A Precious Diamond, still playable, valuable.. an example of how a game should be. It is definitely Best of the b
Still has no true competitor, Despite it has many followers like "Reach for the stars", "Imperium galactica", "Galactic Civilizations" ... etc. I have played them all, none of these games give the taste Moo2 offers. Frankly they are all crap compared to Moo2.
There is everything you are looking for in a 4x game:
+Superb Tech tree. Tech names are realistic and benefits are well implemented.
+Fantastic land battle animation even no controls offered surely fun to watch.
+Great space battle which allows even boarding and capturing ships.
+Tons of Governors and Commanders add RPG value to game.
+Incredibly well balanced ship design system.
+Unique species and custom create your own option.
+Superb replayability.
+Galactic News Network (GNN) and random events.
+Top of the line game balance.
It would be much better if:
-Colony view would be better..
-Ship Icons were better and with more variety..
-Space battles with more realistic animations and sounds.
-Galactic Council would be more functional.
If any designer would just get the game, put some polish on its graphics (increasing its resolution and color quality), put some fancy animatics and a little boost to tunes and sound effects without touching its game mechanics, i would buy that with my eyes closed even for a 60$! I am serious, pack it up with a nice box and name it as "Master of Orion-II, 20th year anniversary edition" I will have my wallet ready.