Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain

The Good
The chrome on Pax Imperia was good for its day. The video cutscenes are high quality, and the soundtrack is outstanding. The musical score is moody and enjoyable to listen to while playing (and I don't usually listen to music during games, so that is quite a compliment). Sound effects and voiceovers are also well done.

The interface is basically the outstanding feature of Pax Imperia. Everything has been streamlined so that the player can get to any screen with either a couple of mouse clicks or, even better, just one hotkey.

Most unusual for a 4X space conquest game is Pax Imperia's real-time play mode. That's right -- Pax Imperia lacks that classic "one more turn" feel because it has no turns whatsoever. This applies both to the tactical combat and the overall strategic game. The RTS approach does have its advantages: you can speed through the lulls during single-player games, and you can play a reasonably quick multiplayer game. Fortunately, the designers also included a pause feature, so you can essentially play Pax Imperia at a turn-based pace in solo mode. (As a matter of fact, the too short but well-written manual actually encourages you to pause frequently and reassess things.)

Pax is, in theory, infinitely replayable. Every game is played on a new randomly-generated map, and you can adjust the number of stars to control the length of the game. There are eight preset alien species to choose from, plus you can either modify the characteristics of an existing species or design your own from scratch. Difficulty level and game speed are adjustable as well.

The Bad
First, a minor annoyance that stands out, given how user-friendly Pax Imperia is overall: the game insists on playing both the opening intro video and the movie-like ending credits EVERY time you play the game. Yes, you can hit the space bar to exit from them, but why even make me do that? Once I've seen your intro and your credits the first time, I will let you know if I need to see them again, thank you very much!

That quibble is nothing, though, compared to my main complaint against Pax Imperia. Simply put, this game is surprisingly dull and lifeless. The interface is a pleasure to use, and the game itself runs smoothly enough. There are no big holes in the design or major bugs to worry about (at least not with the 1.06 version patch). But that certain something is missing…call it fun, or addictiveness, or whatever; it just isn't there. Aside from being real-time, Pax Imperia adds absolutely nothing new to the classic spaceploitation formula. It has everything a game like this is supposed to -- systems with multiple planets, tactical combat, ship design, diplomacy, espionage, etc. -- but it does them all in the blandest way possible.

Graphically, the game is very dark, mostly black and gray, and that pretty much sums up the feel of the whole game. The only way to win is by eliminating all your opponents. (Or maybe not--one time I was told I had won the game even though there were two other empires remaining much stronger than mine. Nothing about that in the manual, so good luck figuring the victory conditions out!) Tactical combat is similarly ruthless. There is no such thing as capturing a planet with any of its population or infrastructure intact. There is no ground combat. Penetrate the orbital defenses and you are the victor, but except for the planet itself, there are no spoils.

And where is the personality? The aliens in Pax are pale shadows of the races from Star Trek and MOO. You only get to see the alien races at the options screen, which means you will never have those memorable face-to-face meetings with enemy leaders that you did in Civilization or MOO. It's hard to believe something like that can make a big difference, but it does. Once you are done being impressed by Pax Imperia's interface, you'll start getting nostalgic for those special touches and transcendent moments you remember from the classics; those moments never materialize in this game. The moral of the story: "streamlined" should NOT equal "shallow."

The Bottom Line
Pax Imperia is clean and easy to play. It's also boring. I only recommend it to very casual gamers or RTS junkies who want to experience the 4X genre on their terms.