The story-based campaign is a little different since it has plot related quests that need to be finished. Terrible opening movie and cliché characters aside, it turns into a fairly decent sci-fi tearjerker about family, treason and high politics. You play as the son of a famous pilot, looking for his lost sister among the scum of the galaxy. Like all space heroes, he’s a bit of a hothead and running from plot point to plot point will probably get you killed. This structure helps the game quite a bit since you can deviate from the main story to upgrade and improve but you at least have a reason for doing it beyond the sandbox world of making a killing machine.

Space Force fails the “compelling setting” test, though. A rogue universe this isn’t. The civilizations aren’t very colorful and the ship designs could use more variety. The freeform game is just running from spaceport to spaceport and there isn’t much sense of wonder. You occasionally stumble across parts for the cloaking device or time machine but the trading/mining/bounty hunting is more of a chore than an adventure.

Of course, some people like flying from place to place to sell things. And if you can get past the barriers to entry, there’s some old school fun to be had. By and large, Space Force is a flavorless mash where not even the explosions are cool.