GameSpy: Editor's Choice Award

First major game review arrives

from Sins Forums

GameSpy has released their review of Sins of a Solar Empire. The first review from one of the major game magazines.  From the review:

The reason that Sins of a Solar Empire works is that it truly respects and celebrates both styles of strategy gaming. It marries the grand scope and Nietzschian will-to-power embodied by the best "4X" conquer-the-universe titles with the adrenaline-fueled immediacy and moment-to-moment decision making of a great real-time strategy game. More than that, it uses the best aspects of both styles to create a uniquely enjoyable experience that shouldn't be missed by any strategy gamer out there who thinks they've got what it takes to rule the galaxy.

The final score was 4.5 out of 5 with the primary negatives being that the game doesn't include a story-driven campaign (it includes massive sand box creation tools instead) and some problems with Ironclad Online which are addressed in the 1.02 update.

We highly recommend you check out the full review as GameSpy's Allen Rausch is one of the top strategy game reviewers in the industry.

View: GameSpy Review

23,901 views 23 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
i think the really two other important reviewers that you guys should anticipate to see are gamespot and PC gamer. I think these 2 reviewers are going to give a very good positive review of this game.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
European Publisher ... they will come.

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Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

European Publisher ... they will come.

-------------------------------------------
This Post was authorized by
ACME Corporation Ltd.
Call 9-1-00-ACME-INFO for more Informations
End of quote


nah, we europeans are all too stupid for this game. most people just dont know they are.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

It'd be nice to get a little more in-depth and continue the story begun in the game's opening cinematic. More importantly, a good campaign could help new players get over a pretty severe learning curve better than the hopelessly inadequate tutorials. Many of the game's strategic factors such as trade stations, the black market and the details of cultural influence aren't explained very well.
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Just like me, it sounds as though he didn't realize there was a manual in the installation directory that talks about more history.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
I forgot about IGN, but i think they are both popular amongst gamers as far as being a trusted sources about various aspects of gaming. PC gamer in one of their latest issues, in a response to one of the letters sent to them regarding whether they play a game throughly before penning a review, they said yes, unless it is a MMO, in which case they play it until they have a good feeling for the game.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
This game is awesome, and IGN , PC Gamer, AND Gamespot will surely give it good reviews. I myself could care less about a campaign mode, as usually it is just a mode with custscenes and stripped control which is slowly given back to the player. Campaign is a lot of work for not much payoff imo. Congratulations on 90% from Gamespy.



I signed up for the beta in the summer and I could tell then that this game was going to be great. Glad it is getting the recognition it deserves.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Gamespot doesnt have any reliable reviewers left after Jeff G. and Alex Navarro left. Hell even Ryan Davis just left. They have nobody left except that Van Ord guy who gives everythign a good review (read yes man).

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
Good review. I am actually surprised that a review thorough enough to notice the hotkey problems has popped up already. But it is kind of good to see even the major gaming sites aren't "getting" the whole sandbox-SP thing, perhaps there will be some hope for a campaign (or at least some plot advancing missions) down the road for the series.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Good review. I am actually surprised that a review thorough enough to notice the hotkey problems has popped up already. But it is kind of good to see even the major gaming sites aren't "getting" the whole sandbox-SP thing, perhaps there will be some hope for a campaign (or at least some plot advancing missions) down the road for the series.
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Allen Rausch is no ordinary reviewer. I've met him and saw him reviewing a game. He gets into the innards of a game.  There ain't many reviewers like him which is why (on a personal note) I always consult his reviews before buying a strategy game.

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah. Good review. My gripes are:

1. The interface. Still looks clunky to me.

2. Lack of an overall story. Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for a single player campagin. I want more depth to the overall universe. It would be great if the maps we were given were parts of the overall war that we're playing out.

3. The pirates. Annoying...

4. Customization. We are sorely missing some customization. The game easily becomes who can get the best tech fastest. Gal Civ II: Twilight of the Arnor has done a great job with the customization of fleets. Would like to see a bit more of that here.

5. Planetary Invasion. Wish there was a bit more to it other than just blasting it from space.

6. Diplomacy. The other empires asking me to do stuff to gain their favor sucks. How about them gaining my favor! There should be more to the diplomacy angle then just that... or giving them stuff.
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks AragFore03.  Which areas of the interface do you find 'Clunky'. Can you give an example of an RTS that you would consider less clunky?

Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
AragFore03 might be referring to the game interface buttons, for example. In a way, they could be more eye-candy and appealing, in a smooth, sleek and futuristic kind of way.

Right now they seem kind of plain and devoid of frills...
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Compared to other games the interface and buttons are really smooth.
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
Craig,

The interface takes a lot of room on the screen and there is a lot of information. It may simply be a case of my play style over another's that's making me feel this way. The information is good I think the way it's presented is what's mostly annoying. The left bar can eventually become extraordinarily long. I know you can customize what you want pinned on it but there is some information you want quick access to. Also, aLap may have a bit of a point in regards to the way the interface looks. It looks very old style and I guess I've been spoiled by some of the more current games.

Age of Empires had an easy to use interface. I'm not saying it should be something like that since they are very different games but that was a pretty good one. I'll try to provide a more detailed answer later as I'm about to head out to work.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
Yet another feather in the SD/IC hat from a "tech oriented" viewer. Not bad at all.

With regards to to comments about IGN, PCG & GS and company, I really discount that vast majority of reviews on those site unless I know the reviewer. Sad but true. Sites where I think a notable impact could easily be felt with trusted (at least by me) reviews are: Wired Game Life, Ars Opposable Thumbs, Tom's Games, Joystiq, The Strategy Gamer & The War Gamer.
Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top

Craig,

The interface takes a lot of room on the screen and there is a lot of information. It may simply be a case of my play style over another's that's making me feel this way. The information is good I think the way it's presented is what's mostly annoying. The left bar can eventually become extraordinarily long. I know you can customize what you want pinned on it but there is some information you want quick access to. Also, aLap may have a bit of a point in regards to the way the interface looks. It looks very old style and I guess I've been spoiled by some of the more current games.

Age of Empires had an easy to use interface. I'm not saying it should be something like that since they are very different games but that was a pretty good one. I'll try to provide a more detailed answer later as I'm about to head out to work.
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Wow, talking about constructive criticism... Good work there. :)
Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top
I didn't see this anywhere on the main page and wasn't sure where to post it, but since this is talking about reviews:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/sins_of_a_solar_empire_and_me_a_story_of_addiction_heartache_and_true_love

It's written by Will Smith, editor of Maximum PC, declaring his love for SoaSE.

Getting back to this topic, after reading many reviews the biggest digs against SoaSE after the new patch seem to be:

*No single-player campaign
*High learning curve
*User interface, while innovative and helpful, could still provide additional info and be updated visually
*Tutorials could be improved and more expansive (to help with learning)

Maybe through upcoming patches the user interface could provide more info (or customized info), look better, and help increase understanding of game mechanics. This would address the majority of dings against this game. I could see the single-player campaign being an expansion, as that's a bit much for a patch.
Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top
@Lord - you make a new post for that info so the devs see it and make a news post about it. I would also suggest adding it to the consolidated review thread.
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top
To follow up on my previous and, it should be noted, hastily written, post about the interface...

The overall interface could use a bit of an overhaul. I recall commenting on it during the Beta as well. The look and feel of the icons don't look very sharp and are larger than necessary. There is a lot of information on the main screen. Especially on the left hand side. It would be nice if we could simply hotkey or toggle through different types of information for that section versus having to pin or unpin items. The different technology tree screens could be consolidated into one or two screens versus having four. The Black Market and Pirates screens could also be consolidated. The Diplomacy section also needs work. A lot of wasted space without a lot of meaning.

Those are just a few things but I think those are the ones that are at the top of my gripe list for the interface. Once again, I think the game is great and I know a lot of hard work into it. I wouldn't even bother commenting if I didn't think this game had great potential. It kind of feels like the first part of Galactic Civilizations. Great game but with some obvious flaws.
Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top
nice :CONGRAT:
Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top
It may seem superficial, but a different UI skin for each race would add a lot to the experience of being that race. I just started playing and to get familiar with everything I always go random (liking Advent so far), but to begin with I could never tell which race I was; the UI being the same, and there doesn't seem to even be any text on screen with your race in it. When I came here to look up tips I had to correlate ship names to work out who I was playing.

Related question: can you pin ships to the left panel? It seems like you can, but they never appear in the list... I mean having your fleet appear as collapsible panel; like the planets, but as it's own entity (icon being the capital in charge)
Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top
but to begin with I could never tell which race I was
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The picture in the center bottom gives hints as to your race.


Related question: can you pin ships to the left panel? It seems like you can, but they never appear in the list... I mean having your fleet appear as collapsible panel; like the planets, but as it's own entity (icon being the capital in charge)
End of quote

Uh.. the fleets do appear as their own collapsable icon in the tree view, they are up the top of the tree, each fleet has it's own collapsable node displayed as the fleet badge.