Have you ever come across something that you haven’t seen, touched, or played for months, maybe years? When you did, does it bring back fun memories, or something less then fun? That’s what Reach for the Stars by Strategic Studies Group, did for me. Once I had installed the game after downloading it from Matrix Games, I recalled, fuzzily of course, the time I first played this game and had a blast doing so. This was my first sci-fi computer game and it had everything I was looking for at the time.Diplomacy, production, empire building, plus research and development, were the things that made my hours fly on the computer. What I liked the most was creating a large universe and starting from scratch. No planet and one colony ship made for lots of fun times as this extended the game play, and you never knew what the end result would be. Sometimes you won, other times were less victorious.
The object of this game has you as a budding ruler, who through diplomacy, or by military might, becomes emperor of the known universe. You can set your game to play two to eight different races, each one has its own bones and traits. Allies help expand your empire or you may choose the road through total conquest. I prefer total conquest, RAAWWR!
You need R&D to produce various weapon systems such as shields, lasers, missile technology, etc. Increasingly more powerful ships can be designed to control planets and build fleets of mighty ships to wage war against your enemies. Your industry has to be up-to-date, since falling behind can be fatal. Everything depends on your tech rating, which runs from tech one to tech ten. An example would be you having lower tech ships fighting higher tech ships. Chances are you will lose as the enemy will wipe out your fleet.
There are various reports to keep track of how you stand against the other races, production, fleets, population, planets controlled. Certain planets can only be colonized dependant on their environs, population helps you gather resources that you will need to pay for upkeep. Your fleets will be spread far and wide, so tracking them is important.
As with anything though, the game is a bit dated and graphics are good for the year it was first produced. There is no music and most everything needs micro managing otherwise you might miss something important which could prove fatal down the road. If you are inclined to this type of game as a collector or something moderately easy to play, then you might want to check this out.
Father of two, now grown children.What are my kind of games? Strategy, RTS, RPG, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and online games such as Dark Age of Camelot and Asheron's Call. Of my dislikes I would say puzzle games such as Myth, FPS type games such as Doom. Also simulation type games, and games that are just plain bad.
My knowledge of the industry mostly evolves around beta testing games, such as Earth & Beyond from EA, Saga of Ryzom, and companies like MSN and Acolade. Self taught web design is another interest I have. Family life is entertaining at times. It also can get weird as well, after you have been married 31 years.
