"It's a Master of Orion game! It will be awesome by default!" I had told myself that when I first heard that there was a sequel to one of my favorite games of all times. As time progressed and more and more betatesters made their opinions public I found it harder and harder to keep up my enthusiasm going. "Well if they just improve the graphics and add a few more options things to the gameplay and it can't be all that bad..." My internal monologue tried to shield me from the harsh critics of a game I loved. Finally the game was released. I went to the shop and bought it first thing. I had to. Out of loyalty of the great concept and dreams of galactic domination. Meeting my girlfriend had been postponed for two days so I'd have the chance to test the game. I had filled my fridge with prepared dinners and favorite choices of beverages. I was set to emerge myself in galactic conquest. "Good good. new races let's see what they can do..." A fickle glimmer hope ignited somewhere in my passionate soul. "WHAT THE HELL!!!" One of my favorite features was removed. The racial creation at the start of the game had been replaced. Instead everything I could do to influence the races was set in statistics. I had no chance of fully exploring the techtree. I could not influence the racial pics. Slightly annoyed with the game I set about my galactic conquest. Then the next catastrophy: Turn based combat and ship design had been very carefully and meticulously removed. The very reason why I despite games like Command and Conquer had invaded my dreams and turnd them into nightmares. Sun Tzu's first rule of combat ("Your plan never works") was far to evident. There was a set limit on ships I could have in battle with no possibility of priority. Trooptransports would be blended in with the fighterships and I was forced to stress about why my battleships did almost random things to add to my stress. After being mobbed to the floor three times in the initial stages because I did not care to read the millions of spreadsheets being presented to me and felt I had little influence over the technology I researched. I have had more fun doing my taxreturns on a Friday evening while nursing a bad case of food poisoning and thinking of me friends in town. The race was on. I had to finish the game. And quickly so I could discard it and never think of it again. I tried again. This time with the most aggressive of species tweaked for extra damage and early expansion. Unfortunately I was up against the Sakkra and after having whiped half of the galaxy into submission I had decided to just annihilate everything in range. Turning the game into a game of Whack-a-mole with the Sakkras constantly recolonising the planets I whiped out because I was forced to keep my trooptransports and my battleships separate. Thus hindering me from attacking and evading simulantaneously. My left eye twitched as I sarcastically muttered "We need more spreadsheets..." under my breath. After what seemed like an endless evening of frustration I could finally discard the game. What was supposed to be an evening of relaxation and exploration had turned into an obsession of stress with no relief. My world of computergames where a lot duller and a game poorer. There was no chance that they'd make a sequel after this misere, Master of Magic would not be polished up and republished due to the copyright difficulties following the usurping of Simtex. My computer could no longer play the either of the old games. It seemed that the Civilization Games and the Heroes of Might and Magic would have to suffice for those of us with whom real time strategy gives us stress.
