Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares

aka: MOO 2, Master of Antares
Moby ID: 182
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Legends speak somewhere in space of the mystical planet Orion. Created by the Ancients, it remains unclaimed due to a powerful Guardian that orbits the planet and keeps out intruders. These same Ancients long ago fought a war against the Antarans and banished them into another dimension. Now... long after the Ancients empire has vanished, new races take to the stars, wishing to establish their own star empires, defeat the Antarans and become... The Master of Orion.

Master of Orion II: Battle At Antares is a turn-based 4x space empire game and is the sequel to Master of Orion, reinterpreting that game from scratch. Unlike the original the game can be played single player or with other human players. The player takes the role of a ruler of one of thirteen races, while also having the extra option of creating a custom one. They must manage planet resources to build ships and facilities, improving production. Exploration of the galaxy is done via scouts and colony ships, which can establish new planets as part of the empire. Research must also be done to discover and utilize new technologies. Alien civilizations which are encountered can be negotiated with, or ships can engage in combat in a turn-based grid system. As new systems are explored, random events are triggered and strange artifacts found in orbit around unexplored planets. Wormholes can also be found which allow transport across dozens of parsecs into new star systems.

The game can be won in different ways: through conquest of all other races, being voted supreme leader of the galaxy or destruction of the Antaran race.

Spellings

  • 银河霸主II:安特雷斯之战 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

51 People (48 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 205 ratings with 15 reviews)

A classic space conquest game.

The Good
The ability to create custom races and ships definitely added to the replayabilty of this game. An improvement on the original.

The Bad
The space combat engine could have been improved. There was no terrain to mention.

The Bottom Line
An incredible game for 1996! If your a turn-based strategy buff this is a must play.

Windows · by Jeff Watts (18) · 2001

If you are looking for a new game to try that isnt a cookie cutter shootem-up then try this one. Trust me Its worth it!

The Good
The music sometimes never leaves my head, its so catchy. The game play doesnt miss a beat. And the choices are many and diverse. This game has some of the hightest replayabilty that I have ever seen. Graphics are good and the game's progression of difficulity is terrific for new players. In the lowest level of difficulity the game is easy to learn and enjoy. It hooks the new players and dares them to try a real challenge. The game never really gets boring and it all comes together to form an excellent game worthy of the title Master of Orion. Truly one of the greatest games ever to come from Microprose.

The Bad
there are some small things that could have been done that would have made this game even better. (1) After you colonize or take over a colony you cant rename it. (note: I know that when you first land on a planet in a system you can name the system but after that you can change it.) (2) Although the music is catchy, there is a definate need for more music. Its catchy because there is only one song or theme playing through the whole game. (3) more options on diplomacy screen. ie.. using your spys to kill a leader or start a coup. Overall there really are no complaints with the game as far as I know.

The Bottom Line
Great game. If you like civ you will like this one.

Note: if you only play shooters and you are looking for a new game to try that isnt a cookie cutter shootem-up then try this one. Trust me Its worth it!

Windows · by William Shawn McDonie (1131) · 2001

Addictive as hell. even after you are sick of it, every couple of months you just have to play it again. a great sequel to a great game.

The Good
Everything. good graphics, designing your own spacehips, fun battles, different alien races means different gameplay. Master of Magic colony management style. lots of random encounters (space flux which prevents ships from travelling in space for a random amount of time, stars going supernova needing reserch points to be saved, wealthy merchants donating you money etc...) fun fun fun!

The Bad
Stupid AI, the colony autobuild is so dumb it hurts. (sometimes it decides to build trade goods instead of important buildings even though i have 70k+ credits and earning a great amount of money each turn). the diplomacy is virtually non-existant. alien races will decline a trade pact but will accept it after you offer it again after offering a reserch pact in the same conversation!
The Antarens are too easy to beat at a late stage, so even if you are going to get crushed by your enemies you can always win by destroying the Antaren homeworld. If you have a large amount of ships that need to be refitted you still have to redesign each and every one (why not change the basic design and just press a "refit to design" button?) If you deselect Tactical Battles when starting a game by accident you'll never have a chance to change it. and you will want to change it! (as stated before, the game's AI is not exactly amazing)

The Bottom Line
Despite the evil things listed above the game is still superb and as addictive as Master of Magic and civilization (well... almost as addictive as civ ;-) ) fun. go and play it. Seriously.

Windows · by Oren Hadas (3) · 2001

[ View all 15 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Compatibility - just use Steam MerlynKing May 8, 2022
Has anyone witnessed the battle at Antares? CalaisianMindthief (8172) Oct 6, 2015
Master of Orion II How to install in win7 Dim Gri (30) Oct 24, 2011

Trivia

Combat system

The whole tactical ship combat system has many similarities with the system used in Renegade Legion: Interceptor. This not is not only restricted to technical aspects. If one examines the ship graphics in Interceptor more closely, there should be a moment of déjà vu.

Development

The folks at SimTex were calling this game Master of Antares when it was in early development. Later the name was changed to Master of Orion 2 so the game would be more easily recognized by consumers as the sequel to the award-winning original.

References

  • Loknar’s ship was christened as “Avenger”, exactly the same as the ship you need in X-COM to travel to Cydonia. Even the graphics are similar! Take a look at them and compare! Coincidence?
  • Another coincidence with X-COM? Perhaps the similarity between "Elerium" (the alien energy source from X-COM) and the "Elerians" (the matriarchal psychic race of Moo2) is intentional?
  • In another X-COM coincidence... both Master of Orion games as well as the first X-COM game have an alien race named "Silicoid", however the look of the creatures is very different between the two game series.
  • The Antaran Star Fortress (when you travel to their homeworld via Dimensional Portal) is commanded by a Ship Captain. His (her?) name is Xyphys, the Antaran Warrior, and has the following abilities: "Fighter Pilot* Helmsman* Ordnance* Security* Weaponry*" as noted in the moohero.lbx archive.
  • Phasers, food replicators, transporters, federation type government, the human leader being bald, charismatic and democratic and a few of the ship designs may be references to Star Trek:The Next Generation.

Awards

  • Origin Awards
    • 1996 - Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game

Information also contributed by Chris Martin, Dum Gri, lilalurl, NGC 5194, PCGamer77, Technocrat and WildKard.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Kalirion, David Ledgard, CaesarZX, Patrick Bregger, Dim Gri, MrFlibble, J D.

Game added August 4, 1999. Last modified January 31, 2024.