Star Control: Origins (Zero Punctuation)

This week Yahtzee reviews Star Control: Origins.
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[@thomassymonds6308]

I worked on this game, and this Review is Fantastic. The Writer, Chris Bucholz, was fantastic, and hilarious. Thanks Yahtzee.

[@litarogers3984]

The old cracked writer?

[@bummer6]

and I'm working on the one that IS allowed to use all the original aliens. :) We're practically coworkers

[@thomassymonds6308]

good luck! hope it turns out good!

[@khamjaninja.]

Chris Bucholz! No wonder the writing was so strong. Rare case of an intentionally comedic game actually being really funny. I love the gag about how the first alien race you encounter and ally with is slowly revealed to be a civilization of creepy dorky losers who all the other alien races didn't want to be friends with - and now they're all judging you for choosing to be these guys' ally.

[@drvertigo3948]

I want a Video game to have yhatzee as the main antagonist

[@zachzent8287]

Hatfall

[@drvertigo3948]

@@zachzent8287 A Good Game

[@mustafaal-azzawi3104]

@@drvertigo3948 hatfall was pretty funny until you unlock all the scenarios, then it just becomes like every smartphone highscore game

[@marktaylor6491]

Pyschonauts has a theatre critic you must deal with.

[@TheCorrodedMan]

Dr Vertigo or the overwhelmingly sarcastic support character who reads all the codex entries to you in the classic ZP style.

[@urface151]

Yahtzee is going In person?!?! I wonder how a 2D man makes it in such an unforgivingly 3D world

[@igorthelight]

Brilliant! :-)

[@DycuswasHere]

I think it’d be funny to meet him in person just to look him over and shout “You’re not a popsicle stick man!” Then watch him roll his eyes and groan in annoyance

[@fighteer1]

Greet him at an airport holding a sign with his avatar and the name Yahtzee printed in huge black letters on a yellow background. Then when he shows up, say he doesn't look anything like his pictures.

[@jonah_da_mann]

I live in Toronto. I should book a ticket right away!

[@anthonyglenn770]

JosephTaylorBass damn brilliant

[@rjdruhan]

The reason they can call it Star Control but not use any of the characters or stories is down to the difference between Copyright and Trademark Greatly simplifying: The new developer bought what they thought was everything at auction when Atari finally collapsed. But per a signed agreement the copyright had already reverted back to the original holders and it was no longer Atari's to sell. So after a court battle, all they ended up with was the Star Control trademark.

[@gyneve]

And now I take it, they're suing the original creators to force them to cough up the copyright that Atari sold them, except it wasn't Atari's to sell.

[@ladamedesaraignees1764]

In short: Atari sucked so bad, even at going into bankruptcy, that Star Control is now a copyright nightmare.

[@Snardvark25]

Random Task well that's pathetic..

[@fugyfruit]

The original creator's own the copyright and have been trying to make a Star Control 3 but Stardock has been trying to sue them into not making it and giving them the copyright

[@gyneve]

@Random Task Wow, that's actually worse than I thought. I was kinda liking the looks of this, but no way in hell am I gonna support a company that operates like that.

[@CrabLegs78]

I love that he made a reference to the Android logo looking like the imps, because I remember when I introduced this series to a friend and the first thing he said was, "Why does this guy like Android so much?"

[@richardlionerheart1945]

@@theblocksays rather yahtzee needs to sue android

[@PrinsaVossum]

"Star Control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead, there's something wrong."

[@ggt47]

Ha.!

[@Thepsicho22]

Planet earth is blue, and I'm loaded up with nukes...

[@robinhyperlord9053]

I was thinking of that song this morning...

[@mozxz]

I hadn't noticed how much the Android logo looks like an imp before now...... Or rather, last week, when i watched this on the Escapist website.

[@eightmegsandconstantlyswap8862]

Lucky you, the new escapist video player has one quality option, which in my case means play for 2 seconds then buffer for 20.

[@Daniel-vg5ld]

EightMegsAndConstantlySwapping same

[@ViktorKruger99]

I noticed it back in 2012 when Yahtzee started his podcast and Gabe mentioned it.

[@cjr4908]

Dafuq you talking bout Willis? The Escapist website's been down for like a month! Looks like it's back up now, but the last few ZP's still haven't been uploaded yet.

[@owenwainer5282]

@CJR they have a new website: www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/ the latest ZPs have been uploaded there.

[@jimhjortsberg2990]

BTW, Yahtzee isn't exaggerating about the "nuke and greeting card" bit. One species even calls you out for why a seemingly "peaceful" expedition would be armored to the teeth with WMD's.

[@davidlane1248]

"Seems funny without trying too hard" *shows sunset overdrive* I find this amusing because during his sunset overdrive review, he practically scolded people who used that very same phrase "trying too hard"

[@GameDevYal]

"a sinister space empire" *Sinistar shows up* That made me legit burst into laughter, best reference ever x3

[@mistertaffy6720]

"One hand full of 'we come in peace' cards, and nukes in the other." Sounds about right...

[@Darkfyreofthezenith]

Hey, speak softly and carry a thermonuclear warhead. That's the human way!

[@ElementalNimbus]

Amusingly this is even in the codex/lore. It suggest you print out a helpful pamphlet to hand out to any alien who might be thinking about war with humans in order to dissuade them. "Reason #1: We have nukes, like a lot of nukes, like you wouldn't believe how many nukes we have. You might think you have a lot of used bottle caps but that is nothing compared to how many nukes we have!". Several aliens also offhanded comment that Humans have made by far the most nuclear weapons of any developed civilization and asking what is wrong with us.

[@if7723]

@@ElementalNimbus Sounds like talk from a species that doesn't have enough nukes.

[@creamyspinach4182]

I swear Yahtzee makes these games sound simultaneously the most interesting and boring things in the world

[@HORRIOR1]

0:40 Now there would be a lawsuit I would pay to see XD

[@bshpev]

with my incredibly finite knowledge of the law, he would either get a huge settlement out of court because he has a case (What with his creation having existed for years prior to Android existing AND the amount of video evidence that correlates that fact), or he would get tied up in litigation and almost go bankrupt for like 4 years while the Google/Android guys sit and laugh, trying desperately to break the court system into at least admitting that the two designs are different enough that the two could never be reasonably confused for each-other. Pretty sure Yahtzee has a solid case, though. I always thought that the android guy looked weirdly familiar and a few years back I heard yahtzee and gabe discussing this and it immediately clicked in my head.

[@xenteko7249]

He'd probably ask for something like a massage voucher and a year's supply of Jaffa Cakes as compensation.

[@richardlionerheart1945]

@@xenteko7249 i'd say cream eggs

[@ndi4926]

Wow, Actually ZP aired on 24 of July 2007 and the Android logo was designed on 5th of Nov 2007. O.o

[@therelaxalex1250]

HORRIOR you stole my joke

[@GyprockGypsy]

The Star Trek analogy is quite apt. The game really gave me the feeling of being a combination of Captain Kirk and Picard. Bumbling around the galaxy blowing shit up and stealing what you want, occasionally being interrupted by some vague intergalactic threat somewhat resembling the Borg.

[@inactiveaccount2090]

Ah zero puncuation, this is exactly what im subscribed for

[@avatareternal3204]

MrDiggertron5000 Moviebob has recently rejoined The Escapist, much to the chagrin of certain people.

[@plastichairball]

These comments are becoming incredibly painful.

[@GraafBerengeur]

Well that new show called the big picture is actually worth a watch too

[@xmm-cf5eg]

fuck yeah

[@ggt47]

...yes...

[@DoomedDiceThrower]

That analogy of breaking up while on 2 different pirate ship thingies was utterly hilarious.

[@Karak-_-]

Jousing simulator is not something I expected, but something I definetly agree with. Also, I sort of feel offended by the achivement I get for the most benevolent ending: "Are You Proud Of Yourself?" it sound like I get that ending by punching puppies. It also has a great way to make sure you run out of fuel more then once. When that happens, it sends one slug alien to rescue you, which involves an unskipable dialog of him reading you Gary Stue Star Trek fanfiction.

[@gus.smedstad]

Sinistar actually does show up in this game. Only his name is Jeff, and you have to fly a ship full of space hamsters to summon him. "Summon Jeff" is their secondary attack, and it's WAAAY better than their primary attack.

[@armanhammer]

I lost it the "Lil Brudder" reference. Luckly, I found it a few yards away and it has been surgically reattached.

[@MrMegaManFan]

Thank you for burning into my brain forever the image of a horny Dalek screaming "E JACK YOU LAAAAAAATE!"

[@HORRIOR1]

5:14 Xenophobia? Did they change the name of Warhammer 40k convention this year? Need to go book my tickets…

[@tommyscott8511]

HORRIOR burn in hOLY FIRE

[@SilortheBlade]

No that would be based on the new government in Ontario (the province Toronto is in).

[@xenteko7249]

**Spits out tea** That sounds suspiciously like HERESY!

[@marcusalm7350]

Let's be xenophobic?

[@corwinweber693]

Xenephobia? Not in Canad- oh wait, Toronto. Nevermind. :)

[@Thaylien]

At least with a sexually curious Dalek, you don't have to put in much effort to make it scream...

[@vicbaez]

I was not expecting to hear about the hamster dance in late 2018

[@ThePlatinumKush]

That amusement park pirate ship analogy was awesome! Almost as funny as the “goes up and down as much as a geriatric Alzheimer’s patient on a stairlift” ha!

[@hosebeefstick]

1:38 Hell yeah, sweet Sinistar reference!

[@MrTaffythecat]

OMG!!!! Wish I lived closer to Toronto now!

[@Pablo668]

It's good that someone remembers Sinistar. I also used to play Star Control II on my Amiga.

[@99goat99]

OMG I got the "SINISTAR" reference at 1:38 I truly loved that game back in the day. Hadn't thought about that game in many years. Then again, I'm even older than you, Yahtz.

[@dapperduka7085]

Wow the timing sir, I really wanted this !

[@Transfixed]

Star Control 2 is one of my all-time favourite games, so i went into Origins with some trpidation...and it's great! Really captures the gameplay and spirit, even the humour! I have experienced some technical bugs but i'll forgive that.

[@tarponpet]

Same thoughts pretty much.

[@Link0304]

Homestar Runner reference? God, I love Yahtzee!

[@cbielite]

WOOO, SEE YOU IN TORONTO!!1!

[@nicklager1666]

Will the next installment be called ground control to Major Tom?

[@ianrocco8453]

👏👏👏

[@coldnr]

Love that homestar reference

[@ManoredRed]

2:30 I hope Yahtzee never loses his knack for making everything sound unpleasant.

[@honestexistence]

Somehow what charmed me the most about this review was the slug eating the roses it got

[@TheStapleGunKid]

Yahtzee should review "Star Traders: Frontiers" next. As space trading/combat indie games go, it's one of the better ones.

[@locustkllr]

You can practice new ship combat abilities within the campaign mode, at the ceres station just past the moon in the Sol system.

[@Altobrun]

really Yahtzee, the year I move across country from Toronto you visit? This is a personal attack, I know it.

[@Litchert]

Thank you for the appropriate content for this channel :)

[@honestjoe9417]

The outro was brutal on the website 10/10

[@smokinggnu6584]

Anyone know what the laser weapon is he was referring to? Can't seem to find it and don't really know what i'm looking for.

[@welcometotheoverlook5421]

U should do a retro review of metroid prime

[@minimina1872]

For some reason I completely lost it at the slug eating the flowers bit.

[@avatareternal3204]

The copyright spat reminds me of Troll 2 and that makes me happy.

[@PugDungeon]

What is this? A Zero Punctuation on youtube, before the Escapist website. AWESOME!!!

[@SPM0717]

You're still looking at the old Escapist website. This is the new one. www.escapistmagazine.com/v2

[@WeeklyMusicalShitposts]

3:35 Is that a reference to Lil' Brudder from StrongBad?

[@tarponpet]

I think so!

[@Waffletigercat]

Sounds like this is no Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters. Pity, as that is one of my all-time favorite games. Oh well, good thing I got warned ahead of time.

[@Carewolf]

It sounded to me like it was exactly the same, just in a new "universe" with new races.

[@thededous1]

I'd still recommend playing it. I've subconsciously invested over 30 hours on it already and I was at first unsure about it. That said, I find it more than good enough to scratch that SC2 itch

[@fuzzydragon]

It plays much more like Starflight 1 including the entertaining story why not just enjoy both?

[@zimriel]

@@fuzzydragon yeah, that you can actually explore a generated planet is SF1/2-ish. But I still preferred SF1/2 in that their planets were the size of planets, not the 'Petit Prince' tiny rocks in space we get in SC:O.

My goodness, he finally found a game he likes.

[@zaneeeneal]

Fuck that punchline at the end really got me

[@adairschannel7502]

idk why but i REALLY liked this episode, reminds me so much of the elite dangerous review

[@richiem5112]

This will be in his Top 5 at the end of the year.

[@vulpez650]

Actually, that's pretty clever, using "rape" When ravaging a planet for materials and stuff. I think it's mainly a reference to the Rape of Africa, where various colonistic countries tried their hands at taking over and doling out land in Africa for themselves. I know it's pretty crude using rape as the word, but it's the word they used and Yahtzee is gonna use it too.

[@anthonygonzales207]

Yahtzee! When will you do a review of Valkyria Chronicles 4!? I've been waiting for you to snap the spine of my favorite Tactical RPG over your powerful curmudgeonly knee!

[@astrodreamer946]

That review is going to be good, whenever he gets around to it.

[@asdatescosains700]

I'd like a space exploration game in a similar style to Sea of Thieves, with you and your crew keeping the ship together and avoiding/hunting down other players.

[@Timmos85]

zero punctuation: owner of the best intro song.. ever

[@lghtngfan]

+infinity for typing out lyrics to the Hamster Dance.

[@MetalMonkey1453]

Wasn't Star Control an old PC game decades ago? I vaguely seem to recall having it on floppy disc when I was a kid.

[@MalevolentDivinity]

Now I want another Escape Velocity game. Perhaps with something that prevents you from jumping out of a system the moment you enter it if there are pirates there. 'Cause what's the bleeding point of pirates if you never have to pay any attention to them when you're not actively trying to steal their ships?

[@Kirbysuperstar44]

His Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review was so good.

[@thedebationnation3818]

Yahtzee gonna get lit in Canada

[@RowanJColeman]

Shout out to the Thunderbolt Class Starfury

[@donald12998]

Ive been watching for 7 years(since the minecraft vid) and i still love these

[@bastetstomb2186]

waity, Yahtzee, are you in Melbourne. Or is it there just a ring road in every city in Australia. Hmm, I can't seem to remember which is which?

[@dunningkruger352]

This one was really good

[@nightcatarts]

I hunger! For another Escape Velocity game.. Am I just going to have to make this thing myself?

[@rayanderson5797]

I was searching this game on steam in another tab before i even finished watching the video. Color me intrigued.

[@MichaelRicksAherne]

The Dahlek joke! Omg my sides!

[@ChanWalrus]

I wonder when Chzo Mythos Origins is coming!

[@AssasinZorro]

I wonder if you've played "Space Rangers", description of this game has reminded me of that, except Space Rangers mixes mechanics rather skillfully

[@WorthlessWinner]

the gameplay description sounds scary similar to star control 2

[@caylecox3347]

Paradox acres has arrived. EVERYBODY RUN!

[@paradoxacres1063]

But I'm so nice *:(*

[@caylecox3347]

That's what you said last video. And you don't seem any less shifty.

[@fishpodpizza544]

0:42 I wheezed milk out for like 20 mins

[@Sneemaster]

Damn, now I want to watch the Hamster Dance again...welp there goes another foray into KZbin history.

[@SuperWolfman9]

Star Control to Major Tom, commencing countdown....engines on

[@ryanrising2237]

...that being said, cars that explode if you park them across two spaces might be something worth looking into.

[@BayaRae]

Still waiting for Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment 2, Yahtz.

[@brixxbox8225]

I might be hitting EGLX next week. Take it you don't have a booth?

[@Megamanzerox27]

1:25 sauce for the LEGO moc?

[@skysnow2495]

A space travel system where you just point at planets and move forward? Landing on apparently tiny planets in a finicky rover? Reminds me of Mass Effect.

[@tarponpet]

Well this game is heavily based on Star control 2 and mass effect had a lot of inspiration from Star Control 2.

[@Ja89Br]

I'm such a nerd for noticing but are those the advanced Starfuries from Babylon 5 at 0:55?

[@lucasbuffalo2596]

I love Sinistar.

[@3AMJH]

Pleased to hear the writing is pretty good. Going to buy this, but I still hope Stardock and Toys for Bob can make peace and ToB can make an actual sequel to Star Control II with the old races and stuff.

[@Neremworld]

Well Wardell has publically stated that he will never allow toys for Bob or anyone but Stardock to ever make a Star Control or Ghosts of the Precursors or anything ever as long as Stardock exists.

[@Lurking_under_ur_bed]

Eyyy, enjoy your time up here in Canada?!

[@SerialSnowmanKiller]

At 0:55, you're using pictures of Starfury Thunderbolts from Babylon 5! *Squee!*

[@dustybunny6716]

Oy Yahtz. I suggest giving Everspace a try if you want a decent space combat, rouge-like game. Think FTL and Dead Cells had a fling with Descent: Freespace and I think you might like giving it a go.

[@PsychoDiesel48]

1:40 I, AM SINISTAAAR!!

[@dissuede6949]

"Funny dialogue and pissing about", sounds just like my life.

[@OmegaBlack2609]

What happened to the closed-captioning? It's hard to follow what Not-Foamy the Squirrel is saying without it.

[@Gunner-11]

So usually these episodes are released on the escapist website first but now they are uploaded to KZbin first instead, me thinks the escapist will become a KZbin only platform soon

[@SPM0717]

No they're not. You're still looking at the old Escapist website. This is the new one. www.escapistmagazine.com/v2

[@Gastogh]

Star Control? Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time...

[@baronsengir187]

I want a VR game that mixes Star Trek Bridge Crew with Star Control Story and Sandbox..oooh that would be nice

[@misterprickly]

Another great reason to take a trip to Toronto... LIke I really need a reason; *Toronto's the greatest city in the world!*

[@IRMentat]

I found the main issue with PC ships is that most of the enemy factions have an abundance of long range rapid fire weapons on ships that turn and move just fast enough to give anything but the nippiest back-stabber a swift death from double your own engagement range. Between NPC aiming and their ability to never run out of evergy nmost of the free ships were just fancy new ways of delaying how long until you just nuke/turret through the fight using the earth/tywom ships you scrounged up. Otherwise, i enjoyed the hell out of the game.

[@robertsides3626]

Praise Jeff!

[@adarshsirsat9110]

Centipede jizz? Xenophobia? Hell yeah

[@atomicLord97]

0:42 that was way funnier than it had any right to be

[@dazelandpointcom4170]

Oh hello, Sinistar!

[@Hongxiquan]

To be fair, while the plot isn't exactly the same as the original Star Control 2, it's like saying a red potato and a yellow potato aren't the same, which is true but also less true than suggested

[@Hongxiquan]

the initial plot is very very similar to how Star Control 2 started. It's like the same thing but with the serial numbers filed off

[@lucasvalencia626]

Seriously people just play urquan masters it's great and free.

[@Rebazar]

Save yourself the money and go download The Ur-Quan Masters for free. It's basically the same game, but better.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

But how bad it is and why?

[@Rebazar]

It's one of the best games of all time, so... not very

[@Kaefer1973]

@ Bernardo Heusi It's a shitty game since it was made of lazy and unoriginal programmers that had to hire hire clairvoyant fortune tellers to rip of great games that would appear later like Master of Orion 2 or Mass Effect. They should be sued for their countless thefts.

[@TheFatMoeChannel]

I prefer Origins honestly, space combat feels better.