Master of Orion 3

A major PC game mag voted this the worst game of all time and they were right except for one thing. It was not a game! It took the greatest Sci Fi gaming franchise in history and turned it into a spreadsheet that played itself. It was space themed Excel. It is hard to imagine that anyone who enjoyed MOO 1 and 2 could enjoy this game. It is rather like watching the LOTR trilogy, the original Star Wars trilogy and then the new Star Wars trilogy and voting the new Star Wars trilogy the best of the bunch. It doesn't so much call your taste into question as your sanity. Yes I know I'm not really reviewing the game, but its rather like trying to review a steaming pile of dog poo. If you want the experience of playing in excrement that will never wash off then by all means buy this game and watch a part of your soul shrivel and die. Otherwise play the original MOO 1 or 2 or a 'spiritual sequel' like Gal Civ 2, Distant Worlds or Endless Space.

There are great games that were released in unfinished states such as Gothic 3, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines, Master of Magic, X-COM: Apocalypse, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, Fallout 2, & Fallout: New Vegas.. just to name a couple. There are bad games that just so happen to be released in unfinished states such as Battlecruister 3000AD, Universal Combat, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter, Might and Magic IX, and Ultima VIII & IX. Then there's Master of Orion III. The history with Master of Orion III goes quite a way, Simtex, the creators of the amazing first two games closed down in 1997 and the rights to Simtex's creative properties was then held by Atari of all publishers. Atari, being the business geniuses as they showed with the Jaguar, decided that Simtex shouldn't develop Master of Orion III and that Quicksilver (whom are actually quite credible in the Strategy genre as presented with Castles 1 & 2, Starfleet Command, & Conquest of the New World) should develop it instead. While I might have said that they are quite credible in the strategy genre, apparently they've never played Master of Orion. First off, genocide and the refitting of obsolete ships are no longer options. Also, the promised features, which included racial ethos systems and colonization of moons and asteroids, weren't in the final game. Master of Orion III is primarily infamous for the abysmal combat A.I., and let me say the infamy is no understatement. The A.I. is horrendous, practically bordering on suicidal. The technology system has been "revamped" for the worse. In Master of Orion II, you could send diplomatic threats, spy, hire colonial leaders or ship commanders with knowledge of certain technologies, resort to planetary conquest, & capture and dismantle enemy ships. But no, those features were far too fun for a game as boring as Master of Orion III. At times in Master of Orion III, the A.I. would refuse proposals for technology trading without giving a specific reason or reasonable counter offer. Also, the computer players' relations with humans were affected by very middling factors (like how happy they are with you) and a counter intuitive interface that rivals that of EVE Online & Final Fantasy XIV Online. Also, despite good relations and an alliance with a computer player for years, the ally would suddenly declare war without any sort of explanation behind it so keeping them happy almost seems like useless filler. The lack of general micromanagement of races hurts too. All in all, Master of Orion III is a game that does nothing in the 4X genre right. Everything that makes a 4X game good is nowhere to be found in this middling disaster of a game. For that, Master of Orion III receives 1 star out of 5, thanks for reading.

This will be short because this game was a disaster. I was in the Army at the time anxiously awaiting the sequel to the unbelievably popular Masters of Orion 2. I couldn't wait for Masters of Orion 3. I kept checking Best Buy day after day around the release date waiting for hit to hit the shelves. I imagined so many things this game would be, even if it was just Masters of Orion 2 with advanced graphics. When the game finally came out I was thrilled. I went home installed the, I believe 35 CD's that came with it, and started the game. It was almost unplayable. I seriously gave this game hours trying to just figure it out and maybe even produce ships and have a war. It was absolutely miserable. Menu after menu, pitiful ship combat. I imagined 3 guys in their basement throwing this together while they watched TV in 3 weeks. It was the biggest let down probably in my PC gaming memory. My hopes for this game was shattered. Listen, don't even bother unless you are doing a comedic review of this thing on youtube just avoid it. The guys who made this game are in hiding in Siberia or something pretending to be coal miners. They just ran after they released this. This was longer than I thought. So much to tell about such a terrible experience. Go get Another game.

This site is called Good Old Games right? So...why is this here? This was one of the games I wanted to forget was ever made, it's simply terrible and anyone who buys this is walking into a trap. Buy 1 and 2, those are incredible games, do NOT touch this one, for the good of us all!

The game that killed a seminal franchise. Where MOO & MOO2 bring back as many fond turn-based memories as the best Civ games, MOO3 seems like it was made after the designer got the specs from a long game of Chinese whispers while in solitary confinement in a third world prison. Can't warn people enough, especially fans of the first two MOOs, to stay away at all costs.