The original Sword of the Stars was a solid entry to the 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) strategy subgenre, offering tons of depth and great graphics. However, it was a bit tough to get into as the interface was pretty complex and the gameplay could be pretty user unfriendly if you were a newcomer to the genre.

Sword of the Stars: Murder of Crows is the latest expansion to the original SotS, offering several new features, including a brand new race with new gameplay perks and mechanics. While the interface is still a bit complex and overwhelming for non-4X veterans, the expansion should offer some pretty nice additions for fans of the original game.

The biggest new feature that A Murder of Crows brings to the table is the introduction of a new race, the Morrigi. The Morrigi are an ancient race that has lived under the radar for many years, and has now reemerged to assert its dominance over the squabbling civilizations featured in the original game and its expansion. The Morrigi bring with them a host of new features, including new vehicles, technology to research, diplomatic abilities, and gameplay options, keeping things fresh for fans of the series while offering a unique new perspective.

Your diplomacy options have been expanded in the general sense as well. You’ll be able to gauge whether or not another race approves or disapproves of you by sending out requests to them, which will provide more insight to what changes you need to make in order to improve your diplomatic relations. This is a big improvement to the system employed in the original game, giving you more insight on what your needed areas of improvement are as opposed to just a standard “good/bad” rating.

However, some of the bigger problems that have plagued the original game and its second expansion are still present in this latest expansion. The interface is still a bit cumbersome and can be fairly unwieldy to newcomers, as trying to figure out exactly what you need to do and how to do it can be pretty overwhelming.

That seems to be the general vibe with the game as well as the new expansion. While the sheer amount of content and things that you can do in Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows is impressive, the whole experience is pretty unfriendly to those unfamiliar with the original game. Granted, if you are buying an expansion for a game, chances are you’re pretty comfortable with it, but the feeling of the game still feels as though it caters to a very specific niche and does little to bring in new players.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good, with some great looking combat sequences and ship models. The new graphical effects associated with the new Morrigi race are a very nice touch, giving them a wholly unique organic appearance to the other races in the game.

The sound presentation is sparse, but what is here is well done. The voice acting is nicely done, and the music effects sound pretty good and set the mood for the game nicely.

Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows adds some nice new features that fans of the series will definitely enjoy. However, the game is still pretty complex and can be unwieldy to newcomers, making for a title that might be tough to get into if you’re new to the 4X genre.

Gameplay: 7.5
The new mechanics brought about by the Morrigi race add some great new elements to the gameplay and a few minor tweaks have been made to the interface. However, the whole experience is still pretty overwhelming if you’re new to the game.

Graphics: 8.0
The new graphical effects for the Morrigi race look great, adding a cool organic feel to their spacecraft.

Sound: 7.0
The voice acting is pretty well done and the score sets the mood pretty well, but the rest of the sound presentation is sparse.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
The new features added by the expansion are great for fans of the game, but newcomers will still take issue with the complexity.

Overall: 7.5
A Murder of Crows offers some nice new features for vets, but is still pretty complex and unwieldy for newcomers.