''Star Wolves'' (Russian: Звездные волки) is a real-time, futuristic

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by Russian video game developer X-bow Software combining

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

and

real-time tactics Real-time tactics (RTT)(Article at IGN discussing their perception of RTS and related genres as of 2006. RTT is discussed as a new and not yet established genre from the publisher's perspective, so currently all RTT possible titles are still con ...

gameplay. It was first published in 2004 in Russia by

1C Company 1C Company (, ) is a Russian software developer, distributor and publisher based in Moscow. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, related services and video games. In Russia, 1C develops and sells the business ...

, and later in 2005 and 2006 in other parts of Europe and North America, respectively. A sequel, ''Star Wolves 2'', was published in Russia in 2006 and in North America in 2007. ''Star Wolves 2: Civil War'' is the latest game in the series (in EU and NA regions it is known as ''Star Wolves 3: Civil War'').

Gameplay

The game features a mix of role-playing and tactical elements, and is centered around controlling a mothership and small armada of fighter craft in real-time using the mouse in a manner very similar to ''

Homeworld ''Homeworld'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exiles of the planet Kharak after t ...

''. Ships are piloted by characters whose skills advance as the game progresses. The player is able to select from a number of skill specializations for each character, making each character unique. Players can likewise customize each ship's armament and purchase new equipment on the open and

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

s. At various times in the game, new characters will join the player's party so that the team becomes larger and more diverse.

Plot

The game is set in the future after mankind has journeyed into outer space and formed an interstellar empire. During the course of the game the Empire becomes threatened by an alien species as well as the huge mega-corporations that have grown to control more and more of people's lives. The player is tasked with forming a rag-tag band of mercenaries to take on missions for the various factions, as well playing his or her own hand in humanity's destiny.

Development

The game was originally envisioned as a turn-based successor to ''Homeworld'', but continued development saw an increased focus on characters and the addition of the "Smart Pause" feature found in such games as ''

Baldur's Gate ''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms '' Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The series has been divided into two sub-series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both t ...

''.

Reception

''Star Wolves'''

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

score and MobyRank (two composite scores of professional video game reviews) are 61 and 73 as of January, 2009. The game got good reviews in Germany and Russia, but bad in English speaking countries due to the horribly localized voiceover.

References

{{Reflist 1C Company games 2004 video games Lua (programming language)-scripted video games Real-time tactics video games Science fiction video games Single-player video games Space combat simulators Tactical role-playing video games Video games developed in Russia Windows games Windows-only games