Master of Orion 3

I'd decided to purchase this game despite the bad reviews since I had enjoyed Master of Orion 2. Bad Idea. The game focuses too much on it's hundreds of checkboxes, options, and tabs, taking most of the fun out of the gameplay. If you don't want to micro manage every single aspect of the game you can instead turn on AI to control aspects such as production. The problem with this is that the ai will usually not do what you would normally choose to do and may not act according to your chosen strategy. This also detriments gameplay in other ways since you wouldn't control production. Imagine commanding whatever fleets the AI decides to spit out. Not always a very good strategy and honestly quite annoying, especially when the AI decides to build a somewhat useless ship for no apparent reason. Unlike the previous MOO games, you cannot choose your research directly, again limitng your strategy. The game also requires so much micro management and attention to diplomatic events, that the pace of the game is unbearably slow. For example, I'd only managed to make it to turn 50 after over 2 hours into a round. The game literally can give you over a dozen messages and notifications every time you hit the "turn" button. Basically the game gives you little choice in what to do unless you manage every tiny detail. Even then your choices can be limited. Every aspect of the game interface is a pain, there are so many radio boxes and options that need to be attended to every turn that the game just isn't fun. You will be too busy micromanaging to actually play or even move forward. Get one of the newer Galactic Civilizations games or Master of Orion 2 instead. Much better control, yet more fluid gameplay in terms of management.

This game is the epitome of the phrase "Where did it all go wrong?" It's as if the game designers completely abandoned MOO 1+2 and decided to make a game in about three weeks. That's what the overall quality feels like. It's pointless, frustrating and completely disappointing.

I've been a MOO fan since the first game. When MOO3 first came out it seemed too much and too difficult. So it sat on the shelf for a year or two. I then sat down and started playing it, letting some things be automated and then the game became awesome. There is so much detail in the game, so I recommend not getting bogged down in the details (unless that is your thing).

Dull, pointless and very very boring.

Truly an insult to its predecessor. Old as MOO2 is, they somehow managed to even downgrade the graphics. And lets not even get started on the horrid, convoluted, broken gameplay. Ugly, micromanagement hell. One could easily find higher quality amusement drawing dirty pictures with Ariel text font.