Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares

aka: MOO 2, Master of Antares
Moby ID: 182
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Description official descriptions

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)

Semi-Successful Blend of Master of Orion and Master of Magic

The Good
M002 instantly appeals to those who've grown bored of Master of Orion's simplistic colony management. The elegant but bland production bars are tossed in favor of buildings and queues, a la CIV and Master of Magic. The Technology advances are FUN - for example, new forms of government, the capability to create new planets from asteroid fields, and a stellar converter that rips them in half.

Designing ships is implemented well - there are lots of options and opportunities to build ships for many different purposes. Ships are no longer "grouped" - they are formed into fleets but each one can be controlled separately in combat. Obsolete designs no longer must be scrapped - they can be refitted.

Diplomacy is top-notch, and espionage works well. And nothing seems wrong with the AI.

The Bad
Multiplayer is just awful. SimTex fans have been clamoring for it for so long - and it just stinks. The main culprit is the horrible multiplay code - it'll feel like play by email even on a lan. What aggravates this is that 10 turns may pass in MOO2 without much happening for a player. In singleplayer, autoskip can be used to skip turns until something happens, but waiting for other people to complete 5 turns when you have absolutely nothing to do is unbearable. And I was so looking forward to a Master of Something done with multiplayer. sigh If you really have your hopes up and must try - set up a one on one game.

The Heroes don't add much to the game - they just add bonuses to your ships and planets. In Master of Magic they may have been unbalancing, but here they're just boring.

Oh yes, and the creative skill. Don't get me started. One of the race attributes, creative, allows the race to discover every technology, where other races can only take home 1/3 to a half at their choosing. It's an expensive trait (requiring a lot of race picks when customizing a race) but it still unbalances the game so much it's difficult to play a non-creative race after playing a creative one. Creative should have made research move at a slower, but more thorough, pace.

The Bottom Line
Now I'm pissy and don't remember why I said this game was semi-successful.

But I shouldn't be so harsh - MOO2 is still fun to play dispite its flaws, and is only a letdown because of what I've come to expect from SimTex.

Windows · by Nathan Kovner (49) · 2000

Nothing big

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...

DOS · by Heikki Sairanen (75) · 2001

A wonderful Microprose sequel to a wonderful Microprose classic.

The Good
Everything, starting with the improved gameplay (even more addictive), improved graphics (even more elaborate and beautiful), improved battles (even more fun), improved aliens (the Antarans) and added music. :-)

The Bad
You do get sick of it after a while, but every two months or so you just have to go back and play it again.

The Bottom Line
A buy you won't regret.

Windows · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

[ 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.