History VideoGame / Starlancer

As the product of the creators of one of the most acclaimed Spaceflight SimulationGame franchises in history, you'd think this game would have got somewhere. It was released simultaneously on the [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]]; it had decent graphics (even today); it had non-crappy voice acting, sound and music; and—a big deal at the time—it boasted online connectivity for not just CompetitiveMultiplayer but CoOpMultiplayer through [=GameSpy=], one of the first flightsims to offer either. Despite this, it met a tepid reception, possibly due to questionable gameplay decisions made due to the game's [[RecycledINSPACE World War 2 IN SPACE]] setting. Planned sequels, linking the property to ''Freelancer'' more overtly, were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scrapped]].

* MultipleEndings: every mission in the game has several objectives, some of which are mandatory (pass/fail) and others that simply add to your reputation, optional medals and rapidity of promotion. Even the first mission has this, by providing a BonusBoss in the form of a [[InvisibilityCloak Basilisk]] which [[TimedMission retreats if you don't kill it fast enough]].

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: played straight, as these games are wont to. Promotions, and thus access to new ships, are scheduled according to when you hit a certain number of kills. (Top rank is "Squadron Commander" at 300.) Note that there are no other criteria; [[https://youtu.be/5H0APlqlZAw here]], {{Lets Play}}er [=BCSBuster=] completely flubs Mission 4 and gets chewed out for it, whilst simultaneously getting promoted for passing the necessary kill threshold.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: A captured Coalition admiral reveals there is an [[WaveMotionGun Ion Cannon]] in the final stages before completion, and you're send in to destroy it before it comes online. Only... well, Alliance intelligence didn't watch [[StarWars Return of the Jedi]] apparently.

** More specifically, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII mixed together with the UsefulNotes/ColdWar proper mulched together with (if you squint) UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar RecycledInSPACE!

* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: Two Aces in particular—Ivan Petrov, TheButcher, and his brother Nicolai—have PlotArmor in your first encounters so that they can be [[RecurringBoss Recurring Bosses]].

* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: Late in the game, there's a cinematic depicting Alliance infantry attacking the Coalition base on Titan. Said infantry are armed with ''flamethrowers'', complete with pilot light blazing below the barrel of the weapon. While there's a simple {{Doylist}} explanation for this -- [[RuleOfCool the weapons look awesome]] -- it's hard to come up with a {{Watsonian}} reason for why ''every'' infantryman is equipped this way, despite the opposition canonically having [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]], KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter, and other armaments that don't have an ArbitraryMinimumRange.

* PurelyAestheticGender: you get to decide whether your character is going to be male or female, and enter a call sign (which nobody ever uses). That's it as far as CharacterCustomization goes.

* ThisCannotBe: You'll hear a lot of enemy mooks shouting "How can this be?!" as they're blown into space dust. Enemy aces will also follow this trope when you kill them.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Captain Foster does this by ramming the ''Reliant'' into a Coalition ship when the carrier has been critically damaged.]]

* RammingAlwaysWorks: ah, Captain Foster and his [[HeroicSacrifice Naval Piercing]]...