Master of Orion 1+2

The most addictive games come to GOG. Wow, what a treat for people that never experienced this game. Still playing on a regular basis since it's release.

I love these games, I have played them so many times. I can't wait to play them again.

MoO 2 it;s for me the best space strategy.

Back to 1991: There was a Game played in BBSs through FIDONET. It was a multi-player game, usually a round a day. You connected to the BBS, called that Game, and made your moves, colonization, spying, combat or posts to some player to make a temporary alliance. This game was named ESTERIAN CONQUEST, with as little as 4 players, 9, 16 or 25 (with similar progression of star systems). I found a review of it in an old e-magazine at http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/BTN/btn032.txt Version 1.50 was being played and I ear about a PC-Game that was based on this BBS-Game. Some things could not be copied, others could be added. Same patterns, similar experiences, different tastes. Both games seem the same, but are not. ESTERIAN, becomes complex in it's simplicity. Orion 2 is more like CIV, simple in the complexity. Orion 1 in between, but lacking multiplayer. Each is unique in the same kind ESTERIAN started!

I hate to be that guy, but somebody needs to write a negative review about MOO. Should you buy or play it? Yes. Should you swoon over this game as the best 4X ever even today? Please. Main issues (MOO1 oriented) : - Boring defensive battles where nothing happens. Combat is based off the notoriously broken d100 system : if you have high defense and/or high shields (very easy to do), you take no damage. So you get 5 minute "battles" where both sides deal zero damage. - Random events completely dictate the game. Early game is purely RNG based because of the planets you get. Random events "industrial accident" and "depleted minerals" can turn your best planet worthless forever. You can lose the game on bad RNG at the council every 25 years because a bunch of factions you never met voted for a faction you never met. - Spiteful AI. The AI doesn't try to win, the AI tries to make the player lose, whatever the costs. Seen clearly at the galactic council when a faction you are at war with votes for your rival instead of abstaining just to make you lose, literally making its own faction lose with that choice. - Diplomacy abusing AI. The AI can attack and even conquer entire planets without declaring war. So every single AI faction attacks the player on sight, which is clearly not what they do with other AIs. If the AI behaved the same way towards other AIs which in turn reacted the way they react to human attacks by instantly declaring war, AI factions would be constantly at war with each other, which is clearly not the case. - Hit and run is broken. In MOO, you can flee a battle with your entire army WITHOUT ANY PENALTY WHATSOEVER. Obviously abusable to a stupid level. - Orion is irrelevant. You can only beat the guardian once it's so late in the game that it doesn't matter anymore. Experienced players just ignore it. From someone who didn't grow up with it, if you judge it by today's standards, it just feels in like a really broken precursor to Heroes of Might and Magic, not the ultimate 4X experience.