Master of Orion 3

aka: MOO 3, Master of Orion 3: The Fifth X
Moby ID: 8464

Windows version

Master of Orion 3? This isn't Master of Orion 3...I'm still waiting for a game worthy enough to be called Master of Orion 3

The Good
2nd Update: Put more swearing with a lotta soul.

Now I've been playing Master of Orion since it was still in diapers. I've watched it grow from Master of Orion I to Master of Orion II. Now the baby has grown into Master of Orion III, a game I have eagerly and patiently waited for years...only to find out it grew into....a disappointment.

The Bad
What I don't like about the game is an understatement. It's more what I don't get about the game is one area that should be cleared first.

First thing's first, new and innovation is fine. But changing the bloody interface into something that even Veteran Master of Orion players have to start all over to learn is way too much. It was like back in school (and that was a looong time ago) studying math, physics, listening to a teacher that seems to operate on a different dimentional language than you don't understand.

But for it's predeccesor's sake, I tried to be patient and played the game. I learnt it slowly for the next few hours and was able to hold my temper without ripping of the monitor. Suddenly I realized this game doesn't need much manual play. Just leave everything to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and keep pressing next turn. You just watch as your empire grows, without much help from you. Kinda reminds you of a similiar game: Outpost - a Sierra disaster....just pressing next turn doesn't effect much on the overall game.

I then noticed the technologies aren't what they used to be. In MOO 1 and MOO 2, you leap for joy every time your race discovers a new technology. Now it's just a sentence the beginning of each turn....ho hum. But the thing you gotta love is ship development. Praise be the IDIOT who came up with this idea. Once you make a ship, you can't upgrade it. Yep, you have to scrap it up and create a new one. Do you know how long it took to build the dang thing in the first place anyway? Seriously, I don't know if this is sabotage or just plain idiocy.

Master of Orion 3 lost something very important. It's soul. That is the fact that players like to personalize themselves with every aspect of the game. It's like taking the fun out of character creation from RPG's. This game frustrated me because each turn felt like a routine. My ships were boring, my planets were boring. The only thing that was probably close mentioning as nice was the beginning cinematics.

Anyway, after more than 10 hours of mucking around with the game. I threw the game in the rubbish bin...solitare was more addictive.

The Bottom Line
One word: GAWD! Two words: OH GAWD! Three words: OH MY GAWD! Clear enough?

Final words. After reading again my review, I realized I didn't put enough soul in it. So here goes...

But seriously. This is a personal message to the developers of this game. I don't know why you did it, what big excuse you have for creating such a crappy game. But from a big time fan of Master of Orion, like many who "had" been waiting for this sequel...how can you wake up in the morning, knowing you broke the hearts of all your fans....?

How could you...

by Indra was here (20760) on February 25, 2004

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