Master of Orion

I loved how it stayed true to the original and upgraded it ideally. When I first heard the research sound bit just like the ones I remembered in the first Master of Orion but with a more richer 3D like surround sound I joyfully grined more than I have in maybe a decade and that russian like accent on the female lead researcher just tickled every juvenile feeling I have in my core. Then when I started my games first new Colony I heard the tune exactly like the one from my young teenage years in the early 90's, but with a beautiful graphics update, I was overjoyed. The rest of the game is also taken the best from all the previous gaming generations of MOO and combined them perfectly: sound from original. buildings from Orion 2, and even more updated graphics of Master of Orion 3. Also love the adaptability for less powerfully computers or more hands on playing styles.

I'm not opposed to change and innovation, especially if it makes a game better. Unfortunately this is not the case here. I will say right off the bat, the game is still enjoyable. First off, I'm not at all a fan of space lanes. I can appreciate that it adds new tactical elements to the game and allows for choke points. Second, where did freighter fleets and extra solar system trading go? This makes establishing early colonies and growing them ridiculously slow. Play a game of MoO2, the freighter fleets are sorely missed. Synthetic/Android population has been removed. Again, painfully missed when growing and expanding an empire. The space combat is just, well, unit control is pretty terrible The move away from turn based combat did nothing to make space combat more enjoyable. Removing the option of boarding/capture parties is sorely felt, The camera controls are borderline awful. No tech gains from salvaging opponent ships or capturing their colonies. I'm glad they introduced a more refines spy system, yay. However dismantling enemy ships and capturing enemy colonies was a great and realistic way to try and catch up to stronger foes. You can change the victory conditions, but if you don't notice... the game is actually too short, forcing a winner as the game is getting good. The lack of Hall of Fame and high scores are missed. It would be nice if you could change the end game settings and 'save' them so you could quickly and easily play at your preferred game setting. On the up side it is pretty and when it is not being buggy it plays fairly fast and easy.