Huge disappointment--Read Before You Buy
Huge disappointment
I barely escaped wasting fifty bucks on "Spore" because rather than getting caught up in the media frenzy around that electronic version of the Edsel, I waited to see what the reactions of the gaming community were. Glad I waited.
I did the same thing with Sins of a Solar Empire, which just goes to prove the old saw about the bear. (Sometimes he gets you and sometimes you crap in the woods … no, wait. Sometimes you crap in the woods and the bear gets you. Yeah, that's it).
Do not buy this game. It is the mutant offspring of a tactical turn based simulation and a fast-twitch real time simulation. Galactic Civilization meets StarCraft meets Homeworld. The results are ugly. You cannot pause. You cannot offer the same diplomatic options to your rivals as they can offer to you. Fleet control is horrendous. Resources are unlimited, so that the game always devolves into one great big zerg-pit battle. The tech tree is stunted and painfully familiar to anyone who has played just a few space-based games. The graphics are adequate, but it is hard to enjoy what little you can of the space battles as you must hover at a far enough distance to make sure your repair ships haven't decided to play hero and charge the enemy dreadnaught for reasons unknown.
This game is awful. I enjoyed Galactic Civ and its progeny, so had good feelings toward StarDock. I am editing this review and rating to reflect the excellent customer support I received from Stardock on this game. They bent over backwards to retain me as a loyal customer and that deserves recognition. Doesn't make me like the game any better, but in fairness, while it was not for me it may well be right up other's game-alley.