As a previous GameStop employee in 2019, I can’t begin to tell you how many Skylanders were brought into my store that I couldn’t accept for trade-in. The toys-to-life genre of games, including titles like Disney Universe and Lego Dimensions which secured big brands but had little lasting power, was dead in just a few years with no hope for return. Not counting Amiibos, the last gasp in the genre that was still on our shelves was Starlink: Battle for Atlas.

I never delved into this genre of games, but the title was given away on Ubisoft’s UPlay, or Ubisoft Connect, or whatever they’re calling their client now. I can’t complain about free, so I snagged it and gave it a download between games. I was curious how the game would work without the dock, which I previously thought was necessary. I wasn’t about to sink dozens to hundreds of dollars to get the full experience, so free it is.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas immediately gave me Destiny 2 vibes upon first booting it up. The deep-space exploration, meshed with a defense against an alien civilization, seemed familiar to me. Regardless, I was in it for the opportunity to delve into a galaxy of mystique. As the game is aimed at a younger audience, the dialogue/plot points were fairly generic and juvenile, but competent enough to set the backdrop of the game.

You take control of a Starlink pilot and a fully-customizable ship. I opted for Razor, the metalhead, and a heavier ship that sacrificed top speed for hefty armor and handling. There’s a weapon for each wing, and I found myself favoring the volcano-elemental gatling on one wing and the punishing flaming beam cannon on the other, delivering both damage-per-second and a crippling laser. Starlink does a good job of mixing enemy elements up so you have to switch though, so I would take the gatling off for a frost rocket barrage at points.

That’s the hook of Starlink, you need to adapt to different combat situations with different loadouts. If I were to have the base that the game is marketed with, this would be as simple as detaching a gun and slapping another one on. Without this, all I have to do is enter a menu and equip the new one, taking about the same amount of time to do so. It’s a novel mechanic but will freeze the action to do, removing the sense of urgency.

While I enjoyed the explorative element of Starlink: Battle for Atlas, I found myself hitting a wall quickly with a common complaint amongst reviewers: the grind. I loved breezing through story missions but found I would have to sink more than an hour to progress at one point. With uncompelling side missions, I had to drop what I was doing. It’s a bit perplexing to see this still retail at $59.99, considering toys-to-life is kaput, but I would expect it to drop eventually. If this reaches free-to-play status, it’s more than worth entering the Starlink franchise!

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Starlink: Battle for Atlas

$59.99

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Enthralling Exploration
• Plenty Polish

Cons

• Immersion-Breaking Action
• Toys To Life Is Dead
• Some Annoying Dialogue