First off, I'd like to say that this review has no nostalgia bent to it. I didn't play this game “back in the day”, so these words are coming straight from a newcomer to the series who's played many other strategy games. That said, I can honestly say that Master of Orion 2 is one of the best strategy games I've ever played. A bold claim you might say, but I’ll try my best to back up my thoughts. Pros 1. Fantastic 2d graphics 2. Soundtrack and sound effects are spot on 3. Research is handled somewhat realistically 4. Deep, without being overwhelming 5. Good selection of races 6. Interface is easy and intuitive Cons 1. Even the largest galaxy size feels slightly cramped 2. Diplomacy is somewhat limited 3. One race usually ends up growing exponentially and wipes out the other weaker races 4. Research is handled somewhat realistically The pros are self explanatory, so I’ll focus on the finer points of the cons. 1. Possibly my biggest gripe with this game, though it maybe be forgivable when you take into account the technology that was available at the time. After playing Galactic Civilizations II, with galaxies so large they take months to beat, I felt very boxed in even with the largest galaxy setting in Master of Orion 2. This does keep things from getting way out of hand, but I would have preferred the option to stage a true space opera. 2. Another point done much better in Galactic Civilizations II, though once again it is due to the technology available at the time. In Master of Orion 2, you pretty much can declare war, or just sign treaties with people. You can't manipulate people into doing things for you, and races don't tend to remember your personal past with one another. 3. I'm no strategy game god, and I don't play on the hardest difficulty level, but while I was playing this game, what always happened was one randomly chosen race was chosen to be the god race and promptly tried to cheat his way to victory. This chosen race somehow would have enough money to expand his empire extremely quickly, while the other computer players only capture two systems and then do nothing but invite the chosen race to wipe them out. 4. Research in this game is strange to me. Every race has the same technology tree, but everybody except the Psilons can only choose one improvement per tree. Each step of the tree can have up to three choices, and only being able to choose one can be a severe disadvantage. Sure you can trade with other races for the improvements you don't have, but this assumes that they chose the improvements you don't have. Regardless of these negatives, I still feel that this game is excellent. You'll simply just enjoy playing this game, and I still fire it back up every once and while despite the fact that I’ve beaten it many times already. I didn't review the first game, because I thought everything it did was improved upon in the second. In conclusion, it's well worth the low price if you are a fan of space strategy games, or strategy games in general.
