreaks.

Naturally, others are conspiring against you to take control of your space station. It will be only a matter of time before you need to confront your opponents. Will you overcome them with economic strength or military power?

The future of Startopia is in your hands!

Game Features:

• Rebuild and maintain space stations while developing fully functional alien societies
• Compete against up to three other players in the ultimate struggle for control of the station
• Create a utopian home for nine alien races, each with their own special skills and unique personalities
• Stop deadly diseases, reform dangerous convicts, combat alien threats, entertain guests, expand energy resources and more

Deal with the Quirks of Alien Society

Race: Karmarama
Personality: Laid-back passive environmentalists
Strengths: Plant and animal maintenance
Weakness: Spread annoying bad karma when displeased

Race: Kasvagorian
Personality: Proud, noble warriors who thrive on conflict
Strengths: Security operatives
Weakness: Prone to start a fight just for the fun of it

Race: Dahenese Siren
Personality: Peaceful, loving beings
Strengths: Keep inhabitants content through love and pleasure
Weakness: Will seduce and distract staff, decreasing productivity

Race: Zedem Monk
Personality: High religious
Strengths: Provides spiritual guidance
Weakness: Will try to convert all of your staff to religious fanatics

Race: Grey
Personality: Modest, non-threatening explorers
Strengths: Extensive medical knowledge and finely honed surgical skills
Weakness: Overexposure to infectious patients

Race: Groulien Salt Dog
Personality: Hard working and loyal
Strengths: Will happily perform mundane tasks for little pay
Weakness: If mistreated or under worked, may strike

Race: Polvakian Gem Slug
Personality: Self-indulgent aristocrats
Strengths: If kept happy, will excrete an energy source
Weakness: Hard to keep happy

Race: Thyorian Grekka-Tark
Personality: Easy-going
Strengths: Data and communications specialists
Weakness: If bored, will use computer skills to spy on residents

Race: Turakken
Personality: Intelligent and inventive
Strengths: Research and engineering
Weakness: Tendency to meddle with perfectly good systems

Requirements:

Windows 95/98/ME- Pentium II 450 MHz or higher (Pentium III or equivalent recommended), 64 MB RAM (128 MB RAM recommended), DirectX8 compliant 3D accelerator card with 8 MB VRAM (32 MB VRAM recommended), DirectX 8 compliant sound card, 4x CD-ROM drive, 300 MB free hard disk space (400 MB free hard disk space recommended), keyboard and mouse.

Multiplayer: Internet (TCP/IP) or LAN (TCP/IP & IPX) supported. 56K or faster connection required. GameSpy software included.

Reviews:

Eurogamer by John "Gestalt" Bye

"Imagine if the Death Star had been privatised, or if the jokers behind the Millenium Dome were let loose on Babylon 5. Add a cast of bizarre aliens, from your standard grey Reticulan to giant four-armed purple hippies and swimsuit-wearing sirens. Throw in a healthy dose of humour inspired by the late great Douglas Adams, and garnish with pop culture references to the likes of Star Wars and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Simmer gently for three years, et voila - Startopia!"

"Mucky Foot have done a great job of bringing the space station to life, and it looks even better in motion than it does in the screenshots. Your aliens are always up to something, moshing in the disco, chatting with each other, stopping to admire a statue, enjoying a swift pint at the local bar, or running away screaming (silently - this is space, after all) as a giant black beetle that appears to have escaped from Starship Troopers drops in for a little light refreshment."

"Startopia is more of a toy than a game in the traditional sense of the word, and playing with your aliens and messing around in their world can be a lot of fun, even without the pressure of rival managers to defeat. It's not a game that takes itself too seriously either, from the parody of 2001 in the opening cinematic to the alien visitors who list their hobbies as mutilating cattle and hovering over Mexico City. And although every station is exactly the same size and shape, the variety of missions included and the endless permutations available in the sandbox and multiplayer modes mean that you aren't likely to get bored in a hurry. One of the best strategy games we've seen so far this year, and also one of the funniest."

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