Strategy thick starship tactics with adrenaline stimulating tense action. Sid Meier's Starships has a incredible unique mix of elements which come together to create exciting suspenseful battles where fast skillful maneuvering to get in just the right sweet strategic position to fire hull shattering hits upon enemy ships then take off engines blasting behind a planetoid or some asteroids before the enemy can counter attack with devastating effect.
Sid Meier's Starships is the first turn based strategy game i may have ever played which felt fast and furious giving a fps shooter adrenaline rush in of all things a turn based strategy game. It was like playing a table top game with friends but against the ai instead.
Graphics have an old school style to them with a great hex map setup with many environmental variables which can mean the difference between life and death depending on how the player utilizes them to their advantage. Weapons have varying ranges and levels of damage with lasers delivering heavy damage from long range while missile weapons like torpedoes are usually slower with a chance of being avoided if one keeps their attacks fluid and mobile. Stay still and you are probably dead like a sitting duck.
You can buy and upgrade ships to become lethal space faring dreadnoughts of unstoppable destruction. In my first game as i was learning my way around i built two heavily armored ships which were able to take on a group of five enemy ships and fighters for awhile letting loosing terrifying barrages of laser fire into their midst before eventually being defeated with blood curdling audio and visuals during their horrific demise. Talk about getting lost in fun abandonment as if watching a starship battle in a episode of STAR TREK.
Planets you rule are used to get resources and do research to improve your battle prowess and keep your empire going. You will come across other leaders which you form alliances with or who will form alliances against you as everyone does their best to thrive and survive in the infinite vastness of the universe.
Audio and music is excellent bringing home those peaceful space traveling moments only to be shattered by battle inspiring man your weapons music. Voice acting is quite good and am glad to say the female robotic voice of the computer is quite informative and comforting :)
Cons-
Ouch that user interface is not intuitive to put it mildly. During my first game session i couldnt even figure out how to move my ships until i watched a Youtube video by AngryJoe who was doing a first impressions playthrough. Also i have to hover my mouse pointer above my selection when giving a command otherwise i will choose the command below it or none at all.
If your into fast paced turn based combat with plenty of thrilling tension while not expecting a CIVILIZATION BEYOND EARTH experiance then Sid Meier's STARSHIPS is the game for you. Just enjoy it for what it is and you will find its more then worth the few credits you have paid to enter the star ship bridge for.