Joshua_Northey

This is a very strong game for people who like this genre. It is not flashy, and likely won't win and converts from people who like FPS's or whatever like a Ci might. But for people who like 4X and/or liked Alpha Centauri this is a lovely entry into this space. It is well worth playing a few campaigns to explore the solid mechanics and interesting if familiar story. The writing is good, and the graphics while not spectacular are totally sufficient for this genre. A solid B+ IMO, but I am also a stingy grader.

This is an excellent game with exactly the production values you have come to expect from Blizzard. I have not encountered significant problems logging on, the lag spikes have been short and tolerable, and other than that I have no complaints. The game itself is exactly what I expected and I expected great things.

This is a tremendous game that improves on the already decent original in a ton of ways. It also is the most stable and playable release Paradox has had in a while. Cannot recommend it enough if you are at all interested in this genre.

I look at the extremely negative user reviews from people who "loved" JA2 and I wonder what game they are playing. Now this game (and JA2) are not for everybody, but if you like JA2, XCOM or squad based tactical games I don't see what is not to like here. Are there things this game is lacking that JA2 had? Absolutely. But it also has made some real improvements in many areas, and the "plan and go" system is a great idea that works very well and will perhaps breath some new life into this genre. JA2 was a 10/10, especially considering when it was made. But just because this game has some glitches and needs a little more polish doesn't mean it deserves a "2" like people give an unfinished abortion **** like Sword of the Stars 2. This game is substantially finished, playable and a lot of fun. And personally I play games to have fun, not to pick them apart with comparisons with a determined effort to find every way they could be better. I get the impression some people reviewing this either haven't played it, or bought it specifically to pick it apart, which is quite silly if you ask me. The voice acting could be better, but it is sufficient. The combat mechanics are not perfect, but they are fun and make sense. The interface could really use so work to make managing inventories better, but my understanding is that is in the next patch. I thought the music was quite good, and the graphic elements were absolutely excellent for a game like this. The strategy map is a real improvement over the old classic, parts of the interface are greatly improved (and other parts missing/lacking). Anyway if you liked JA2, or XCOM, or the UFO: A series, or Laser Squad Nemesis, et cetera and you would like to play a modern game with those elements than this is just the thing for you. I had very modest expectations and it has been the game I have had the most fun with since portal 2 was released (and I buy a game a week).

I am a big fan of the original Sword of the Stars 1, a 4X space game with a turn based strategy component and a real-time battle component. It was an innovative and fun game that the developer (Kerberos) strongly supported over the years with patches and expansions. The game was long on content and provided interesting strategic challenges, while still being a blast. The space battles in particular were a both fun and beautiful. Due to the above I eagerly awaited the October 28th release of Sword of the Stars 2 (SotS2). SotS2 promised to follow the standard sequel formula with updated graphics and some overall design improvements. In some ways it has met that promise. The graphics are breathtaking, and there are many improvements to the overall design. Unfortunately, I am badly disappointed with the game. The game is not particularly buggy, and does not crash overly much for a new release, but it appears to be simply unfinished. Many core features are simply unimplemented even after a couple hurried patches. Large stretches of the game look as though they are just rough drafts. With so much of the game unfinished one wonders how any balancing work or AI development could have been seriously undertaken. The most frustrating thing of all is that it is clear there is a tremendous game **** at least the potential for one. Yet, until A LOT more work is put in, the game is borderline unplayable. This makes the game very hard to rate. It is like a brilliant student with good test scores who just didn't write a term paper. Sure you could fail them, but that doesn't seem fair. On the other hand just grading them on potential isn't fair to the rest of the students who actually did the work. I really wish I could just hand out an "incomplete", but metacritic does not work that way. With another few months of work this could easily have been one of the best games of the year (95). But as it is now I would not recommend anyone buy it, even hardcore fans of the genre (25). I guess I will average those and give it a 6. If the developer survives long enough to complete the game there should be many long hours of fun to be had sometime in the distant future. Whether that is weeks, months, or years from now only time will tell.