4X Amplification – The Endless Space Review

[PAGETITLE=Introduction, Star Systems & FIDS][Top Ad] Outside of gaming, I'm fairly interested in space. I love reading about the anomalies and unexplainable things that exist up there, and suck it up when I have my mind-boggled when trying to understand what's being said about them in some article I found. But where gaming is concerned, I generally have zero interest in space, whether it be a sim or another genre. I'm just not a sci-fi person. So what am I doing reviewing a game like Endless Space? When I learned that a friend was going to be picking the game up, I decided to go against by general distaste for such games and just read into it a little bit. What I found intrigued me. This was essentially a "Civilization in Space" - referring to Sid Meier's famous series which I do happen to love. I figured with Civ-like mechanics, this might be the first space sim I could get into. Some developers hate having their games compared to another outside of their portfolio, but Amplitude Studios welcomed the idea that this was a Civ-in-Space when I mentioned it to them. At the core, "Civ" could be replaced with any other 4X title, but the idea is that anyone who enjoys 4X gameplay will be able to sit down and have a good understanding of what to do. The term "4X" refers to "explore, expand, exploit and exterminate", four vital mechanics that come together to make a game like Endless Space. You explore, uncovering secrets, hidden settlements and luxuries, expand to grow your empire, exploit the resources that are available to you and exterminate the opposition. All simple in theory, but Endless Space exercises all of these mechanics well. One thing I can say about Endless Space right off the top is that it's complex - so complex in fact, that at times it makes Civilization V seem modest. There are more angles to watch over, and compared to other 4X's I've played, the research tree has to be carefully considered. There's little linearity, so you best be at the top of your game if you want to succeed. Fortunately, the game offers a robust tutorial that explains most of the mechanics and UI functions. After a single match, you should have a good understanding of the game, although being as vast as it is, it'll be a while before you could consider yourself to be a master of the game. And oddly enough, it seems to be single-player that's best for training you, because even at easier difficulties, the AI doesn't mess around. To expand in Endless Space, you'll be searching out new "Star Systems", a few of which will be immediately viewable from the start of a match. With a certain ship, you'll be able to populate a new Star System or increase the population of one that's already owned. Each Star System consists of 1 - 6 planets which differ based on which sort of Star System they're in. Some Star Systems may have a higher ratio of harder-to-inhabit planets, while others might be bursting at the seams with planets that are easily inhabitable from the get-go. There are four basic resources to manage in the game; food, industry, dust and science - "FIDS" for short. Food helps the population and production on planets increase, while industry is what gauges how long productions will take to complete. Dust is currency, which is used for unit management, upgrades, or purchasing units out-right if the need arises (such as while at war, or if you just happen to be rich). Science if of course important to the tech tree - the higher your science output, the faster techs can be learned. There are a variety of planets in Endless Space, and most of them are inherently better at which type of FIDS it excels at producing. One might produce more Dust while another produces more Science. At the founding of each planet, you're able to "Exploit" it, choosing which of the four FIDS it focuses on. As the tech tree is conquered, the basic exploit on a planet can be replaced, and other exploits can be added that affect the entire solar system. This is where things get a little complex, because there are many of these productions to consider and all of them require a per-turn maintenance. It's unwise to build everything you see, because in the long run you're going to go broke. In addition, some Star System exploits may not even benefit that particular Star System. Each one features bonuses to certain planets, and if you don't have any of them, then the production will simply drain your Dust. In addition to planets themselves, some might have a moon. After a certain tech is learned, you'll be able to scan the moon on an inhabited planet to see if some hidden bonus can be found. More often than not, moons will have nothing, but sometimes they will offer great bonuses that will pay off handsomely, such as happiness or FIDS improvements. Each planet also has the potential of bundling a strategic or luxury resource. The former will not reveal itself until a respective tech in the tree is researched, while luxury resources are seen once a Star System is discovered. However, to actually mine these luxury resources, the respective tech will still need to be researched. Adding somewhat to the complexity of the game, luxury and strategic resources are not at all linear in the tech tree. This tree is split into four sections, and three of the four contain these resources. While you might discover resources in one part of the tech tree, you may be far off from discovering others in another part. Deciding on which techs to learn is without question one of the most strategic aspects of the game, and speaking of, let's talk more about that next. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Tech Tree, Units, Battle & Final Thoughts][Top Ad] As mentioned on the previous page, the tech tree in Endless Space isn't for the faint of heart. It's split into four sections, each of which focus on a certain goal. The northern section is all about building your army; east is for science, west for diplomacy and south for expansion. Each of these sections is linear to an extent, and a common 4X challenge is alive and well here: focus too much on one tree, and you'll be seriously lacking in the others. The military side of the tree is the easiest to deal with, as it's mostly self-explanatory based on the icons alone. But everywhere else, you can expect to do a lot of hovering over to read what each one does, just to get a better idea of things. I wouldn't be lying if I said you could spend a solid hour looking over the tech tree and still have to reference it many times over. In addition, each ruler has its own unique techs in the tree, usually benefitting whatever makes them unique in the first place. In the shot below, you can get a feel for the tech tree when zoomed in. Icons with a red box in the corner means it's military related, while other colors reference which FIDS it affects (such as green for Food, yellow for Dust). For an expanded view of what's been below, check out this screenshot. Each side of the tree is equal length, so that shot helps put things into perspective. One of the things that helps set Endless Space apart from other 4X games is that it allows you to build your own military units. Each ruler includes three basic ship designs, with more being available in the tech tree. Unlike Civilization, where advanced units can be built thanks to techs learned, Endless Space requires you to build a ship off of a template. Because of this, the ships you start out with become useless fast, and taking the time to build and fine-tune your own ships isn't an option, but a requirement. For lazies like me, who like having more advanced units added to the list automatically, this mechanic can be a little off-putting. But on the other side of the token, there are others who love this aspect of the game. An upside for those who don't much care for the DIY path is that ship templates can be automatically upgraded when better techs are learned. Doing this requires Dust, and unfortunately units on the battlefield aren't automatically upgraded along with it. For those, you must bring them back to friendly airspace, then pay some Dust to have them upgraded. Perhaps the strangest aspect of Endless Space is its battle system, which at its heart has a little to do with how strong your units are and a lot to do with luck. When entering a battle, you'll be able to choose three cards to play with, each of which can counter or be countered. These represent each weapon-type; long range, medium range and melee. If you happen to pick a card that ends up being countered, expect pain. From what I've been reading around the Web, the battle system is widely agreed upon as not being perfect. I suspect that as time goes on, much like any 4X title, updates will be applied and things will smooth out. No one likes to have a strong army but lose because their card was countered... it makes the effort building and fine-tuning a ship seem pointless. While cards can be overcome if your army is truly powerful, that does mean you'll of focused way more on that portion of the tech tree than the others. Entering a battle reveals a brand-new view of the game, which shows a classic battle in space. You'll be able to watch each unit shoot at each other, and monitor the health gauges up top. I'll be honest in saying that these battles aren't horribly interesting, and the only way to see who's succeeding is to look up at the health gauge. For those who don't want to choose their cards or watch the entire battle, an auto mode is available. I found myself using this only when I knew for certain that I'd be the one who wins. With equal fleets, you'd never chance it. You will lose. Final Thoughts. At the intro, I mentioned space games aren't for me, but Endless Space proved to me that there can be exceptions. While I still don't favor sci-fi themes, the mechanics alone are what sold me on this game. They're complex and challenging, both in a very good way. While I'm not sold on the battle system, I will at least give Amplitude a...

4X Amplification – The Endless Space Review

Page 3 – Extra Screenshots

Rob Williams