I was looking for the community to give me an idea about some of the strengths and weaknesses of ES. As some background on me. I don't care about Multiplayer, I am not wildly drawn to Sci-fi games, I like strategy games and in particular TBS and 4x games (not a big fan of RTS).



So it is tough looking at reviews because so many were done on earlier versions of the game. Can some of you tell me what it does well and what the game does not do well or annoys you.



Thanks

If you like turn based 4x games, and have a soft spot for space conquest games in particular, then I say go for it. The game has a good UI, has received pretty good support from its dev’s and offers an interesting twist on old theme.



Probably the most controversial developer decision is the nature of the combat system. You are probably going to love it or hate it. Basically combat is displayed in a real time cinematic sequence that you have no direct control over, it is just a visual display of what happens given the choices you made. Combat occurs over three phases; long range, medium range, melee range. The weapons you outfit your ships with are optimized for a particular range and defenses only guard against a particular weapon choice. In addition, you chose a formation and you make a choice as to how your fleet should target its weapons I.E. spead fire over every ship, concentrate fire on a few ships. In each of the three phases you also select an option card that is revealed only when the phase happens. These cards influence what happens in that specific phase. For example, at long range you might chose an offense card that enhances your kinetic weapon damage, now your opponent could play a sabotage card that counters that, however, you might double guess that’s what your opponent is going to do and so you play a card that counters the expected sabotage card.



It is an interesting system, and that for me is a welcome change from the way these types of games usually handle combat. Some people are bothered by not having direct control over their ships, but for me this is no big deal. I am an older gamer and I cut my teeth on games like Imperium Galactum--not Imperium Galactica, that is a different game, Imperium Galactum is an old IBM pc game.



Overall I am really impressed with the game, if I have any complaints at all it is in the nature of how diplomacy is handled. It is by far the weakest and most shallow aspect of the game. The devs could take a page out of StarDock’s book and try to incorporate some of the features from Galactic Civilizations 2; that game had a good diplomacy system. Also, while I like the combat system, I don’t think they took it far enough. It would be nice, for example, if how you designed your ships offered you different formations or card options for battle. I.E. designing ships that don’t use up all the space open to them are counted as light and give you a card for extra evasion or a ship with modules for better space scanning lets you see the option card your opponent picked in long range first.



However, even as it stands, I rank it in my top 3 space strategy games. I would say it comes in just behind Sword of the Stars I and probably ties or is just slightly behind distant worlds. Given the price, it is a steal, so, yeah, I say go for it!

Got to agree with what warhawk26 said.

Having a good time on Endless Legend does not necessarly means that you would have a good time on ES.

I never played ES in multiplayer but I suspect that it might where it really shines; in SP, you soon understand AI behaviour and quickly get the better of it.

I play 4x games frequently, my favorite being Civ V.



I would say yes but wait for a Steam sale since you're not the sci-fi type.



I'm not typically drawn to sci-fi games either but I thought I'd give ES a chance after reading the reviews. It's not as good as Civ V but it certainly has some great differences which keep me coming back.



The biggest issue I have with the game is the lackluster diplomacy. The leaders have no real personality and the interaction is very, very dry. When you've been exposed to the diplomacy of Civ IV and V, ES fails here miserably.



That being said, I did enjoy ES more than Gal Civ II.



If Civ V is a 9/10, I'd give ES a 7/10.



Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the feedback...I have a 50% off coupon for doing EL founders so I might just use that tonight and try out the game. I also like the idea of supporting studios that produce strategy games (Like Paradox and as I just fond out amplitude)

they changed the combat system a lot with disharmony, you may want to research the classic system and disharmony system before buying.

I saw that the DLC makes changes to the game...I was thinking of just getting the standard game for now (assuming I miss out on things like added factions, ships, planet types. I did see something about improved AI..is that really the case or is it just extra content (and I guess a changed combat system)



Edit: I read the description on steam and saw that my coupon works on the gold edition so I went for the whole thing.

Adventurer_Blitz wrote:
they changed the combat system a lot with disharmony, you may want to research the classic system and disharmony system before buying.

Can you please explain? I am very interested to hear the changes from someone who experience both games.

It has been a while since I played vanilla, but from what I remember, formations didn't exist, neither did fleet firing options, and the weapons were locked into their default range. I.E. Missiles long, beams medium, kinetic melee.

Yes! It's worth it

Wait for 75% sale if your not in a hurry. Definitely coming in a few months.

Yes, you should. If you are uncertain, wait for a sale, but it's a fantastic game.

Playing my first game (playing against hard I think)...enjoying it so far...a bit confused on some of it (but in a way that's good because it means there is a lot to learn instead of being too simple). I've encountered my first AI's and had a couple battles against one of them in neutral space. As for the combat I think it is interesting to set the parameters of the battle and then just let the computer fight it out for you.



So far I'm liking it. I am also pretty sure I will lose which is always a great sign in my mind. Right now I'm 3rd out of 4 but it is still pretty early.