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Great Game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Sword of the Stars is a great game, it can take a while to get into it but well worth it. If you buy sots I highly recommend you get born of blood also or the CE edition if you can find it.

Unlike most games such as sins of a solar empire where every game almost always ends with same tactics, No sots game is ever really the same, random tech tree's, random events etc.

Also unlike alot of games you can logon to xfire and chat with the devs post on forums and they will respond.

Don't trust this review though go to the site and download the CE demo, give it a try you won't regret it.

sword of the Stars

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

4x strategy games are my favorite genre and after reading the reviews of the game I was really looking forward to playing a game that sounded like a cross between Master of Orion and Homeworld. Sadly the 3-D map was so cumbersome to use I couldn't figure out where my ships were. The tech tree was almost as mystifying and it was totally unclear what the advantage of one advance was to another. The space battles were similarly disappointing. After playing for a couple of hours I got so bored I went back to GALCIV II. This is a genre that has really been neglected by the game industry. Hopefully Space Empires V will succeed were this game failed.

Sword of the Restart

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: January 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Bad programming execution. Game requires a patches to play, but I could never get it to work on my desktop. (Could never see graphics of ships.) It's not a good sign when there are three patches released within a year of release.

After installing on my laptop and patching to the latest version. I got the game to work until about turn 100+. Then the graphics lockup in the ship build screen and require a complete restart to get graphics back. Basically, in the end-game, you can only play 1 - 3 turns between restarts.

In general, this game is Reach for the Stars with bad graphics. Imperium Galactica II was much more enjoyable.

Unplayable without patch, then 3-stars

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: November 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

"Sword of the Stars" computer game is completely unplayable out-of-the-box. With a good internet connection and plenty of computer savy, a patch can be installed that makes the game playable -- okay / 3-stars but not great. This game is a "take over the galexy" strategy game similar to Masters of Orion. With the patch, the remaining faults are: (1) 3-D map is confusing and cumbersome, resulting in space ships and planets that simply cannot be found and (alas) making larger games pretty much unplayable; (2) inadequate documentation; (3) ambiguous tech (e.g., "increases missle damage" but doesn't say by how much); (4) no feedback during battle on damage to ships; (5) ships during battle typically do their own thing, with only limited user controls, which makes your tactics pretty much irrelevant. The user interface is easy to use and learn (if you have the patch), as advertised; and the plot ideas / goals are kind of fun. The problems are annoying enough, though, that this game simply doesn't have staying power. Few FAQs and Walkthroughs exist, and so cannot provide support to make up for the game's inadequecies.

Fun, but a tad simple.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Sword is a turn-based 2D fleet combat game. Unlike most 4X titles, Sword's economics require very little micro-managing, and the tech tree, while extensive, is simple. That said, the controls are a tad ... subtle - you have to double-click techs to see what they do, for example - and the game lacks a lot of depth. If you're just looking for a title that will let you build a battle fleet and go smash enemy ships, with no bothering about economics, rebellions, diplomacy, spies, and the like, this is your game.

Sword of the Stars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: November 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is very fun after you get used to the unique interface. The 3-D approach adds a lot to the game, even though it takes a little practice to be good using it.

Not a 4X game for everyone...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I love 4X "Conquer the Galaxy" type games, I was hooked from the original Starflight game. Then picked up the addiction again with MOO 1 and moved through Stars!, Space Empires III & IV, and Gal Civ 1 & 2.

Where other 4X games are going into detailed empire management (Gal Civ/Space Empires) SOTS is concentrating on Space Combat.

If you're a micro-manager type that loves to control every aspect of every colony you have, then this may not be the game for you. As others have said SOTS minimized the amount of colony management to work on the combat engine.

If you'd like a space combat game with a minimal amount of colony management, then SOTS if your game. That said, the game isn't perfect... but what is? The major issues I have are:

- Tech descriptions: It is hard to tell how much some techs will help your empire as the descriptions aren't fully detailed. (This however goes away a bit after you've played a few games and experiment with the techs.)

- Enemy Ships/Weapons: There isn't yet an interface to look at known enemy ship designs or what type of weapons they are using. What weapons did the Hivers use in that last battle? (The only way to tell is to pay very close attention in the battle and keep notes.)

Remember "Spaceward Ho"?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 21
Date: October 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

For you long time gamers, you may recall a little game called "Spaceward Ho". It is amazing that after years of improvements in processing power, AI coding, video and audio improvements, this game is no more than a glorified, and far more expensive version of the old classic (which was a fine game for its time). My advice, for those without the time to read all this, find a copy of Spaceward Ho and play that instead.
I was very much looking forward to a new space based strategy game. The genre has been lacking for some time, especially with the intense focus on pure RTS types of games. Sword, from the box and some of the articles I read, seemed to be that game. My mistake.
The manual is poorly written. I grant that it gives you information on each icon in the game, but as for getting things done, how to accomplish things and the relative benefits of one action or item over another, it is woefully lacking.
The combat interface is terrible, to say the least. Controlling your own ships and seeing what is going on is difficult at best. Your POV is limited to the picture from a single ship (yours or the enemy's) if your ship is in the wrong place to see what is going on (it mistakenly or randomly wandered off), oh well, guess you'll just have to hope. The orders you have are very limited, and often are not followed by the ships you give them to. The so-called 3-D combat is really nothing more than a 3-D picture on which you fight in a single plane, i.e., 2-D without the clarity of what the heck is happening.
Industry and planetary economy? A few sliders and pie charts. How much do you want to spend on ship building vs. terraforming vs. industry vs. income/research? That's it.
Research? I like the way the research tree is developed, one of the few benefits to the game. However, there is no real information on what the research buys you (yes, weapons have little bar charts showing how great they are, but the bars don't relate to anything concrete, more damage, but how much more, etc.). Ok, I get green lasers instead of red, but how much better are they? How strong are those extra strong hulls, how much faster will I make things with that industry improvement? With no knowledge of the relative value of one improvement over another, it is difficult to direct research intelligently.
Ship design. Looks pretty, but here the problems with research, industry, and combat come to roost. You can't refit ships, so rebuilding your entire fleet may be needed whenever you make a major breakthrough (or is it? how much better was that again?). Building a sizeable fleet takes some time, and having it obsoleted every so often is a tooth grinding feeling.
How about diplomacy? The options here are pitiful. War, nothing (peace), non-agression, and allied. Little insight as to why one race will ally or non-agression with you when another won't and the classic problem of no apparent (maybe yes, maybe no) repercussions from a race breaking treaties with you (or you with them) are rife. You can give some fuds to allies only, but do nothing otherwise to influence those who aren't your allies, by direct choice at least.
Not worth the trouble, and I'd like the money and 30 or more hours I spent on the game back please.

Amazing new take on empire-building

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Sword of the Stars is an incredibly well done twist on the 4X genre. It features a very clean and intuitive user interface that lets you manage your empire quickly and easily, and keeps the game moving. While the turn-based portion of the game isn't as deep or involved as other empire building games, it more than makes up for it with the RTS battle portion. The space battles that occur when your fleets encounter the enemy are somewhat reminiscent of Empire at War, but with more tactical variation that keeps it interesting. The dynamic tech tree keeps each game feeling unique, and with four races to learn, there is a great deal of replay value.

The only downsides are poor LAN support (I was unable to play it over a university network, but the internet play worked just fine), and a slighltly long load time for RTS battles. Make sure you have a decent graphics card to keep the loading time down.

Overall, a great game and a must-have for 4X fans.

Almost as good as it gets

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok,I am reviewing the game from patch 1.1 or so, and perhaps giving it too many stars to even out older reviews. However, I personally feel that what we've got here is actually better than MOO2.

Yes, the diplomacy is very simple. Yes, there is no micromanagement. Yes, the 3d strategic map can be a bit confusing at times, although you get used to it much the same way I've gotten used to living in a 3d real world.

Many of the negative reviews here (and on reputable gaming sites)seem to indicate that people have not read the manual (by which I include the digital manual which was included in at least my boxed copy) properly: the "atrocious combat" problems can be solved with the click of the F key to refocus on any object on the screen, and setting the ships to be controlled by the computer in-game combat and expecting to have control over them yourself as well seems just silly.

The pros have been stated over and over already; but just let me repeat one: MP in a strat/tactical battle combo game. That's what the Total War crowds has been bleating about for years and have been continually told is impossible. Nope, kerberos figured it out, lads and lassies.

To be quite honest, the simplicity of the planetary control, after the dead boring Dread Lords debacle of building the same buildings again and again and again and again, is like getting air conditioning in a home where previously the temperature was in the tropical range and the internal humidity in the below sea-level range. Now you get to concentrate on playing a game. While a great fan of fiddling about on the micro level, I've been extremely disappointed at the last five years' attempts at making it work. Imperialism 1 made it a selling point. MOO3 and GalCiv 2 made me play those games for about a week before deciding I had better things to do with my time.

I'm looking forward to the expansion, but I still think that the fact that I'm still playing the original after over one and a half years more or less speaks for itself.

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