Starlink: Battle for Atlas
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Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a space combat action game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. It was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 16, 2018 and a Microsoft Windows version released on April 30, 2019. The game is aimed at younger audiences of eight and above and similar to Skylanders and Disney Infinity, the game is a toys to life game.
Plot
In the Atlas system, the mothership of the Starlink team, the Equinox, is ambushed by a mysterious force known as the Legion. The attack causes the Equinox to crash on the planet and their leader, St. Grand, is captured by the Legion. We learn that the Legion is led by Grax, who is obsessed with an ancient race known as the Wardens. The Wardens are extinct, but they left much of their ancient technology behind.
In the Switch version of the game, the Star Fox team (from Nintendo's Star Fox franchise) aids the efforts of the Starlink team and also have a mission of their own: to hunt down Wolf O'Donnell, who seems to be hiding in the Atlas system. The Switch version also includes exclusive DLC with a plot about the Star Fox team battling the rest of the Star Wolf team.
Good Qualities
- Addicting gameplay hook. The basic gameplay revolves around saving the planets in the Atlas system from Legion corruption. You do this by taking down Extractors, which limit your ship's flight and visibility. If you destroy enough Extractors, the Prime will be located. If the Prime isn't eliminated, more Extractors will be created. Once the Prime is destroyed, Legion power on the planet will be decreased dramatically. To stop Primes from landing on the planet again, you must destroy the Dreadnought above the planet to stop Legion presence once and for all. While Dreadnoughts will come back, you can keep the planet defended from Legion presence by using in-game currency to set up outposts to keep the planet defended from Legion attack. The hook is simple, but very fun to play and keeps players coming back to defend the planets.
- The aforementioned outpost system. On planets, you build structures to do a variety of things. The higher tier the outpost, the more Starlink presence is gained on the planet. Each outpost has a different ability that benefits the player. In addition, they can be upgraded to make the following effects more powerful.
- Observatories are used to uncover the map of a planet and are useful when you don't want to explore the whole planet yourself.
- Refineries are built to mine resources from the planet to give the player varying amounts off Electrum (the main in-game currency).
- Workshops are made to create more mods for the player to use.
- Armories are built to defend the planet while the player is away.
- The game has a huge world to explore right from the get-go, with seven planets (eight in the Crimson Moon update) and a large field of space to connect all of the locations together. Each planet has their own theme and looks different from one another and have their own enemies and native creatures. Each location has a lot of places to explore, each with landmarks to discover. The space environment is also very large, with a lot of small locations to find materials and a plethora of Outlaw bases to take down. In addition, each of the planets vary in size, with Ashar being very small and easy to explore thoroughly, and Tundra being large and takes time to fully find all landmarks.
- The graphics look very good and the environments are well detailed. The space environment in particular is very beautiful to look at, with the many stars and nebulae in the background, and viewing the planets from space also gives the feeling of how small you are in the world. Even the Switch version looks good and is only a little blurry in comparison.
- The Nintendo Switch version is arguably the best version of the game. The reason why is because the Switch version includes console exclusive features that aren't in the other versions. The biggest and most obvious is the inclusion of the Star Fox characters into the story and gameplay. The Switch version also comes with a physical Arwing fighter to attach to use in the game You can also use Fox McCloud as a playable pilot. This edition also comes with a new side mission about finding Wolf in the Atlas system, with the plot almost feeling like a story for a Star Fox game that never was. The Switch version also has the advantage of getting two ships included, with the Zenith ship being digital in the Switch version.
- In addition, later Switch exclusive DLC would add Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad as playable characters, each with their own special abilities based on the Star Fox games. The DLC also included a new side mission that revolves around hunting down the Star Wolf team.
- Endless ship customization. Each ship is made from using a base to include the pilot, and weapons and wings can be attached onto the base in many ways. Based on how you create your ship, it will have different stats, based on which wings, weapons, and base you chose to use. For example, the Nadir is based around getting around quickly and the Zenith is the jack-of-all-trades kind of ship. You can chose to make your ship just a base with two weapons on it, a ship with multiple wings attached to one side and none on the other, or whatever crazy abominations you come up with. Finally, you can also equip skins on your ship that gives them a different color sheme.
- In addition, you can change or enhance the stats of your ships using mods, which are earned by completing quests, taking down Extractors, Primes, and Dreadnoughts, or by finding chests that give you them when opened. Each weapon and ship base can hold a certain amount of mods at one time. Each mod enhances your ship in someway and usually also have a disadvantage as well. The mods range in rarity and the higher the rarity, the better the effect. You can even craft three mods together to get the same one at a higher rarity.
- Memorable characters. Each of the pilots has their own design and personality that makes each of them unique. Their varied designs and personas almost make them feel like they are characters from a hero shooter game like Overwatch. Ina ddition, each of the pilots have their own unique abilities to use in battle. Fox McCloud, for example, can call upon another member of the Star Fox team to aid him in battle. Another good example is Judge, who can slow down enemies around him while being able to move at normal speed with unlimited weapon power.
- The game even includes some light puzzle solving. While most of the puzzles are optional and only a few come up in the main campaign, they are clever enough to make players want to do them. They consist of using the different elemental types of your weaponry and combine them to complete the puzzle.
- The free Crimson Moon update adds some more content into the game. These include a small new environment known as the Crimson Moon, the Outlaw Racing and Arena gameplay modes, new weapon mods, weekly challenges, and new quests to take on. It also added the aforementioned Switch exclusive Star Fox DLC to the game.
- Despite being a toys-to-life game, you don't need to attach the the figures to your controller to play. You can play the game without the peripherals as long as you have used one once before. You can also buy all of the equipment digitally, which is a cheaper alternative to having the physical toys. The physical toys themselves are well detailed and look cool.
- The game isn't completely built around players buying more of the toys to play the game. Almost all of the optional content can be found with using what comes with the game and the game can be finished easily using the base pack.
- Even though the game was aimed primarily at kids, it is appealing to all audiences and is a good example of how to make a good kids game. The gameplay is simple enough for younger players to understand, but complex enough that adults playing the game won't get bored.
Bad Qualities
- Like every other toys-to-life game, the experience is built around being given a small amount of equipment and characters at the beginning and having to buy more to increase your loadout. This game isn't an exception and there are a lot of things to purchase before you have everything.
- It should be noted that there was a time where Ubisoft would allow players to try out the different ships and weapons for a short time to help decide if they want to purchase them, but that isn't an option anymore.
- Despite the gameplay hook being very fun and easy to get into, the fact that the game never goes beyond that can be a deal-breaker for some people.
- Even though they all have a unique visual style, the planets can all look the same at a glance.
- Some of the main game quests are pretty much fetch quests or "do this thing" objectives, with the player having to go somewhere to do a task or finding something and bringing it back. This is mostly common in the side quests and optional tasks.
- Despite most of them being interesting and memorable, some of the characters are very annoying and are unlikable. Levi McCray is the worst offender, with his annoying voice, cringe inducing dialogue, and a stupid backstory (He is an internet star). His character design is also very bland, as he looks like a stereotypical teenager.
- Getting 100% completion of the game is almost pure torture. To do it, you have to scan every lifeform on all of the planets, explore every nook and cranny on the planets and in space, and purchase all the different weapon and ship types and pilots and max them all out. It doesn't help that exploring space will take a long time as it is very large. It's so large that the creator of this page only managed to completeley explore 10% on the space environment. Finally, it isn't worth it anyway, as the game has no reward for getting 100% completion.
Reception
Starlink: Battle for Atlas received mixed to positive reviews on the Xbox One, but mixed-to-average reviews for the Switch and PS4 versions. Nintendo Life gave the Switch version a 9/10, while Nintendo World Report gave the game an 8/10. Critics praised the gameplay and the Switch version in particular was praised for the inclusion of the Star Fox elements. However, sales of the game where below Ubisoft's expectations due to releasing after the toys-to-life fad.
Trivia
- The Switch version of the game is the best selling version due to it featuring Star Fox and the game having a lot of exclusive content.
- Many people bought the game just because the Star Fox team is in the Switch version, and due to how well incorporated they are into the game, they can be used for the entire experience, and that the game itself feels almost like a Star Fox game, it has earned the fan title of Star Fox: Battle for Atlas.
- Due to poor sales of the game, Ubisoft stopped all production of Starlink toys in 2019.
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