Stardrive - Initial Thoughts

About the Game (From the Steam Store Page)

StarDrive sets a new benchmark for the ‘4X Space Strategy’ genre. Starting with a single planet and a small number of space-worthy vessels, you must venture forth into the galaxy, conquer new worlds, build new colonies and defend your very existence against those who would take what is yours. How you play is your decision. Use diplomacy or brute force. Trade, spy and research your way to galactic domination. Make friends, or create mortal enemies…

The heart of StarDrive is its ship design and combat engine.

StarDrive takes a modular approach to ship design, allowing the player to create custom ships where the composition and placement of ship modules really matters to the performance of a ship.. In combat, if your portside armour is taking a beating, then rotate around and show them the starboard side! Hide behind a friendly capital ship’s shields; warp into and out of the fray, launch fighters, lay mines, and so much more.

Previous Playtime

69 minutes

What Was I Thinking When I Bought This

Oh, such a long time ago, but if I recall, Stardrive was getting some very favorable advance buzz, and every time I saw a new screenshot I thought it looked polished and accessible. However, it languished for quite some time on my wishlist until that infamous 2014 Summer Sale, when I was apparently just buying everything that caught my eye.

Expectations and Prior Experience

This is a game that I was aware of for some time before I bought it, and which I owned for even longer without getting around to actually playing it, but about a year ago, I was debating over which game to play next after Star Ruler 2 and I was on a bit of a space 4X high, so I decided to start this one up and see if it hooked me.

If I recall, it was a decently-executed space 4X game, with a fun ship-designing minigame inside, but it did nothing particularly special to justify me playing three space 4X games in a row.

Now, we'll see if that assessment was correct. I'm expecting a relatively painless gaming experience, but given the venom of some of the reviews StarDrive is getting, I imagine most of my enjoyment will be due to my uncritical love of the genre.