I think my opinion is somewhat contaminated by having high expectations for the game, largely because I got it when it was in alpha and was more impressed with the early stages of development than I was expecting.  I initially thought of it as a spiritual successor to Freelancer, which in retrospect is perhaps a bit overzealous.

I agree with the issues you pointed out with the UI.  I'm quite surprised that the UI didn't improve much as it was about the same in the early days.

It is a very nice open world, but my biggest issue is the combat.  If you compare it to say, Star Trek Online (I think they were going for a Starfleet Command sort of thing), I'd take STO any day, even though SPG2 does fewer ridiculous confining-to-plane things.  There just isn't a big enough variety of weapons and abilities.  Half way through STO you have a whole tray of like 30 different abilities with lots of different types of hardpoints and equipment to customize them.  SPG2 simply doesn't give you nearly as many interesting toys, so combat gets monotonous awfully fast.  Also I find the sort of camera control they have awkward to use while also aiming.

Still, even with all the space games in development, there is quite a vacuum in the genre at the moment, and SPG2 helps fill it.  As you say, the developers have been quite active, and there is a growing modding community, so I'm sure I'll find something to go back to SPG2 for some day, even after my current 32 hours in it.

Ah good point with STO, that type of system is a lot better and more fun to play (I need to get back into that game btw). I tried to really point out the improvement over SPG1 which this is. And with a good DLC or patch they could implement a more robust officer system (like leveling our officers) and maybe introduce more skills/perks. I agree that SPG2 does fill that certain gap in space games that has been missing and in a way they have monopolized on this area an is the game of choice here, but they have the opportunity to build a solid franchise with a bit more attention to detail.

Not played it enough to pass any sort of judgment on it but I do like the look of the game and the seamless universe they have created for it along with the different ways you can move around it. Although having said that I do have one niggle with the jump gates I would have preferred to have seen a map of the destinations rather than a menu.

I actually haven't used a gate yet... been using those riftways, you travel pretty fast in them.

If LGM adds some of the small attention to detail the game will be great. It just needs those small things. I am not sure how much Oculus features will add to the game (plus I don't have one) but the game I don't think lends itself well to that type of peripheral.

My mistake as I have just discovered you do see the map when you use a gate for some reason it was not showing before.

Dose anyone else get corrupted graphic when they start the game mostly on the hud and menus, strange thing is that it seems to settle down after about 10-15 minutes of play and the game will run fine apart from the odd bit of slow down when moving to a new sector.

The game reminds me lot of Freelancer in the look and feel of it but with bigger ship, it also has some great music in it and I like the voice acting although the voices do not always match the picture of character speaking. 😆

Thank you for the review!

@PINBACK as far as I'm aware is that this happens on some drivers on win 8.0. Upgrading to 8.1 and newest drivers fixes those issues.

I am using Windows 7 weird thing is that it seem to be random as I can start the game and it will run without any graphical glitches other times I have to do a reload.

Is it possible  to play it with a joystick? Can i move in the third dimension? In SPG 1 you can also pilot on a plane and the ship is driven with mouse clicking....i hate it!

How is the dogfight?

Hi Natan,

yes is possible to play with joystick, gamepad and Hotas system. It's still partial support, not full. But majority of people is ok with it. 

Unlike SPG1, whole SPG2 is in full 3D. Dogfight is a wrong word for battles in SPG2. You can dogfight in a small fighter, in Elite or Star Citizen. In Starpoint Gemini 2, you command big, capital ships so battle would be appropriate fight. Our community can tell you if they like it. I will not since I work for LGM. Check some videos, there are plenty on YouTube, all made by community members. 

I think i'll buy SPG 2 but  not  now...i'm playing X Rebirth for the  moment.

Hi,

I have a Steam install of SPG2, and plan to take a deeper look, also at X-Rebirth 3.0, but I definitly have to abandon the idea to play these games on my Pentium i5 laptop (although quad core, my grafics are only 1GB dedicated), so I'm at the minimum and  waiting for my new desktop i7, with a 2 GB card, that should be reasonable.

In the meantime, lowering the resolution helps (1600x900) and SPG2 will start, still looking good. So I hope I don't get interuptet by overheating... it will be the last time I use a laptop for gaming.

There have been several important changes to SPG2 since v. 1.006, it's a pleasure that the devs publish a lot of updates and are very responisve to the game community. The most important change that has been made evolves around the combat AI, which was said to be considerably improved and some menu interface screens added, probably for item information, but I can't comment on both additions, because I haven't played enough yet.

I'm eager to see all those features of the Review in action, I was already very pleased by SPG1, except the truncated worlds by the loading screens, wihich now are gone.

I will comment further.

Cheers,

XenonS

Laptop are bad for playing even if you have a powerfull (and expensive) one. The display is small and color quality and contrast are inferior compared to the desktop ones. With 1000 euros you take a good laptop but with the same badget you can buy a very excellent desktop case far more powerfull. Laptops overheating expecially in summer.

I haven't played SPG2 since my review and I need to pick it up again and start playing because LGM has released some nice patches. Tip of the hat to them btw, they have done a great job with churning out fixes and new features for SPG2. This is a improvement over SPG1 release.

You can game on laptops its just you can really game on the laptops you buy at Bestbuy for $400 :). A good gaming laptop will be over $1k, I don't use laptops just because they tend to die out quicker than desktops.

I've recently tried Starpoint Gemini 2 and found it wanting sadly.

My main gripe is ..well, ok..that it's not Freelancer to be frank. ,)

Seriously though, the lack of strafing and the offcenter chase cam are the two that comes to mind first.

The strafing I can sort of understand, what with bigger ships available, but it could have a positive impact even so. Especially when starting out or if you prefer going at it solo in a small-ish ship.

The offcenter chase cam I can't understand at all..

Why would every other camera view center in the middle but the chase cam force you to align your target at the top of your screen?

Doing so makes it a bit harder to engage enemy ships. When you try to shoot them you are forced upwards thanks to being offcenter.

It boggles the mind.

Some minor annoyances are;

The difficulty of orientating yourself. (a list if nearby objects would have been nice, instead of that 3D map which I always found confusing and not very helpful even though I understand it)

Knowing what you are picking up before you loot it so you know if you can pick up everything, being able to change items if you get a better one, and lastly don't get scanned and arrested for contraband (though the pop-up saying so helps, its annoying to have to go into the cargo space and destroy it every single time.)

The "power-ups"/"cards" don't really do anything for me and I've yet to use them nor will I most likely. They also feel rather out of place.

Sort of in that same vein, the enhancements and one-time-use items seem odd..though it's a very minor annoyance.

The cost for most things are way too high, or the rewards you get are too small..Either way, getting anywhere, upgrading/shipwise is a chore.

Some other small things as well...

Ah yes, the first game I had font trouble with. I use an old CRT screen as my main monitor and have it on 1280x1024 (used to be 1024x768, then 1152x864).

To be able to read the text, and not have it blur, I had to up the resolution to 14**x1024.

Now, don't get me wrong, it looks good, feels alive and tries out new things.

If you prefer playing in cockpit and/or bridge mode, it could very well tide you over until the next game.

Also, massive props for including third person chase cam (even if they got it slightly wrong) unlike Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen.

Not entirely sure about Elite: Dangerous but the no offline aspect puts another dent into it as well.

Hi Bouitaz,

As for camera views, that was changed through alpha and beta and majority accepted these options. Some people wanted FPS view so we implemented that as well. I understand you don't like that, but I think when you get used to it, it's not a dealbreaker.

Orientation is always confusing in full 3D. I think it's more individual problem then game problem. Don't get me wrong, I can turn the ship around once and I'm already totally lost, but most people I saw playing had no problems whatsoever with orientation. You can spin them, turn them, roll them around, and they know exactly where they are. On the bright side, someone said that people like us, who don't have good orientation which is primarily men's skill, usually are more creative and with more vivid imagination. Who knows. 🙂

When you loot a derelict or captured ship, you can use context menu (middle mouse button) for looting and you will see exactly what you're looting. And if you destroy something, you can just collect what is around. And it can be anything. So you can see what you're looting, but it depends on your approach.

Power ups/Cards? I'm not sure if you're refering to skills (4 icons in the botom left bar). If so, the skills are very useful but if you have a skil with 0 points in it, yu won't do anything. Skills get better with level. On my lvl 80 character I've put everything in Railgunner and Heavy Weapons. The difference when I use that is huge. Big Perun dreadnaughts dropping like flies, my missiles tearing them for half hull damage. But those are two skills that I maxed out, I don't even use the other two because it's like a build tree in RPGs. If yu're a fire mage, your frostbolt wouldn't do much, but your Fireball will give you extra crit, damage, burn over time effect and so on... 

Enhancements work the same. If you have a railgun weapon that is strong, put damage boosting enchantment on it and then use Damage Boost item + Weapons max energy transfer and Skill Railgunner, that enchantment's multiplier will be cumulative with all other bonuses and for the short time you will tear through enemies like knife through butter. 

One time use items are fine if you ask me. You can get damage boost, speed boost, hull repair, shield boost, you have scavenger bots, borehole torpedoes, Seth, Atlas, many different useful items that are consumed on use, but can make a difference when it counts. 

Many people said that things are way to cheap and the game way to easy. You said that everything is too expensive. That's the constant problem we will have. We are doing our best, but we just can't statisfy everyone. No game can. I can just suggest that you try capturing ships first. Capturing ships gives high money but is also hogher risk as it should be. With that approach, you can get pretty decent amount of money in no time. I'm under impression that you didn't play much, because most players are getting nice amounts after 3 or 4 captured ships which takes under two hours, with new game and with reading tutorials and stuff. Please, try to give it more time.

Fonts size is something that some people mentioned. There is a mod in Workshop, and I also posted in on GoG SPG2 forum, which increases fonts (Bog Font Mod). But if you think these fonts are small, which they are, please try EvE Online. 😀 I have 24" Dell IPS screen and I can barely read it. And I'm sitting 40 cm from my screen and have healthy eyes. 🙂 Anyway, please check that mod, maybe it will solve that problem for you. 🙂

In comparison to Elite (although I don't like those comparisons between different genres):

1. ED fps space flight simulator / SPG2 is a third person tactical combat simulator

2. ED is MMO, although nothing MMOish about it works at this time / SPG2 is single player only game

3. ED is made by a big dev team, and bigger budget / SPG2 was made by small budget and 9 people all together. 

4. ED gives you the option to be miner, trader, pirate, bounty hunter or explorer / SPG2 gives you those same options.

5. ED has a nice ambiental soundtrack / SPG2 has a nice ambiental soundtrack

6. Unfinished ED costs 50€ / Finished SPG2 with many additional free content updates costs 30€

I'm not saying that SPG2 is better then Elite cause those games are basically uncomparable unless you compare their prices, music or general character occupations. I have Elite, and I play Elite and I love Elite, but currently, it's a half finished product that does not work as advertised. SPG2 is another story entirely. It's an indie project, it works pretty nice and there are no major problems with it. Both SPG2 and Elite can be played offline and there is nothing else to compare between those two. You can compare ED and SC (which I also pledged), because those are basically same genres (cockpit view, first person, space sim MMOs). Elite wins that until SC gets released.

I'm not active here every day, but I read when I can (I'm active on official SPG2 forum, Steam, GoG, Twitter and Facebook ), but if you have any additional questions, I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities. 🙂