Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares
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
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 81% (based on 23 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 205 ratings with 15 reviews)
If I could make love to one game, this would be it
The Good
Everything. The diplomacy was awesome..the researching was incredible...the micromanagement was not too tedious, and the whole fact that this is a strategy game at it's greatest makes this a must buy for anyone.
The Bad
The fighting and upgrading ships could use some work.
The Bottom Line
I strongly recommend that any fan of strategy games buy this. Ever wanted to be a Napoleon of space? Here is your chance.
Windows · by xTSx (13) · 2001
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
I sold Master of Orion II, just to buy it again after 6 months.
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!
Windows · by Lord Zimonov (8) · 2000
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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Related Sites +
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MOO2MOD
unofficial website with MOO2 fan patch (1.50) -
Master of Orion II Home Page
A Microprose Space resource management game. Lists race characteristics, improvements, technology and has a poll. -
Master of Orion II Online
Fansite with blog, DOSBox guide and a comprehensive mod list (English) -
MicroProse Games: Master of Orion II
official page of the game at the MicroProse website, archived copy from 1996 by the Wayback Machine -
The Orion Nebula Forum
Fan forum about multiplayer and the unofficial 1.4 patch (English)
Identifiers +
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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.