Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares

The Good
The second chapter in the classic MOO series, obviously, gives some audiovisual improvement: graphics and music are correct, and sound effects are specially remarkable. Now, instead of having to choose between pre-defined races, you can customize your own through a benefit / flaw system that costs or gives you picks; this is a good way to expand replayability and strategies to use, and is the best addition to Moo. Good (even necessary) fix were multiple planets in each system.

The Bad
The diplomatic model is rich in options, but making allies isn't worthy the effort, since little effect it has (improving the range of your ships, and nothing more: there is no cooperation between allies). Also, in very very few occasions you get fair tech exchanges: the AI always demands tech of superior (even much superior) value.

Tactical combat can be nice to see the first times, but it's poorly designed. Although range is taken in consideration and the Attack/Defense values isn't a bad system, current speed of the ship plays no role: if a 14-speed ship moves 7 squares a turn, in the next it shouldn't move at 0 or 14; it's unrealistic; a fast-moving ship shouldn't make a 180 degree turn at full speed, to put another example. The way combat is designed, all battles become soon a matter of close-and-shoot-until-one-of-us-explodes, so take the largest ship you can and don't bother anymore. There is no tactic. After some battles, you push the automatic (I remember a board game, Star Warriors, which combat system was the best I've seen… it would be a good system for tactical combat).

Colony management in Moo2 swifts to that of Civ-style, and that's a system I didn't like ever: a list of buildings and go on; in middle-later game, micromanagement is boring: build as many as you can, no more. How good could be the system in Moo improved. And the same can be told about tech and research: is somewhat stupid to make a choice between two or three applications in a field… and for some reason you can't research the rest! (the key to victory: Creative, and you needn't to exchange tech). The sliding bar system in Moo was better; why not simply improve it? If you're going to change anything, make something good! Changing for changing leads to the above: a silly system much worse than its predecessor.

The Bottom Line
Although improves features from Moo, replaces some good old ideas with bad ones. The sum is nothing worse, but nothing better.

The Good
The diplomacy was ok, if you didn't count in the fact that the AI didn't seem to mind forgetting about allies etc. Music was also good and compared with orginal the graphics were ok. Also ome parts of the game worked OK: The que system for example is good, maybe better than the one in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which is rather glumsy.

Customizing your own race was also a very good idea. The only bad part is that the races greated by customizing are totally out of balance.

The biggest plus about this game is definetly that it made me realise how the slider mechanics of Master of Orion are really the greatest thing after sliced bread.

The Bad
One word: Micromanagment. The game really destroys the elogance of Master of Orion 1. The thing that I loved about MOO1 was the simple yet still so good system which didn't include any unnecessary micromanagement.

I might have still liked the game if other things would have worked very well, but NOOoooo. The diplomacy looks great, but as soon as you realize that the AI doesen't defend allies you lose interest in talking with the AI. The races are totally out of balance and so the game is really annoying to play with human players.

Master of Orion 1 had a pretty good system for science, but the desingers probably felt a need to change everything and created a really stupid system which is just stupid and boring.

The Bottom Line
Boring micromanagent with stupid computer players. Try to find Master of Orion and try to run it on your system. If the game runs, you will be hooked and trust me, you really don't want to try this micromanagent hell.

I'm rather suprised by the high score on this game, but I still belive my points are quiet valid...

The Good
In a word, the gameplay sets this game apart from any other turn-based strategy I've ever played. It is immensely addictive and draws a player in from the moment you begin. But I'd also like to highlight other aspects of the gameplay that make for a fantastic game even after the initial addiction fades.

Firstly, the game is so intuitive that a manual is unnecessary. If you've ever played a turn-based strategy such as civilization et al you will instantly pick up on what's going on in this game. You research, manage colonies, build fleets, and conquer, much as in any other game of this type. In a way it's quite similar to its predecessor, master of magic. What makes it so intuitive is the plethora of labels and in-game help. All you need to do for help is right click on something. Fantastic. Because of the clarity of the game's menus, options, etc, there is a very small learning curve at the beginning.

Graphically, the game is antiquated, but to be fair, it IS 8 years old. Still, it is immediately apparent that for the time, a great deal of attention and care went into the visuals for MOO2. Each race is distinct and has distinct figures for colonists, researchers, etc. The only weakness is in the ship icons on the main galaxy board. These are so uniform that they actually make it hard to tell which fleets are yours and which aren't. Still, the actual ships themselves vary quite widely.

The tactical combat is rewarding but can be de-selected. It merely gives you the option to try and push the statistics in your favor. The ships are well modeled and the various beams and missles all look distinct from one another. There is also a certain satisfaction in crushing one's enemies personally, but as I noted, this option be deselected if one desires.

The sound of the game is typical for the age. I feel that this is a weakness of the game as it is wholly midi-based and uninspired. This will be discussed further below.

There is no limit to the number of approaches one could take to beating this game. From my understanding, there is a 'technological' victory as well as a militar one, yet my actual experience with the game contradicted this. Regardless of the truth of it, there is nothing actually IN the game that indicates one can win non-violently, which is a bit of a drawback in an otherwise very straightforward and intuitive game. Still, this minor flaw does not detract from the overall positive effect of the open-ended nature of empire running in this game. It's entirely up to you and this can be very satisfying and rewards ingenuity.

The Bad
The sound is rubbish. The background music is uninspired midi bilk and the sound effects are terrible. Granted this was 8 years ago, but other games around this time (cf Grim Fandango, Sam and Max, etc) did a much more satisfying job musically and with effects.

Frankly, I thought it was really, really hard. The easy and 'tutor' difficulty levels were far too easy, but medium became extremely challenging. It could be a subjective for me, but I've played other turn-based strats such as civilization, civ 2, and alpha centauri, all of which are quite similar to this game, and found that I could beat them on medium if not higher levels. So beware, MOO2 can and will chew you a new orifice if you're not careful. What compounds the flaw of the intense difficulty is a total lack of clarity on how one SHOULD play the game. This is the drawback of the open-ended design which in other respects is so rewarding. There is no indicator of what one should research for a given play style, when one should expand, etc. There are in-game indicators of your status with respect to other races, but it was my experience that the computer pWneD itself and then turned its eyes to me. But perhaps others will find this more rewarding than I did.

The Bottom Line
An excellent game to play on the easy/tutor levels but frustrating at higher levels. It is full of depth and is almost instantly addictive, and no matter what is worth the price, especially nowadays when it's available for 5$. A continuing example of what a turn-based strategy game should be.