Sigma Star Saga

"Truly original, but not for everyone."

Sigma Star is a game that claims quite a bit. The back of the box goes on about the original gameplay and the in depth storyline. The game is certainly unique, but can it stand up to these claims? Read on, true believer.

Gameplay
The gameplay is divided into two parts: Exploration and Battle.

In exploration, your character, Ian Recker, moves around an RPG-style overworld. There are enemies, but they have no connection to the Battle stage. Rather, Recker can destroy them with his pistol to collect health or smart bombs, which are used primarily in the battle stage. Recker collects a variety of tools for use in the overworld throughout the game, and even fights the occasional mini-boss there, although those fights primarily consist of holding the shoot button.

The real action takes place in battle. The battles play like a scrolling shooter, with Recker piloting a randomly selected craft from a small selection. In the random battles, Recker must destroy a certain number of foes to move on.

Battle has its good points and its bad points. On the good side, The fights are fun at first, and being able to use a variety of ships is nice. The boss fights, including the random minibosses, are a blast to fight. On the bad side, there is way to escape battle, and since fights are random, this tends to get old. The random ship selection sometimes screws you over completely. Very often you'll find yourself piloting a huge, nearly immobile craft through a small tunnel. Death forces you back to your last save, and save points are somewhat infrequent, especially early on.

The game has a fairly basic level system. Kill enemies in battle, collect EXP orbs, and level up to increase your attack and defense.

One of the game's trademarks is the gun data system. In Exploration mode, Recker can find chips that allow him to customize his ship's primary weapon. (This weapon carries on from ship to ship.) There are three different types pf gun data: Cannon, which effects how your shots come out, Shot, which effects the type of shot, and Impact, which adds an after effect to the shot, such as forming a barrier or spawning a health powerup.
7/10

Graphics
Not bad, overall. The ships, enemies and environments in Battle are all well drawn and detailed. The graphics suffer a bit in Exploration, and the characters look a bit goofy, but it's nothing terrible.
8/10

Sound
The music does what music should do, and not much else. There are a few nice tracks, but it's generall forgettable.

The sound effects are basic shooter fare. As for voice acting, a few major characters will say something along the lines of "Hey!" every now and then. Nothing special.
5/10

Story
The game's story is well above average, and was definitely a pleasant surprise.

Earth is being invaded by the Krill, an alien race of purple, human-shaped beings who are hosts to complex parasites. Your character, Recker, is an ace pilot who has been chosen to infiltrate the Krill ranks as a double agent.

That's all I can really say without spoiling anything. But let me say, there's quite a bit going on in the plot, and it's quite complex.

As for characters, they are, for the most part, original and interesting. The only major exception is the main character, Recker, who is a boring jackass. The one-liner NPCs have more personality than he does.

Unfortunately, the game's plot ends just after it really begins. It doesn't really begin to pick up until you're near the end.

There are 4 endings in all, but none are drastically different.
8/10

Controls
Fairly basic. In Exploration, A uses tools/interacts with people, B runs, L and R switch weapons. In battle, A shoots, R switches between the custom weapon and the ship specific weapon, and L activates a smart bomb, which clears the screen. How responsive the controls are depend on the ship.

The menus can be rather difficult to navigate, but you tend to get used to them quickly.
7/10

Replay Value
Sigma Star, unfortunately, lacks much replay value. It does have a Newgame + mode that allows you to replay the game with your old Gun data and access to a few new endings. (But, as previously mentioned, they aren't terribly different.) However, the game contains no sidequests whatsoever, other than finding the Gun Data.

As for length, I beat the game in about 15 hours on my first playthrough, without the use of guides.
6/10

Overall
Sigma Star is a truly original game with a great plot, but several design flaws prevent the game from being the classic it could've become. You may enjoy it, but, then again, you may hate it. It's all a matter of taste, really.
7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/06