Hey everyone! I just spent the past week charting the stars in Starcom: Unknown Space, the new action-RPG from indie team Wx3 Labs, and I’m excited to share my cozy, laid-back impressions. If you love building your own starship, diving into mysterious alien worlds, and enjoying some witty banter along the way, this game might be a perfect fit for your next chill gaming session.
Overall Impressions
First off, Starcom brings a satisfyingly meaty universe without feeling overwhelming. The main draw for me was the blend of space exploration, ship customization, and an unfolding sci-fi story full of strange mysteries and competing alien factions. If you’ve played SPaZ 1, Star Control 2, or Starflight, you’ll find familiar comforts here—friendly ship combat, trading runs, and planet-hopping to uncover secrets. What really stood out was how polished everything felt on launch day; I didn’t bump into any bugs, and performance was smooth. On the flip side, mechanics aren’t groundbreaking—if you’re hunting for something that reinvents the wheel, you might feel it’s more of a “done well” than “wow, brand new.” But if you just want a solid, enjoyable space odyssey, Starcom hits all the right notes.
Gameplay Mechanics
Building and customizing your starship is easily the highlight. The editor lets you tweak hull shapes, weapon load-outs, and utility modules, and it’s just plain satisfying to see your design take on alien threats. Combat is simple shoot-’em-up style, but it’s spiced up by special weapons and ship abilities you unlock as you level up. Exploration feels rewarding—scanning planets, making choices in dialogue, and piecing together lore feels like classic space-RPG fun. One player review summed it up: “Solid game, easy to grasp… if you enjoy sci-fi, it ticks all of those boxes.” I agree! The only minor gripe is that after dozens of hours, resource gathering can get a bit repetitive. Still, the variety of missions—rescue runs, faction quests, discovery challenges—helps keep things fresh.
Story and Characters
The story centers on your captain (that’s you!) and your ragtag crew, thrown into a cosmic struggle between warring alien powers. Dialogue is witty and sprinkled with humor, which kept me smiling through tense moments. The characters aren’t super deep, but they’ve each got a distinct personality that shines in side-missions. I especially loved meeting the diplomatic alien race that holds secret archives—you get to pick sides and see the universe react, which adds real weight to your choices. World-building is solid; each star system comes with its own backstory, making exploration feel meaningful rather than just hopping from point A to B.
Visuals and Graphics
Starcom rocks a charming 2D pixel art style with smooth animations. The ship sprites are crisp, the planets have a nice variety of biomes, and space vistas look fantastic with glowing nebulae and drifting asteroids. It’s nostalgic without feeling outdated. The UI is clean and easy to read, which I appreciated when juggling inventory, crew assignments, and ship stats. There’s a cozy vibe to the visuals that fits the tone—no hyper-realism here, just a warm, approachable art style that welcomes you to explore.
Sound and Music
The soundtrack is mellow space jazz at times and more adventurous synth-driven themes when you’re in combat or stumbling into a big plot twist. Sound effects are satisfying: beams hum, rockets whoosh, and explosions pack a punch without feeling too loud. There’s no heavy voice acting, which keeps the budget friendly and lets your imagination fill in the gaps. Overall, the audio design never distracted me. It added just the right atmosphere as I cruised between stars or haggled with traders.
Difficulty and Replayability
I found the difficulty curve gentle but engaging. Early dogfights felt manageable, and ramped up nicely as enemy factions sent bigger threats. If you prefer something more relaxed, you can adjust difficulty in the options. As for replay value, there’s plenty of room to build wildly different ships. And side with different alien groups, and chase hidden achievements. One player noted “plenty of content” and I couldn’t agree more. It took me about 20–25 hours to see the main story through. And I still haven’t maxed out all ship upgrades or discovered every secret system. That’s a great deal, especially since it often goes on sale at a sweet price.
Trivia and Behind-the-Scenes
Wx3 Labs is both developer and publisher, and this is their second big title. They quietly ran an early access on Steam, gathering community feedback to polish bugs and balance gameplay. Fans of their first game are already excited for what’s next. One user said this feels “significantly better than the first game,”. So I’m looking forward to future updates or a possible sequel. It’s always fun to support a small team that clearly listens to its players.
Final Thoughts
Starcom: Unknown Space isn’t trying to reinvent the space-RPG genre. But it nails a cozy, approachable experience that’ll appeal to both newcomers and seasoned star explorers. The ship editor is fun, story moments are entertaining. And the mix of combat, trading, and exploration keeps you busy for dozens of hours. If you like your space adventures with a side of humor and a friendly learning curve, this is a great pick. Especially when it’s on sale.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I’m giving Starcom: Unknown Space a solid 4/5. It’s a well-polished, content-rich indie gem that offers a warm, inviting take on space exploration. It’s not the most innovative title ever, but what it does, it does very well. Making it an easy recommendation for cozy couch-and-coffee-style gaming sessions.
