Sins of a Solar Empire

For the longest time there have only been two real types of strategy games: 4X (turn-based) and real time. 4X strategy games are focused more on the “bigger picture,” meaning players try to take over the known world/universe. The gameplay is turn based because it takes plenty of thought to decide which new technologies to research, if there is a need to increase taxes, and dealing with the politics of running an empire. On the other hand, real-time strategy games are focused on making split-second decisions that will affect the outcome of the game. To sum it up, turn based is more about controlling every aspect of an empire, while real time generally focuses on winning battles to win the war. The developers at Iron Clad games decided to mix the best aspects of these two genres and merge them into one, and thus Sins of a Solar Empire was born.

The story for Sins of a Solar Empire is pretty generic and the theme has been used multiple times. In the future humanity, known as the Trader Emergency Coalition, has to fight two threats to their civilization. The first threat is known as the Advent, which are an offshoot of humanity that was banished thousands of years ago. They have come to rely on alien technology and will use this to destroy the TEC. The other threat is the alien Vasari; their goal is to destroy anything standing in their way. On the surface, all three races play the same, but there are slight differences between the technology and the cost to build certain items. For instance one race ships might cost a lot, but they have more firepower and armor, while another race creates cheaper ships that will be destroyed faster.

Now renting apartements with a stellar view

Gamers who have played Civilization, Master of Orion, and others will be very familiar with how this game starts. Players are given one small planet, a few construction ships, and the goal to take over the known galaxy anyway they see fit. Unlike the previous games mentioned, the entire game is played in real time; instead of waiting a certain number of turns for something to be build, it is done in a matter of seconds or minutes (depending on the item), ad this really speeds up the gameplay. Players must then conquer neighboring planets to obtain more revenue (from taxing and mining the precious minerals) to continue their expansion. To make things even more strategic, the only way to get from each planet is by predefined paths. So players will have to defend these areas in case enemies decide to invade.

The developers did a wonderful job with the user interface, and this is very crucial in games that cover such a huge scope of things. The reasons why this interface is so great is the Empire Management tab. This tab is located at the top left of the game screen and it shows players how many structures are built around each planet as well as how many ships is currently in service. This also allows players to quickly select each planet and issue various, which speeds things up for players in their quest for domination. What makes this even more outstanding is that this tab is collapsible, which is very helpful when players have a large amount of planets under their control. Even in the main window players will be able to point their mouse over any unit and get crucial statics on it. This will helps players decide if more units are needed in the battle, or if they need to retreat to prevent a complete loss.

War is a pricy business

There are two things that many players might complain about Sins of a Solar Empire. First is that there is no “formal” story mode to this game. The only single-player modes that players can participate in are skirmishes and various scenarios. While these are fun game modes, it in no way replaces a story mode. This is sorely lacking as players will want to know the in’s and out’s of each civilization and how everything fits together in the grand scheme of things. A story mode would also help players understand how to play the game better, especially since this game has such a deep learning curve.

Another complaint that players might have is the length of each mission can take many hours to complete. Medium maps alone can take up to six hours to complete, with the larger maps taking much longer. The main problem is that there are no alternate victory conditions, and then combine this with the fact that the AI will continue to play even after it has no chance of victory. So many times players will be trying to find each enemy position and destroy it before the final victory screen loads.

Traveling to another planet is pretty

Sins of a Solar Empire is a visually appealing game, but it is not as flashy as other games on the market. The ship designs are really nice and the backgrounds look pretty, but it is really lacking in the special effects area. All of this is easily forgivable because this game really excels at the overall performance, which is amazing. The reason why people will be amazed by the performance is the sense of scale that this game has. For instance, players will be able to zoom in and look at the various ship designs up close, then players can zoom out a little and see various squadrons in formation, and eventually you can zoom out to look at the entire solar system. Players will be able to go from the zoom from the highest to the lowest points really quickly and this is all without any drop in performance.

The soundtrack to this game is nothing short of exquisite! It really helps set the mood for the entire game, from exploring the surrounding areas to the various battles players take part in. The developers even included a separate CD of soundtrack to the game, so players will be able to listen to the beautiful score anytime. Another area that really makes this game even better is the various sound effects the developers used because they compliment the soundtrack which provides an even more engaging game. The voice acting in this game is pretty good, unfortunately the dialogue does get a bit cheesy at times, but it doesn’t ruin the overall feel of the game.

One thing that players will enjoy about this game is that the developers put in an achievement system in it. The game rewards players for really good performance or by performing well in impossible situations. While some of the achievements are really easy, such as winning the game as a certain civilization, but there are many hard ones as. Here are a few of the ones that stand: win the game without building any Capital Ships, colonize a pirate base, and even find and own every artifact at the same time. The point is that having this simple achievement system, gives the players another reason to continue playing, and to play with different strategies to obtain them all.

Sins of a Solar Empire is rated Teen and contains mild language and fantasy violence.

The system requirements are:
Windows XP SP2 or Vista
1.8 GHz single core or greater processor
512 MB of RAM
8X or faster CD/DVD drive
5.6 GB of disk space
128 MB Video Card
Direct X 9.0c

Gameplay: 9.0
This game will keep players entertained for hours due to its highly addictive nature. The gameplay is really smooth and without any noticeable hiccups. Players will love the intense depth this game offers, as well as the real time battle aspects of this game.

Graphics: 9.1
The scale that Sins of a Solar Empire has is impressive. While it is not as graphically pleasing as other games in the same genre, the stable performance and framerate (especially when players zoom in and out of the playing field) really boost this game’s score.

Sound: 9.3
Even though the voice acting can get “over the top” at times, it is good and fits well with the rest of the game. The music and the sound effects are also really good and help immerse the players in the game. Including the soundtrack disk is also a really great move by the developers.

Difficulty: Medium
Once players get past the learning curve, they will be richly rewarded with intelligent computer opponents to play against and really fun space combat.

Concept: 8.8
Even though there have been many space-combat strategy games, Sins of a Solar Empire does a really good job of mixing various 4X and RTS games, and gives players a game with deep strategy that will keep them busy for a while.

Multiplayer 8.9
The multiplayer is run through Iron Clad’s proprietary matchmaking services, and it gets the job done. One feature that many players will like is the ability to save a game session so players can come back at any time to complete it instead of trying to complete it in one sitting.

Overall: 9.0
Sins of a Solar Empire is an epic game that will take players a long time to completely tame. The only problem you will run into is the sudden lack of sleep you will get due to its addictive nature. If that doesn’t bother you and you are in the market for a new strategy game, I highly suggest checking this game out.