Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares

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.