Written by Jonathan Lee, August 20, 2018, 4:00pm. Tweet to: @Writerscube
Welcome to an Evolving Frontier
Brought to you by the developers at Trese Brothers Games (and a big thanks to them for providing me a copy of this game!), Star Traders: Frontiers is a deep sandbox-RPG that puts you into the shoes of a Star Trader, a free-exploring captain who must establish contacts, lines of revenue through trade and missions, fend off pirates, and also manage his/her crew. But from the get-go, you’re shown that the galaxy has its own matters to deal with. There are a number of factions about that are vying for influence over their sectors and beyond, and you can choose to be a part of it… or simply ignore it and do your own thing, surfing the waves of galactic events as you best can. And that’s beautiful! If I had to give an approximation as to how this game feels: it’s like if Freelancer, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Oregon Trail had a kickass interstellar baby already kitted out in Templar power armor.
What’s In the Game?
In Star Traders: Frontiers, there are several challenges that the player must take on in order to become a successful Star Trader and ship captain. The first thing you discover in this game is communication and diplomacy. You will have conversations with a lot of characters. Whether it’s a humble retired trader, or a faction leader, you’ll have to talk with these characters to get quests, increase trade access, and participate in the evolving story line if you wish to take part. (In my playthrough, I chose to take part in the main story line.)
But once you’ve taken care of the initial conversations of the game, you’re free to do whatever you want! Want to help a faction prince with clearing his daughter’s name? Go for it! Want to just begin your quest to become the richest trader in the galaxy? Nothing’s stopping you. Or how about being a pirate and just blowing up any and everything you see? Well, that’s not recommended, but you can technically do it!
Ships Galore!
With over 20 ships to buy, tons of weapons and modifications to customize your ship, and multiple factions to trade with, there’s lots to keep your experience as a ship captain fresh. This is good because with so many systems and planets to explore, you’ll eventually get tired of running the same interstellar tugboat that you start with. I would highly recommend getting familiar with the way trade works in this game as that will assist you in building your wealth fast enough to get a new ship sooner than later.
Speaking of ships, ship-to-ship combat is not without depth and strategy. Different weapons are effective at different ranges. In turn, this encourages ship battles to be active because the computer will also be trying to make a move. My favorite part was when ships got into close-range because that means my favorite part of combat: Ship boarding! Remember how you have to manage your crew? The RPG elements continue as you level up your crew and officers as individual characters. With new levels comes new skills, and some of those skills can really help you out in combat. (Believe me, you don’t want to take on Xenos aliens on their own ship without the right skills… I learned that the very hard way.)
Your Ship, Your Crew
More on that crew leveling, a lot of those skills also assist in keeping your ship together as you travel the stars. Your ship travels in measurements of AU (astronomical units, the distance between Earth and the Sun). In an almost-Oregon-Trail fashion, as your ship travels every AU, there’s a chance for an event to happen. Most of those random events involve the ship having some sort of issue or run-in. The competency and skills of your crew will determine whether your ship experiences a minor breakdown, or maybe someone dies of a space disease (so far no space dysentery, but who knows!)
Final Thoughts
There’s so much depth in this game and its various stages of play, I don’t feel like I’ve experienced it all. As the galaxy’s story evolves, I keep finding surprises. One moment, I thought I had found a way to balance my ship’s costs vs revenue (via trade and missions) and for a time it was good. But BAM! Political upheaval takes over the galaxy as a character I was helping earlier was now trying to establish a new world order. Every choice you make adds a new layer to the story and how it moves forward.
This game began from humble beginnings as an Early Access title that didn’t have much at the start, but Trese Brothers has done some amazing work in listening to community feedback and building Star Traders: Frontiers up to what it’s become. It’s one of the few shining examples of what happens when a studio listens to its gamers and takes their feedback to heart while also pursuing their vision. As Cory Trese, co-founder of Trese Brothers Games, said:
“We set out to demonstrate exactly how Early Access should be done. We did it the Trese Brothers way – hammering out 87 updates, including huge new features and swathes of content, all without ever invalidating a saved game or pausing more than a few days between big updates. Throughout all this, we’ve also responded to every player thread on Steam. Yes, that might mean we’re crazy – but interacting with our community is extremely important to us.”
It’s always heartening to see a developer that believes so strongly in community engagement, and the quality of Star Traders: Frontiers is a testament to the developer’s desire to listen to constructive feedback and how community engagement is becoming more and more of a driving force in games development.
