A great addition to the space simulation genre. Unfortunately it has a lacking trading system and repetitiv fighting.
The Darkstar One is the newest creation in spaceship technology. It combines ancient organic artifacts with top-of-the-art computers, to create the latest in security meassures. And its all yours, given to you by your recent dead father. With the name of his murderer, you set out not only to revenge his death and seek out the mysterious organic artifacts that upgrades your ship, but also to besige the universe with your doings. This is how Darkstar One starts and even though it sounds a little cliché, it works for the game.
However a truely free RP system would let you make your own choice from this point, along side the main story. Start out as a trader by buying stuff. Or become an lawenforcer by taking jobs from the local police. Want to be a pirate, seek out the nearest piratenest. However this is NOT how it is done by Darkstar One. Instead the game throws batch after batch of pirates in your face from day one, which makes it hard for you to become anything else than an bounty hunter (and makes the game very repititiv). It undermines its own system by making a world where you can't choose sides (with the pirates) if you want all your upgrades for you ship.
Another let down is the trade system. The developers were oviously aming for a very simple and easy accesible system which they have succeded, but they also made it alot more boring to be a trader. All systems create four different products and have max two products they find illegal. So all you need to do is to find a not so wealthy system and transfer these products to a wealthy system that doesn't produce the same goods. Its as easy as that. And boring. You dont know what the price is in the system you want to sell too. Also as the all the sectors pretty much makes the same stuff, you don't get extra credits for making long journeys with exotic goods. Smugling is a way to make the hole affair a little more exciting, by having to avoid the police in the systems were the goods are illegal. But again, you don't know the how much can sell the goods for in the different systems, so it a guess a best where to go. The wealthier the system, the more you earn but the more police will be patroling.
With this said, i most recommend the game to all space loving gamers. The handling og the ship, and the ability to strafe, makes the dog fights more alive. The opponents are very well match. The stupid bodyguards are easy to take out, and the pirate leaders dont just have better gear, but are also more versatile in their fighting which keeps you on your toes. The devolpers have also used a lot of time to incorperate the story into the game. So if you can live with the not so free RP system and the very simple trade system, my advise would be to give this game a good try.