My first memories strategy space gaming are from Masters of Orion, one of the best 4X games ever. This is arguably the granddaddy of all space strategy games that followed. Following in its ion trails, we have Sins of a Solar Empire, an ambitious RT4X game, developed by Ironclad and published by Stardock. If you're a space strategy junkie then this is a must have game. Its expansive detail, and easy pace, combined with stunning graphics screams play me. The gameplay is deep and expansive yet the hours will go by fast as you build your empire from a single planet to a mighty empire.
Among a long list of features I enjoyed are:
Play as one of three factions: the Trader Emergency Coalition (TEC), The Advent, or The Vasari Empire. Each one has a different strength and weakness which is supplied through an empire tree. Diplomacy is simple yet compelling, including pirate involvement. Speaking of diplomatic strategy and pirate involvement, your diplomacy really involves six areas: war, peace, cease fire, trade, ship sight, and planet sight. The last two are basically seeing where you and your allies' planets and ships are located on the star map.
A killer feature are the pirate and bounty system where you can clandestinely place a bounty on an opponent; and depending on the size of the bounty, pirates will attack the player who has the most money on his head. You're actually hiring mercenaries to do your dirty deeds for you as you may be tasked by an ally to attack a foe and you don't want to dirty your hands. This can result in a bidding war.
Action is all in real time; this includes fleet action which can involve frigates, cruisers, and capital ships. Scout frigates can be directed to explore planetary systems. Other frigates and cruisers can provide close support, planet bombardment, fighter cover, and missile launchers. The core of your fleet is the capital ships. These can gain experience through training or by fighting battles. As you're limited in how many capital ships can be activated, you will need to carefully manage them as battles are waged.
Planets have gravity wells which restrict ships when phase jumping. Phase jumping can only be enacted along phase lines that lead to other systems. The resulting choke points provide excellent strategic opportunities as you progress in conquering your enemies. There are logistical and tactical buildings that you must build to improve your economy and to feed the war machine. There is an empire tree for the war and civilian sides, each one covering three branches.
The planetary mapper is simple and intuitive when customizing scenarios. You can create small to huge star systems placed with a random mix; or you can narrow it down to single items. You can lock down the AI players so that you have a large map with two players if you want to get into a long drawn-out war; or a small map with ten players, resulting in fast battles. A component I especially enjoyed is that each planet has a random number of neutral ships which you must wipe out before you can colonize that planet. This requires that you decide to build your fleets swiftly otherwise expansion will be slow and that much more costly.
There is a lot to this game that will have you clapping with enjoyment, though there are a few things that mar what is otherwise an excellent game. There is no single-player campaign to speak of. Diplomacy could be more expansive, giving a bit more meaning to the word. Games can take a long time to play resulting in loss of sleep. (OK, this may or may not be a negative.) I do wish you could create your own ships.
Yet, the negatives are paltry compared to the depth, balance, scope and magnificence of game. If you've been waiting for a 4X space title to rival your Master of Orion memories, this is it. What more can I say other than this is a wonderful game that will have you thinking grand strategies and keep you up to the wee hours.
For more information look back at our Interview with Producer Blair Fraser from June, 2007!
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.
