DarkStar One was originally released on the PC in 2006 and was somewhat well received, as the game was one of the few and finer space-based action games. Now the game is out on the Xbox 360 under the title “DarkStar One: Broken Alliance”. It’s essentially the same game, that is, it uses the strengths of the PC version, but sadly, it also carries over some of the weaker parts, namely, repetitive gameplay adn dated visuals.

The campaign in DarkStar One centers around a guy named Kayron, whose father has been killed, and now Kayron sets off on a mission in his late father’s space ship, called DarkStar one, to find out what happened to his father. The story isn’t particularly original, but it’s good enough to propel you through the missions. And then again, it’s not. The missions seem like the obvious shortcoming of the game, as they’re very repetitive. You’ll basically be doing the same thing over and over again: shooting bad guys, running errands, upgrading your ship, and shooting some more bad guys. And there’s hours and hours of doing this. After the fifth hour, you’d have seen everything the campaign has to offer. And then there another 10-12 hours left. If it was boiled down to a coherent 10 hour campaign (or 8), DarkStar One could have sustained our attention, but we simply got bored fairly quickly.

The combat on the other hand, is good, just as it was in the original game. However, it too has a tendency to become repetitive. Another interesting aspect, which is not repetitive, is the great ship customizations you can do. You can earn points and cash to customize your ship and get power ups, which adds a much needed RPG layer to the game. However, you’re still stuck with the same missions over and over again. Visually, the game looks dated — it pretty much carries the same visuals as the 2006 PC version, which is never a good sign.

The Good:
Combat is decent, albeit repetitive
Great ship customization

The Bad:
Campaign is too long and repetitive
Dated visuals
Uninspiring story

Overall score: 5/10