Starlink: Battle for Atlas Reviews
A great space opera for kids, which includes fast combat, deep exploration and some strategic elements. The use of toys and split screen multiplayer fits perfectly in the game. Switch version adds Starfox (with his own campaign, starship and allies).
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a fantastic sci-fi game that's well worth playing no matter how old you are. The physical toys are attractive enough to adorn any shelf, and robust enough to actually be played with, while a large collection of ships isn't essential for completing the game, and there's even an option not to use them at all. It's a shame then that the story doesn't quite live up to rest of the game's promise, but you might be having too much fun to notice.
Starlink marks a bold and intriguing return for the toys-to-life genre. An engrossing even if ultimately flawed space journey.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ubisoft Toronto's first original IP looks great, plays beautifully, and puts a fresh and fun spin on toys that come to life inside games
Starlink's beautiful worlds invoke the wonder of heading into the deep unknown, and it's one of the best implementations of the toys-to-life genre we've seen so far. Shallow mission and exploration structure can make the game seem repetitive, but exhilarating space combat while being able to customize your ship at any time helps stave off the boredom that might come from ferrying your 20th helium diffuser. While it's not perfect, Starlink is a fantastic base for a new wave of toys-to-life games, innovating on the genre in a special way that further connects players with both the toys and the experience. And even when the game is off, for this 30-year old gamer at least, the spaceships are still fun to play with.
Despite these issues, the game is a lot of fun, especially when you're blasting away enemies in thrilling space combat. I just wish its true potential had been realized.
A good variety of missions will please any players who haven't yet grown weary of the developer-publisher's oft-seen open-world design, making Ubisoft's risky project a game that shoots for the stars and in many ways manages to get there.
Ubisoft Toronto's Starlink: Battle for Atlas is just what we needed as an original and unique toys-to-life product with wonderful gameplay and lore.
Starlink is a game I expected to groan and roll my eyes at. Instead I found myself enjoying it on multiple levels. The StarFox content makes it a must-own on Switch though. It feels like a chapter in his journey. Nintendo has done well to partner with Ubisoft on their projects, and it is paying off. While the toys are unnecessary this game is heaps better than it has any right to be.
Starlink is a fun game, with great toys to play with and solid combat to back it up. Unfortunately, the sloppy story and barren explorable worlds hold back what could have been a great return to form for the toys-to-life genre.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas can't decide whether to take its toys-to-life concept seriously, or drop it completely. It has a good, if somewhat repetitive, open world experience to offer, but it's held back by mistakes that aren't entirely its own fault.
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Starlink: Battle For Atlas is a fun and enjoyable open-world space sim that tells a charming story with a likeable cast of characters. Despite its repetitive side activities and money-sucking selection of toys, the core gameplay loop and combat system are worth your time. The fact that everything can be brought digitally is also a plus.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a fun, arcade-y revival of the spaceship shooter that's been filled out with a lot of extra open world stuff - both the good and the bad.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a stellar achievement. Through its fun and accessible cast of characters, solidly made toys-to-life component, and beautiful graphics, Ubisoft has hit the ground running. With the addition of a healthy amount of Star Fox content, the Switch version is definitely the preferable way to go, but regardless of your system Starlink is a remarkably entertaining game, and an auspicious launch for a new gaming universe.
Part No Man's Sky with a heavy helping of toys to life, Starlink: Battle for Atlas is an interesting addition to the planetary and space exploration genre. Admittedly, it can get repetitive and the implementation of toy functionality between digital and physical copies is a bit imbalanced. At the same time, it does a good job of layering in some fun combat and diverse weapon customization on top of its exploration, resulting in a more well-rounded game. It's basically what No Man's Sky should have been at launch — a complete gaming experience.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas preserves some of the complexity that makes deep space sims so rewarding by striking a healthy between fidelity and delight; a complicated toys-to-life scheme may dampen the experience for some, however.
Starlink is a real little Space Opera open world, which is both very neat in its implementation but also in its gameplay and game system, more complex than it seems. In any case, we take a lot of fun to "clean" all the objectives of these 7 planets, in the purest tradition of Ubisoft games ... And despite its lack of variety. Except maybe with the StarFox scenario on Switch, definitely the best of the three versions even with the (small) downgrade.
Review in French | Read full review
Colorful and action-packed Space Opera with witty toys-to-life component. There are deductions for the outrageous pricing policy.
Review in German | Read full review
Ultimately the toys-to-life aspect feels like it gets in the way a bit of an otherwise competent and fun space shooter that's packed to the brim with things to do. Flying ships feels great and the occasional difficulty spikes rarely take away from the excitement of tearing through the atmosphere onto a new planet's surface. But not all platforms are created equally, with the Switch's Star Fox content shining as a bright point.