Sins of a Solar Empire (DVD-ROM)

I bought this game second hand (not from Play-Asia), being genuinely interested in the game. First advice: do not do this. If the cd key is in use you cannot update the game past 1.3, leaving bugs in the game. I quizzed Stardock about this and the official response was this: I am not buying the game, I am purchasing a license. Licenses are only sold once, so to update the game I BOUGHT I have to pay more to get a new license. It's all spelled out in the EULA which I cannot read without buying the game. I did not appreciate this, nor the implication I got that I had actually copied the game instead of buying it. Poor customer service and no sympathy or support for reselling (a legal right in developed countries which Stardock is trying to limit, preferring to treat customers as potential criminals instead of dealing with us legally and fairly) leads me to suggest to people to not buy this, or any other Stardock product. Game might be decent but I wouldn't know as I don't play games without updating. Apparently I can't.

I wanted to dismiss this game after spending 30 minutes on it. Instead of the usual stunning opening movie cut-scene found in just about any video game today, I was bombarded with crappy drawings. It was also impossible to beat the computer at Normal level and worse of all, the title sounded really cheesy. No, there are no X-rated scenes in Sins Of A Solar Empire. I gave myself another hour to learn how to beat the computer at Easy level. That's when I discovered that Sins Of A Solar Empire gameplay is surprisingly first class. In this game, you play one of three factions in a battle for space domination. There are plenty of elements from sci-fi strategy classics such as Master Of Orion, Homeworld and Galactic Civilizations. You start off with one planet and have to mine resources, manage the economy, research new technologies and send your armada to conquer new planets. The big difference is that Sins Of A Solar Empire is played in real-time instead of the traditional turn-based.

Balance and timing are the keys to winning this game. Your end goal is to build a more powerful fleet to destroy your enemy and capture new planets but you need a strong economy to sustain military expansion. If you put all your eggs into building up the economy, you will end up a sitting duck when the enemy invades. You will be constantly making decisions as to which technology to research - this also requires plenty of resources. Each faction has certain strengths and weaknesses. The human Trader Emergency Coalition has the early advantage of being able to build up a strong economy through trade. The psychic Advent exceeds in spreading its culture and takes over enemy planets without even using force. The alien Vasari were built for combat and has the strongest ships but its challenge is to maintain an economy stable enough to support its fleet. Winning space flights is crucial and you need to make use of the right combination of ships to excel. The human ships make use of short-range auto-cannons, long-range missiles and a strong armored hull. The Advents use beams and lasers and have the most powerful shields. They are also able to steal "anti-matter" - a resource in ships that are needed to execute special attacks such as freezing enemy ships or creating a temporary force field.

The Vasari are clearly the strongest in battle and their crafts and weapons focus on causing serious damage to enemy vessels. There are frigates, cruisers and most important of all, the capital ships. Capital ships cost a lot of money to build but one ship can easily take out a team of five to six smaller ships. The capital ships also gain experience as they destroy ships and structures. With higher levels, the ships gain powerful new abilities. Ships can complement each other. The Dunov Battlecruiser is relatively weak in firepower but it can restore the shields of more powerful ships like the Kol Battleship and the Marza Dreadnought. The Dreadnought has a very powerful frontal attack but its flanks are weak and need to be supported by other ships. To complicate matters, there are also pirates in the galaxy which will attack the faction which has the highest bounty placed on its ships. Avoid getting targeted in space by Long John Silver by bidding on someone else's head. Yes, you have to pay the pirates but it sure beats getting half your buildings destroyed in the early stages. Diplomacy is also important. While other factions attack each other, you can build up your armada in peace. To get into the good books of the other factions you have to give them money, metal and crystals. Sometimes, you have to make a choice and side with the stronger faction to keep your alliance alive. Like me, if you believe that substance is more important than form, you will find it very hard to put this game down once you get the hang of it.