Maybe this is what's all about: "Maybe it was the whole point? Make something really basic so people could easily and quickly play the thing on their iPad?" I have been able to play near zero on my iPad, but I have to agree that gameplay seems simple enough to quickly and easily get the idea of how to play and get to it. Maybe it was conceived as a quick grab & play strategy game, but I like the idea. I never got into Ascendancy or any other 4x game because they were too complex for me to learn how to play them, now that I'm getting near my 40's and my videogame time is limited to short bursts. This one meets my needs perfectly, but I think that people looking for more complex strategy might not find this one interesting enough.
I've been trying to get my thoughts down all weekend and honestly it's been the hardest game review to write, anyway here's my review. This is after playing 5 games through (1 easy, 2 medium, 2 hard). Overall it's not bad really, but I was expecting this would be a game I would love and play constantly - sadly it isn't Maybe I just built it up in my own internal hype-machine, but it hasn't really grabbed me like I was hoping it would. Finding it quite hard to put into words exactly what is bothering me. The ingredients are all here, but the taste it made is weaker than it looks like it should be. Main thing is it doesn't feel organic like other 4x games, with such evidently clear brackets and rule twists segmented per planet or faction boosts it feels kind of 'digital' (as in "not analogue"). It's just playing with the numbers - and the fact that all costs and incomes are neat round numbers (to 25's) clearly exaggerates that fact. Easy mode is way too easy, Medium is still too easy after the first couple of turns (after you upgrade or research some early stuff) then Hard mode can suddenly be way too hard in those first few turns and repair costs too much to sustain a few defeats. Although the first battles are kind of unpredictable - some are really easy and some are impossible. On harder difficulties the enemy blatantly and unsubtly cheats by duplicating it's units regularly like some kind of bacteria. I feel this could have been handled better just by giving the regular units stronger stats or at least if "reinforcements" come, they should appear from a warp gate or from the edge of the map to make it more believable. In Hard mode all you can do, if you can't afford repair, is shore leave and whimper on next turn. I like, that in order to do well at the higher difficulties you need to really plan priorities and what areas to focus on boosting (to harmonise with your factions bonuses) and maybe NOT enter all battles if it looks like your are outgunned, especially early on. This is probably the most deep the game gets and most interesting/satisfying when you make some progress. But even this seems a bit formulaic in that (because of the clear cut distribution of bonuses) there is always a really clear path if you know what you are trying to achieve. It doesn't leave much room for mixing strategies without the nagging doubt that you are compromising yourself. All that matters is the order in which you visit planets and where you spend your limited resources but it's not even essential to get that right because of the see-sawing balance when you face an enemy. That IS the game, I guess. Just within that framework there isn't anything SURPRISING that can happen to you, other than losing a battle you really needed to win but even that isn't a great setback. Some more comments about the game: THE STRATEGY LAYER - I would like to be able to zoom out even further to see the overall state of "ownership". - There is a lot to experiment with regarding upgrading technology giving plenty of replayability if you want to challenge yourself to win in different ways. But it's up to you to force yourself to play this way. - The AI will easily get to a 51% population so unless you can meet all factions and somehow slow them down the game will be over before you can get to another victory type. - Seems you CAN get by in every game by doing the same things. There should be more factors that force you to think in much different ways. - Building improvements to the planets takes no time. I mean you can upgrade anything several steps all at the same time (just digitally increasing numbers, no sense that this actually has to be constructed by the citizens). - For players that enjoy min-maxing I think there is more to the game than for if you just play through at a normal pace and go for a standard victory. Seems a lot of the more hidden depth of the game is buying and selling your resources so you can more quickly upgrade things that fully support your overall strategy. - Feels out of control when the enemy takes their turn, you can suddenly lose a load of planets and doesn't feel like you have any way of making a stronghold. Maybe I am missing a vital aspect of gameplay (I haven't used planetary defences much yet, will try that in my next game!). - Game can end at any point by unmet civilisations taking over other AI's and you not being strong enough to stop them, or even have a path to meet them. THE TACTICAL LAYER - I like the torpedoes best. Trying to predict where the enemy might move is pretty satisfying if you get it right. - Some of the mission types are good for variety but eventually (too soon) it's just fleet battles. - It's not really clear to me how the closing/opening asteroid gaps play into your strategy in order to capitalise on them. (When do they change state?) - Damage power seems unbalanced - the damage caused by and to you ranges wildly between easy 1 shot kills (in fact, 1 shot with enough power to destroy all ships if it could be shared!) and weak-ass pea-shooter shots. It goes from damage in the 10's, 80-odd and suddenly jumps to 800 in some circumstances with the same ships. I've had a predicted 40-something damage actually cause 865! Not an even scale, and I can't figure out why exactly. THE GRAPHICS - Pretty nice, nothing spectacular but it's what I was expecting. - Nice feel to shooting in tactical view, but unsatisfying explosions / death of enemies. THE AI - Hard to see what it's really doing but I notice that they sometimes try to avoid you (in tactical) and seem to use asteroids pretty well. - Also hard to see if they are making the best plays, but sometimes seems like they are using much more of their fatigue and keep taking over planets during their turn with no resistance. Could be they have the wonder that doesn't reduce their fatigue in battles when I see this, but it's impossible to tell exactly. - So it's hard to comment on AI except as I said it's a shame they have to cheat on Hard (and Impossible I guess). THE GAMEPLAY - Not as deep and involving as I was hoping it would be. - Your decisions do matter especially on the higher difficulties, which is what makes the game work and typically "Sid" in feel but it's like there should be something else at play turn-by-turn, which evolves the universe. Currently it's very static (for your own territories) only affected by your own decisions to pump the stats by building cities / improvements and only being knocked back down if enemies attack you. THE BUGS - Definitely the moving / shooting controls as I mentioned before need sorting out. - Sometimes you get a mission to deliver something to another planet, then sometimes when I get there, the option to complete the mission is not there?? I think it happens if the planet you need to deliver to has no current mission to enter. Could be a bug? - Sound keeps dropping out (maybe after being minimised) such as no music, no shooting sounds (just explosions remain), voice clips being cut off if another one starts, some voices not playing at all or half cut off. In summary, it is enjoyable for what it is, but I was hoping it would be an epic game to really sink my teeth into for a long time to come. I'll continue playing though and see if I can find the groove.
That is a good review especially for IGN hosted! He managed to get it into fewer words than me too lol
Yes, it seems to try make it very basic. It will appeal to a broader audience, but with a $15 price tag, people won't buy it on a whim. I will say that I've played Ascendancy and Starbase Orion, but I sometimes abandon the games if it has been too long since I last played it. If find this game a lot more fun if I had a few fleets of ships.
4X - Not... ... And that's ok. I'm enjoying the game just fine. I'll skip the hyperbole and just throw in a couple things I like or don't about the game: L - tactical battles. It makes engagements more than just math DL - one dimensional tech tree. This should lead to that or the other. L - generous choice of ship upgrades DL - that upgrades can be done in deep space. Upgrades should require new tech, and building new ship to use it (and scrapping old ships for resources) DL - the game utterly lacks the "what's over the next hill" feeling that should be in a 4X game (eXplore) I love, and still play Starbase Orion, and will likely be back to playing it once Starships inevitably looses its shine. I wish SBO had some of the same features, though. Notable tactical combat. Love you all.
You not liking it doesn't make it one of Sid's worst games. Me, I'm loving it. Turn-based Pirates in space. This is a 4x game for people that want to like those sorts of games, but always found them too cumbersome and time-consuming. If anyone is unsure, check out the Firaxis livestreams on YouTube. They represent the game well and should give you a good idea if you will like it or not.
Has anyone else's game cut short due to the opponent winning when you set the victory differently? I set my game to domination and the enemy won with wonders. This is the second time this is happened.
I'm really liking this game so far, but I think I've found a bug, or at least something I don't understand. I set up a game and changed the victory condition from all to domination. I later lost that game when one of the other players won a wonder victory. I thought setting the condition to domination would prevent them from doing that, since it managed to prevent me from winning a wonder victory.
The options to limit the game to certain victory conditions seem to be clearly broken in both the PC and iOS versions. They either have no effect or are limiting the wrong ones, it isn't clear.
The options to limit the game to certain victory conditions seem to be clearly broken in both the PC and iOS versions. They either have no effect or are limiting the wrong ones, it isn't clear.
For anyone interested in some thick, starship strategy, I recommend (2) ports: 1) Haegemonia: Legions Of Iron 2) Imperium Galactica II
My apologizes on a possible repetive ? Does anyone know where I can find a proper tutorial? I am so confused and ready to delete...
This reinforces my belief that Sid Meier's Starships is more of a casual strategy game. I'm enjoying it a lot, mainly because it's fairly simple
I'd like it better if, every time I tried to zoom or pan, my ships weren't zipping around blindly & firing in the completely wrong direction! The fact that a 10-12 year old port can both look AND perform better than a brand new game from a top-shelf developer... Well, that's a shame. Also, Haegemonia is fairly straightforward. You should have a look.
Firaxis and modern Sid games always had a great pick up and play feel more so than most 4x games. Starships does need a couple good patches but that's a matter of time and I expect this game to get more support than lets say Civilization Revolution 2. Played a game and a half and it's been really fun so far.
From reading the 2K forums the victory condition is a personal handicap by design and the computer can achieve victory by other conditions. Here is the link to the post: http://forums.2k.com/showthread.php?1459901-My-biggest-complaint-so-far
