A Look Into "Star Citizen"

Ashley Crocker ‘15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

star-citizen

Star Citizen is a video game that hopes to capture the scope of Grand Theft Auto, the universe of Star Wars, and the player base of World of Warcraft. It has set its sights on being the next great Massively Multiplayer Online game.

What is it?

Still in development, Star Citizen first made waves when it became the most crowd-funded project in history at a whopping $37 million. With the help of Kickstarter it blew pasts its goal of $500,000 and is still climbing. Game designer of Star Citizen, Roberts Space Industries (RSI), isn’t worried about the hype, though. They promise that the already popular simulation game will deliver to its dedicated fans in both scope and play style.  Star Citizen has been described as a space and combat simulator that utilizes the customization of a single player game and the interactivity of a massively multiplayer online game. The game will feature crew work, spaceship building, and space combat sequences. Players will be able to work independently and with friends to build a life in the stars. It will be released on Microsoft Windows.

What can we expect?

The amount of funding for this game says enough about its expectations. The gaming community has invested in this game, but will it pay off? The answer is clearly yes. It is time for a new MMO to shine. As great of a game as it is, World of Warcraft has been decreasing rapidly in popularity. Released in 2001, it has had a good run but has not attempted to stretch the growing capabilities of massively multiplayer systems. Star Citizen hopes to push these boundaries and create a new MMO that is worth putting time into and enjoyable to play. However, previous space MMOs have been less than successful (Star Wars: The Old Republic), so what does Star Citizen have to beware of? Being unoriginal. Since World of Warcraft MMO’s have repeatedly tried to recreate developer Blizzard’s success with mixed results. And here’s why: MMOs are so involved and immerse that having two that are exactly the same is pointless. What the video game world needs and what Star Citizen should strive for is to be different. The MMO is dying. Star Citizen can be the game to change this if it is brave enough to move past the days of World of Warcraft. With a record number of video game titles being released each year, fewer players have the time to dedicate themselves to one game. For the MMO, success isn’t about being safe anymore; it’s about being interesting, engaging, and novel in the rapidly expanding video game world.

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