Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares

The Good
High praise? Well deserved I would say. Master of Orion II is still on the top spot of my (very short) list of games with any real(!!) replay value.
The user interface is comfortable, graphics and sound add nicely to the overall mood, but what it really sets in front is the gameplay and the nearly infinite amount of tactics you can (must) use to win a game.
Winning with the Psilons is a piece of cake? Switch to an uncreative race and get yourself slaugthered the next few times. Can you adopt? How can the computer (great AI) grow that fast with the same race?
You will always find settings where the game is a real challenge.

The Bad
Towards the end (espacially if you are playing for a good score), the micro-management gets a bit tedious and if you finished it in one session you might feel a bit drowsy.

The Bottom Line
Turn-based space-exploration and empire-building game (fortunately not) out there. You can get it on earth.

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.

The Good
Ship design, AI, heroes, races and music. The good sides of the game. I've been always fan of SimTex strategy, and I must say that no space strategy game has yet taken MOO II its domination of turn-based scifi-strategy games. And that's damn well, this game is four years old! Master of Orion III will possibly be the heir to throne, but that's not certain. I personally love this game. So much that I sold it, and bought a new one after six months. This has never happened to me before and won't happen again, this Orion I won't sell!

The Bad
Nothing is perfect. Not even Master of Orion II. Worst thing is that some races never prosper, and some prosper always. Like in the middle of a game, usually Humans, Alkari, Bulrathi etc. have been eliminated. Almost always. And Sakkra, Klackon, Silicoid and Psilon exist. Always. But that's about it. With a bit of balance between the races, this game would have been a lot better. But, as I said before, nothing is perfect.

The Bottom Line
Civilization style turn-based Sci-Fi strategy. With Master of Magic engine. SimTex has upgraded the original Master of Orion idea much. Though now there is more micromanagement, but I like it. You can design your own warships, colonize new worlds and deal with alien races. You choose between war and diplomacy. There are also some random events, like antaran attacks or space dragon plundering your colonies. Yeah, and then there's my favorite, when you complete the game, cool ending demo finishes with these words: Your fleets patrol the skies of every planet in galaxy. This galaxy. But other challenges await, Master of Orion!