PC Critic Reviews

Sword of the Stars 2 had one of the worst launches ever. At present condition (January) the code is quite playable, game is sometimes even fun. Kerberos will upgrade the game and it seems to be getting better and better. [Feb 2012]

But if you're a person who doesn't want to wait around for patches and who likes a gaming experience you can glide into rather than struggle through, I sadly suggest either giving this one a pass or at least giving it time to get patched up in time for a steep Steam sale.

On the one hand, the bare bones of the game are there, the potential is there, and I wouldn't trust many devs outside of Kerberos to patch this to a decent state. On the other, regardless, it's going to take at least a few months to patch it to a state where it's not just "sort of playable", it's actually enjoyable. But if you feel like helping nurture a game to completion, by all means fork out. Those of you who are more cautious, hang back a few months, it should be cool by then.

Sword of the Stars II is a complete mess but inside the mess there is one hell of a space 4x odissey. Hopefully the guys at Kherberos will complete the game with patches and upgrades and, maybe, with a couple of scenarios.

It's just a little bit boring right now. If you want to show Paradox and Kerberos your support, then by all means go buy it, but regardless of whether you pick it up now or not, it'll probably take a couple of months of patches to be the game it was meant to be.

Quotation forthcoming.

This game was relased prematurely. We hope that constant patching can turn this game into the game it could be, but currently there are too many technical problems to suggest to our readers to buy it.

A beautiful but baffling space strategy game. Bugs and bewildering menus make for a frustrating and very missable experience.

Sword of the Stars 2 is what happens when a space opera becomes a hostage of amateurish idealists.

I love the ideas at play here, but the horrific implementation adds complexity and obfuscation with little commensurate gain in strategic depth. I hope Kerberos' constant patching (the week-plus since launch has already seen several updates) will eventually turn this into the game it could be. Right now, it's a mess that everyone should avoid.