Gameplay

Overall feel

I had a chance to play one mission in Starlancer (there will be 28 in all) and a Microsoft representative was present to walk me through what was going on. Unlike other space flight sims, Starlancer prides itself on its living environment. You won't feel a vast emptiness out in space; there will be other neutral craft present, going about their business mining asteroids or loading cargo. The 3D space engine looked crisp and detailed, giving the player a good sense of scale between capital ships and fighters. Sound was a bit hard to judge in the noisy confines of E3, but the controls were smooth, fast, and responsive with a force feedback joystick.

Into a worm hole

Warp speed

Meeting an old friend

The gameplay seems to borrow a lot from the old Wing Commander. Besides the speed of play, some familiar elements were there, like the way a missile impact throws the targeted ship off kilter. I got a lot of easy kills by firing a guided missile at an enemy ship. When the missile impacts, it takes down most of the shields on the target and slows it down as it gets knocked into an uncontrolled spin. You can then swoop in and finish it off with your guns pretty easily while it's incapacitated.

The loadout screen

That thing's pretty big