Beautiful world and rich story to explore
Toys work incredibly well
Can be played without the toys
The toy proposition is a little confusing
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Starlink: Battle for Atlas has arrived at an odd time. It's launching in an era that comes after the real toys-for-life boon, and over the last few years we’ve seen similar toy-enabled titles like Skylanders, Disney Infinity and even Lego Dimensions slip into oblivion. So in that sense, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, with its range of modular space t♛oys and figures, seems like a bit of a risk.
But another way of looking at Starlink is that it’s a൲ surprisingly brilliant No Man's Sky / Destiny hybrid, where the actual toys can play as big or as small a role as you'd like. And at no point does this feel like a game for children - and I say that as an almost 30-year-old woman who giggled gleefully at the proposition of switching out the wings on one spaceship and shoving them onto another.
The entire premise of the game is that you're part of the Starlink Alliance - and yes, even Starfox, temporarily, if you're playing the Switch version - who have been sent to Atlas to find an artefact. But, as soon as they arrive there, they're ambushed, their captain kidnapped and ship damaged as it turns out the Nova that powers their ship is actually a much more val🃏uable commodity than whatever they're looking ⛦for in this new galaxy.
Throughout the course of the game, you'll be tasked with exploring seven planets - and the surrounding vastness of space - to discover all their secrets, pushing back the enemy Legion forces, and building a resistance. But in between all that, there are these moments of tranquility, where you'll be scanning animals to discover what species they are, removing Legion blights from their back like some cos⛄mic vet, or simply collecting minerals, plants and other 🍌items to build out your Altas encyclopedia and earn some in-game dosh along the way.
In that way, it can have that same "let's just see what's over that horizon" gameplay loop that you'll find in No Man's Sky. Each planet you land on is diℱstinct and utterly stunning, to the point that I actually had to remind myself I was playing on Switch rather than actual No Man's Sky in 4♉K on PC. It doesn't help that it feels like Starlink borrows heavily from the visuals of Hello Games' procedurally generated masterpiece, from the colour palettes that bring the planets to life, to the strange alien creatures that wander the lands. (I did a double take so hard on something called a Gritfish, I almost sent Sean Murray a DM.)
But that's not always a bad thing. For anyone who thought No Man's Sky needed some more structure or a storyline, that's what Starlink: Battle for Atlas never falters on. You have a constant stream of missions and other sidequests that you can busy yourself with - and that's outside the optional busywork of discovering the local flora and fauna - and whether you're engaging in galactic dogfights amongst the stars with the outlaws, working your way through a Prime's substantial health bar like something out of Metroid Prime, or simply just checking on a researcher for one of your outposts, it all feels fantastic, 𓃲and like a Destiny for beginners, without the complexity of having to know about the meta or the reams and reams of lore.
All of that serves to build out the world around Starlink's incredibly exciting and beautifully told space opera of a story. The cast are all memorable and fully fleshed out - even if I would like to put Le⭕vi on mute - and it makes you feel more connected to the game when you choose between them as your pilot for the evening. It might seem strange at first that you can never get out of your ship, with your rig instead becoming your playable character, but it's all been configured to make you feel like the powerful little space explorer that you want to be. You level up your pilots, your ships and the weapons, and you can swap in and out various elements of each one until you find the configuration that you want, especially swapping in and out weapons to fit the battle you're facing. Ice Giants won't get damaged by ice-based weapons for example, the same for fire-based foes and that flamethrower shotgun you've fallen in love with, which is where things get a little confusing with Starlink's proposition.
You can either buy Starlink with a starter pack of pilots, a ship and a couple of weapons, or you can buy it as a stan♏dalone game. If you go what the game calls "digital-only", you can switch between all the ships, weapons and pilots in Starlink's vast arsenal at will, building up your varietable fleet as you level up across the board.
However, if you have the toys, you can pretty much only use what you've paid for. You can see everything else that's available if you want to pay for the physical weapons, ships and pilots, but you can't equip them or get access to them at all. So if you're struggling against an enemy and it advises you to switch to a different weapon, you might have a small child tugging at your sleeve for a pack with a kinetic weapon in it, and with expansions costing $24.99 / £24.99 for ꦺa ship, pilot and a weapon in one pack, you might think twice about splashing out. Instead, you might tell your kids to take the controller out of the Starlink dock, and go digital-only and get access to all the rest of it for free, meaning there's a distinct risk of the toys you paid for sitting gathering dust in a corner.
It almost feels like you're getting penalised for using the toys. When you die, you'll be told that you can switch to another ship to keep playing, rather than respawning and losing any progress you might have made in a boss battle - which I'll warn, really aren'🗹t easy - and you'll be told that "five ships remain". Well, you do if you are digital-only, but if you're playing with the toys, again, you can only switch to what you own, unless💛 you rip your Joy-Cons from the dock and continue in digital form. It's really frustrating, especially when there's such satisfaction in modding out your ship in real-life, and seeing it come to life in the game.
Because of that, it's actually quite hard to recommend this as a toys-to-life proposition, and I'd instead recommend it as a wonderfully family friendly space game, with an adult level difficulty that will mean the entire family gets involved. The toys are brilliant, but it seems like unless you're going to buy everything, or are prepared for kids (and big kids) getting confused with the wealth of content in the menu, but🐲 not in your arsenal, it can be incredibly irritating to play.
However, that's not to destroy the entire product altogether. Starlink: Battle for Atlas is joyous fun that should be explored by anyone who as any interest in No Man's Sky, or a more family friendly Destiܫny. Just maybe skip the toys.
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch. Also available on PS4 and Xbox One from October 16.
Sam Loveridge is the Brand Director and former Global Editor-in-Chief o♌f GamesRadar. She joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically,🌸 she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.
