PC Critic Reviews

Pandora: First Contact does a good job in reviving the classic Alpha Centauri, though it lacks some personality to reach the same level.

Pandora offers a stiff challenge, and will keep space-faring strategists happy until Civilization: Beyond Earth breaches the event horizon later this year.

Pandora: First Contact delivers very decent spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri, but it unfortunately falls short on some aspects. It needs more focus on the story, diplomacy and the endgame in general. [Jan 2014]

Pandora is a good game in its own right, but falls short of recreating the philosophical implications and sheer depth of Alpha Centauri.

Developed by a small indie-studio, Pandora: First Contact lives the spirit of classic 4x-games, namely Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. The gameplay is fluid, the mechanics well done. Though it’s not that epic and complex like Civilization, it’s fun to play. Overall it’s solid, but not a real long-time-challenging game, because there is a lack of variety concerning the six factions and the small tactical possibilities during the battles.

A solid, fresh and addictive empire builder that is well worth playing for fans of the genre. But it needs more life and dynamic events, especially towards the end.

A space diamond in the rough, Pandora may not get everything right but exceptional combat and city management shines through. [Feb 2014, p.86]

Despite of its bad balancing and badly-arranged gameplay Pandora: First Contact is manna from heaven for gamers longing for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri 4X's successor. However, this sci-fi strategy game lacks in balancing along with user's comfort to be truly excellent.

Inspired by the classic Alpha Centauri, it looks like a modern version at first glance, but lacks the depth and long term motivation.

They say that something is better than nothing, and Pandora is not a bad game. It’s just nowhere near the source of its inspiration – the still brilliant Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.