Preview by: Cole Jones

Are you longing for the days of Star Commander and Starlancer? If your answer is anything close to "yes" there's a good chance you've heard of Darkstar One. A potent PC space simulator dating back to 2006, Darkstar One was resurrected by Kalypso last year and redubbed Darkstar One: Broken Alliance for the Xbox 360. Even though it's a glossed-up port from humble origins, this massive interstellar adventure lets you know what it's like to explore the cosmos in HD...and with a gamepad.

In Darkstar One: Broken Alliance, you take control of the young Kayron Jarvis as he pilots the Darkstar One across 300+ star systems in search of his father's mysterious murderer. As you take a first-person tour of space, you'll pass through hundreds of asteroid fields containing hidden goodies and pirates, and take down any hostiles in your 360* field of vision with plasma cannons and missiles. While you can move from cluster to cluster to quickly advance the story, there's bounties to claim and cargo to carry if you're interested in exploring the vast confines of space.

All that is probably enough to get space simulation fans excited, but the first thing that sucked me in was the ship customization. While exploring star systems and interacting with the game's seven unique races, you find new "artifacts" that enhance the DarkStar One stats and open up slots for new parts you can purchase along the way. Since there's over 200 mix-and-match weapons and hull pieces that modify your ship's performance and outward appearance, just how you fight (as a nimble attack boat or a hulking freighter, for example) is entirely up to you.

Publisher Kalypso said that customizing the Darkstar One is kind of like customizing an RPG character, and if you don't see that comparison, take a peek at its six different "class" types. Each class corresponds to your actions in-game, and whether you're deemed a Pirate, Killer, Smuggler, Trader, Bounty Hunter, or Mercenary depends on who you kill, capture, and trade with. The character I tested was both a Smuggler and a Mercenary, so the police readily scanned my ship for contraband, but I had no problems getting experience or finding work. After stealing a few hundred kilos of cargo from an ambushed freighter, my Mercenary rating went down, and my Pirate rating immediately went up -- the RIAA would be proud.