Endless Space 2 has a myriad of systems to see, experience and tinker with, and the adequate tutorial only scratches the surface of how to properly manipulate them all. There are also heroes, who can lead forces, guide colonies, and function as party leaders while gaining levels and power. Aside from maybe Stellaris, this is rather unheard of in a galaxy-conquering game and truly exhilarating to see and play with. They also bring their own small bonuses and preferences to your table, so what you end up with is a proper intergalactic soup of many, many races and ideas all mixed together in (dis)harmony. Members of major and minor factions join your empire both in this way and via immigration. For the first time in a strategy game, democracy as a government type had very real consequences and totalitarianism started to feel like a nice, pragmatic option for the Sophons. This meant losing support from our science-boosting Laws while new, more aggressive laws were enacted. To our dismay, the newly "liberated" cravers voted the Militaristic party to overwhelming victory. What we hadn't considered, however, was that these new members of the empire can vote. In one game our scientific Sophons conquered several planets from nearby Cravers. Amplitude has also crafted unique single-player campaign-like quest chains for each with branching narratives and this, combined with the factions' differences, means you can get several wildly varied playthroughs depending on how you choose to start your trek through the stars. One race doesn't bother colonising planets at all and instead prefers the comforts of their massive ark ships. The mecha-insectoid race of Cravers, however, strips planets clean of resources and have to be on the move at all times, or suffer extinction (consequentially they make awful neighbours). The Unfallen, for instance, link planets together with cosmic roots and suffer heavily if the link is separated. Not only do they have flat bonuses to science or industrial production, but they also exhibit much more exotic qualities as well. The game's many races, or factions in this case, are incredibly varied. Endless Space 2 is more about domestic politics, and this is much more interesting than you might think. Smaller and larger ships float around like pirate ships on the sea, exchanging shots of plasma and cannons, and the player's role in these cinematic bouts is limited. If you're into deep tactical spaceship combat where a single big battle might take half an hour to complete, this might not be the game for you. From the first fumbling playthrough, though, it's clear that the emphasis lies in a new, seldom visited direction. Who reference, and the game expresses its difficulty settings with a wit that will make any history buff smile – describing Easy mode, the game says “If this was Wellington, we’d all be speaking French.Endless Space 2 might, at first, look like your typical turn-based space strategy title, as it has multiple races to choose from, planets to explore, fleets to clash against, and enemies or alliances to be made. Sci-fi fans will spot the occasional Kurt Vonnegut or Dr. It’s synthy and soothing, but upbeat enough to keep you alert. Getting back to the planetarium aesthetic we discussed, the soundtrack would go perfectly with an electric light show. Still, audio is definitely a strong suit for Endless Space. While the game features some nice voice-over introducing each species, not making the player read so much “how-to” should have been a higher priority, especially since the species backstories are ultimately just window dressing, due to the lack of a campaign. Simply walking the player through a few turns would’ve been much more effective, and far less painful. First-time players are treated to long-winded, text-only explanations of the game’s every facet. Still, Endless Space is a game you’ll only like if you’re really into strategy games, and its woefully dry tutorial isn’t going to produce any converts.
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