Space Empires IV

The Good
It would seem that there is no shortage of 4x space themed games. From Emporer of the Fading Suns, to MOO, to Galactic Civilizations (the list goes on and on), we have a smorgasbord of titles to choose from if this genre piques our interests. Despite this, Space Empires IV sticks out above the plethora of other titles.

So what makes this game better than most others in its class? Early on, the game makes more mundane aspects of play rather simple, while the more fun parts have a higher level of complexity. This makes getting started easier. For example, there are only three different types of resources in SEIV This works just fine, do we really need twenty? Ship creation on the other hand allows for open ended type flexibility that allows for personal styles, tactics, and preferences to be fully realized (more on this in a bit).

The options for starting a game are varied and fully customizable. Victory conditions can be based off of total victory, score, technology level, among other things. There are several different galaxy sizes, from relatively cramped to hopelessly gigantic. Number of enemy players may be selected, and there is TCP/IP multiplayer option.

The menu system is verbose yet simple. With one click you can see every ship you have deployed and their relative locations, every colony you have established, extraterrestrial contact information, etc. You might notice a large colony that has no ships protecting it by switching through the menus. This allows for you to easily put out fires so to speak, in places that you aren't looking directly at during that moment in time.

The technology tree is vast, and midway through the game it is impossible to be proficient in all areas. This creates for a nice check and balance system that ensures that all players have some type of weakness that can potentially be exploited. Ship design is at the forefront of success in SEIV, and this main feature is both an integral part of being proficient in the game and lots of fun as well. Based on resources and technologies available, you may design ships as you see fit. Perhaps if you find yourself very close to a hostile enemy, your ships will be weapon heavy. However, if you find yourself in the far reaches of empty space, design from a logistical standpoint is a more practical approach. Maybe you need a mix of the two? Whatever the case, you have the ability to design ships based on your needs and specific play style. Good stuff!

Combat can be manually turn based or handled by the computer. I have much better success by conducting the battles myself. While the combat actions are somewhat limited, they do offer for choice and some simple turn based fighting strategies. Ships can have certain components damaged during a fight, such as an engine which results in limited speed, or perhaps a cargo bay is destroyed resulting in a loss of a commodity that was being carried. It is sometimes possible to capture a disabled enemy vessel which can allow for a new, instant technological discovery if there are unresearched items on board. It is also possible to install self-destructive devices on your ships to prevent your enemies from getting an easy technological "freebie" in the event that your ship is captured. Again this goes back to ship design, and the options are limitless. I just cannot stress how important and exciting this aspect of the game is in a simple review.

There are many diplomatic and espionage options. What I like is that there are several different types of alliances. Instead of just being allied or at war, it's possible to have varying degrees of disposition towards other empires. You may also trade, beg, or threaten from other empires. While the AI doesn't really respond how I think they should in regards to diplomacy, this is useful in multiplayer games. You may also induce pain on your enemy's colonies by sabotaging their colonies in certain ways. Perhaps messing with citizen loyalty before attacking is advantageous in reducing your attacking forces' losses, or maybe spying on their colony to see what type of items they are producing can reveal if they are planning an attack. I had one enemy reduce the loyalty of one of my distant worlds so much that they actually broke away from my empire, and as a result became an entirely new player introduced half way through the game!

I have to say, even though the music is simple and homemade, it works well to suit the mood of the game. The various tracks range from peaceful and serene to upbeat, but never harsh. As a matter of fact, there is a commercial on Current TV that borrowed a piece of music from this game. I recognized it immediately the first time I heard it.

The system requirements are basically non-existent. If you have a windows computer, you should be able to play this. If you aren't able to play this game due to system requirements, then it's likely that you aren't even able to read this review.

There are few bugs in this game, and I've yet to meet one that resulted in a crash.

The Bad
Unfortunately, this game is not flawless, and some of the design issues are enough to keep me from being a long time, hardcore fan of this series.

First and foremost, 4x games are most fun in multiplayer mode. However, the games are prohibitively long and all it takes is one person to lose interest and stop playing and this can really ruin the game for everyone else due to the way multiplayer is carried out. You basically play everything client side, save the file, and then have it sent to the host. Once the host receives everyone's file for that turn, it basically processes the data and produces a result, sending out the new files to the client players. Because of this, there is a weird kind of delay with some of the actions you might take. It's hard to explain, but think of it like this; you make a move based on another player's "circumstance". Other player's "circumstance" changes on the next turn because they corrected it on the previous turn, therefore your action due to circumstance is no longer relevant. It's frustrating.

The computer does cheat quite a bit, producing resources, ships, and colonies at a rate impossible to that of human players. This is to offset the AI's inability to really think and react to issues like a human being. What this means is that the early game usually consists of nothing more than holding out against the computer, until you happen to get on a level playing field where you can use almighty human intelligence to thoughtfully destroy your enemies that have no chance once the playing field is otherwise equal.

Lastly, the number of colonies and ships that are present in the game grows steadily (unless of course you're losing). The list gets bigger and bigger. It gets to the point where you can have literally hundreds of ships and hundreds of colonies. Despite the menu system being good, the player becomes hopelessly overburdened with empire management to the point where turns can take hours with the majority of time spent sifting through countless colonies and ships, only to find out next turn that you missed taking care of an issue with one anyway. This is a huge turn off as the game shifts from being a varietal 4x fanfare to a logistics simulation.

The Bottom Line
SEIV is one of the better 4x games out there. If you have a lot of patience and pride yourself on strategical creativity, then pick this up right away.

If on the other hand you need a quick fix or a low impact gaming experience, look elsewhere.