Is Starlink: Battle for Atlas a Star Fox game?

Oct 18 2018
Written by Tom Duggins

Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a brand new game for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PS4 which includes a tie-in to a Nintendo favourite.

Ubisoft Toronto, the Ontario branch of the French video games giant behind titles such as Assassin’s Creed, were given a specific brief for their latest original offering.

According to an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Yves Guillemot (Ubisoft CEO) challenged the team to “combine technology breakthrough with innovative gameplay.”

Their idea, in response, was to reinvigorate the use of interactive toys within video games (or ‘toys-to-life’), making Starlink a truly original proposition.

But, in marketing the game, more has been done to highlight the inclusion of everyone’s favourite mercenary space pilot crew, leading a lot of people to ask: is Starlink a part of the wider Starwing canon?

Is Fox McCloud a playable character in Starlink: Battle for Atlas?

(Ubisoft)

The simple answer to this question is: yes, if you’re playing on Nintendo Switch. Crossover from the Star Fox universe was confirmed at E3 2018, and Fox McCloud is a playable character from the beginning.

This is an exclusive for the Switch version, however, and will not be the case if you play the game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

Is Starlink: Battle for Atlas a Star Fox game?

Again, the simple answer here is no. The core gameplay is the same across all consoles, which means that those playing the game on anything other than the Switch would have no inkling that the Star Fox crew were involved in any way.

The Switch version does make a strong effort to elevate the inclusion of Fox McCloud and friends to more than just a cameo: they have their own distinct mission which splinters off into a series of side quests. However, this is still more of an add-on to the main game and Starlink: Battle for Atlas is far from being a canonical part of the Star Fox universe.

The best way to think of it is as a one-off special which Switch owners are treated to, not as an actual Star Fox game.