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MOO3 Disappoints

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The keyword for this game is tedious. The gameplay engine is tedious and overworked. Nothing was made for ease of use or play. The game is good on the basics, but doesn't live up to the past Master of Orion wonder. After all the hype and sensationalism prior to release of MOO 3, I expected much more than what was delivered. MOO2:Battle at Antares is one of the best strategy games made, but MOO3 is just a distant step-cousin that is best left alone.

A Real Thinker...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

While this game does not offer any actual eye candy whatsoever, it does offer a bit more for the intellectually inclined. Granted, the A.I. can often be quirky and illogical (declaring war, sending word of improved relations, congradulating you for something that you don't know, etc. without any reason). But I do find that the game seems to have an addictive effect. Often I find myself playing for hours (it even has its own built-in alarm clock system to notify the gamer that his or her life is passing without him). I really do not recommend this game to those that rely on graphics to ensure their enjoyment because this game has none, but I would recommend that someone with LOTS of time to kill and a liking for strategy turn based gaming to at least give it a try. Maybe check out a friend who owns it and plan on spending a night or two, or three...

MOO3 Patch 1.25 Mods Optional

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I gave MOO3 five stars in the first release review here on Amazon, mostly for being the most intriguing game I had ever encountered. Having now played with the latest official patch, version 1.25, I think the game has become even more intriguing, a never-ending source of surprises and new things to learn. Excellent mods are also available that are consistent with patch 1.25 and which will lead delight with their changes to game appearance, operation, and even the appearance of the user interface. Clearly, MOO3 is not for everyone, indeed not for most; but it does appeal to some who, like me, find it a game highly entertaining and rewarding to play. Before condemning the game entirely, do try it with the latest official patch from the games official site and also experiment with the mods, especially the invader mod and the mega mod (not both at the same time) which are both quite good. One thing is certain, even those who hate the game must admit it is entirely unique and unlikely to ever again be duplicated.

How to understand the previous ratings

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: July 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well... Say that people usually don't like spending hours to learn and are not really patient to get to action. Like strategy games? Like complex games? Like micro-management? Would sacrifice graphics for the content of the game? If you answered yes to the previous 4 questions you will give 5 stars to that game for each 'no' take off one star, the last star is just overall satisfaction.

Not for everyone but....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: April 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First of all, you have a much better chance of enjoying this game if you've played MOO II. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT buy this game if:
a. You don't like to think (i.e. play FPSes all the time)
b. You don't have a lot of free time
c. You like to learn a game in 15 minutes and beat it the first day.
d. You dislike complex turn based strategy games (like Alpha Centauri)
e. You are looking for games with top-notch graphics

That being said, I think this is an awesome game. Some people complain that the AI does everything - well, it only does if you tell it to. I like to have control of everything, so I pretty much disabled all of my empire's AI. Whether you want to micromanage or not is irrelevant - MOO3 accomodates.

I won't lie - the graphics are not a selling point. In combat, ships are really tiny and so you can't see many details. The UI is okay in terms of looks.

The manual isn't very useful either. That's why someone made an exceedingly useful in-game Encyclopedia Mod. Pop that in and you can answer most of your questions in game.

The game isn't bug-lacking either. However, one patch is out and a second one should be arriving shortly.

This game has a massive learning curve (not too bad if you're MOO2 familiar). A lot of people played it for 30 minutes, then said "This game is horrid." It grows on you - I guarantee it. Once you understand the game it's a blast to play, and you don't need a high end computer either.

Unfortunately, because of this game, I have no life anymore. This is partially because I love it but mostly because it takes forever. I've never finished a game but spent about 3 hours getting to turn 100 and an average game can go 300 or more turns. You won't get the fun out of this game unless you have a lot of time for it.

So, overall, it's an acquired taste. You love it or hate it.

Junk ...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Don't buy this game ... The design is horrible ... It's almost a fraud to release a game in this shape ... You don't understand what is happening, the game play itself and there's no enjoyement. It's strategy game where cause - effect relations are unclear ...
MOO1 and MOO2 were clearly better than this trash.

One of the best game out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 14
Date: April 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just started to play Lords of the realm 3 and have been playing many more games lately (every month a new one). At the same time i've been playing MOO3 continuously for the last 6 months. With the patch 1.25, it's been my favorite game. There are fantastic games out there (Rise of Nations, GALCIV or CIV3 just to mention a few). However, none of these is as deep or have given me so much room for imagination. I am still learning the game, which is great. I guess if chess came out today, it would get the same bad reviews.

Succeeds at standing out.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 14
Date: January 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When reading the majority of reviews, both here and elsewhere, I have to ask: Why is there so much open hostility directed toward this game and its developers? It's not just that people dislike it, but they convey a sense of revulsion toward it. I couldn't understand this, but now I think it's because most people have no idea how to even play this game.

To quote a fellow reviewer, "Genius is sometimes misunderstood". They're absolutely right, too. Despite its flaws, and it does have them (What game doesn't?), MOO3 is ingeniously designed. The sheer amount of depth is incredible. Yes folks, I said depth, not complexity. Once you understand the game, getting around the interface and controlling your empire is a snap. The trick is getting to that point. Without a doubt, it's a steep learning curve, but it's a highly rewarding one too.

I'm sure that the main reason people hate this game is because they never 'got it', so to speak. This is *not* MOO, or MOO2. One of MOO2's greatest faults was the sheer amount of micromanagement that accompanied it. Once you had a few dozen planets, handling them all yourself was truly an exhausting task.

Well, that's been done away with in MOO3. Every planet has a Viceroy who will make economic decisions for you, if you wish. They'll also handle the construction of your planets' infrastructure as well as ship building. A primary complaint is "All you have to do is hit the turn button". Well, that's a complete falsehood, and a ridiculous one too. You can outline what are called "Development Plans", which will tell Viceroys how to develop certain planets. You want their primary focus on a mineral rich world to be mining? Just say so in the Dev Plan. How about military development on a frontier world? You got it. You just have to give them some instructions, that's all. They act quite intelligently if you give them something to go on. Trust me, once you've got 20+ planets, you'll be glad that they each have someone governing them. It gives you the time to micromanage your core planets, or get a powerful fleet assembled. The Viceroy AI is a welcome improvement.

The economic model is quite complex, but fortunately you don't have to understand what all goes on under the hood. Some users have written beginner's guides to the game, and one of the developers has even written a guide to the game's economic model and how it works. And it does work. The game is not 'broken', 'unplayable', or 'seriously flawed'. Complaints about diplomacy have been addressed in a patch, which fixes an error in the code that caused the AI to sometimes spontaneously declare war then break it off, over and over. In fact the most recent patch, aside from fixing the bugs, also adds a lot of new features/improvements as well (including a build que lock for your planets). It's now much better than it was on release, and is deserving of five stars in my opinion.

Don't let the 1-star, 'this game is terrible, because I don't like it', reviews sway your decision. The only people I know personally who don't like MOO3 either aren't fans of TBS games, or have never played past turn 30. This game won't blow you away. The graphics do their job, quite well too, but they aren't terriffic. The point is that this game has achieved what very few today actually strive for: Depth. This is one you can sit down with and really get into. You just have to be open-minded and willing to tackle its learning curve. But once you do, I doubt you'll settle for anything less.

Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: August 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It takes allot of time to play this game. If you select a large galaxy with many races expect up to or over 1000 turns easy.

Love it though.

a waste of time and money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

...P>The interface is desperatly slow and dumb, you'll find lots of bugs, and since you can't focus on everything, whenever you come near the end of the game, basically you don't control anything anymore...so where is the fun of being in charge if your role is reduced to clicking the "next turn" button ?

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