Endless Space 2

 PC
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 48
  3. Negative: 0 out of 48
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jul 5, 2017
    70
    Every race has its own narrative, but it doesn’t work like it did in Endless Legends: tasks feel disjointed and random, and there’s no victory by completing the storyline. Procedurally generated quests are even more arbitrary, and Academy storyline can’t quench thirst for good storytelling on its own. [Issue#221, p.90]
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  2. Edge Magazine
    Jun 22, 2017
    70
    There's much to recommend in Endless Space 2, and its art and writing has the potential to open up a complex genre to a new audience, but there's no escaping the fact it'll be a better game in six months. [Aug 2017, p.116]
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  3. IGN Spain
    May 23, 2017
    70
    Long and enjoyable, Endless Space 2 offers the user a deep experience full of options and with thousands of objectives to achieve. It is also difficult and very, very slow.
  5. Gamer.no
    May 23, 2017
    70
    Endless Space 2 offers great political and administrative mechanics, but lacks compelling warfare and diplomacy systems.
  6. ICXM
    May 19, 2017
    65
    Endless Space 2 really pushed the boat out with great animations and pretty decent graphical elements, but the constant performance issues do detract from the overall experience. I would recommend you check out a few gameplay videos before jumping in unless you’re a 4X fan. The game takes a lot from titles like Stellaris when it comes to politics, but stops short of being a great overall strategy game. If Amplitude pushed the envelope a bit further with a more nuanced political spectrum and ditched the turn-based aspect, I could have seen myself loving this game. But at the moment, it's just adequate.
  7. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 30, 2017
    60
    Sleek and competent and detailed and not really very exciting. [Issue#263, p.62]
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  1. Kotaku
    May 23, 2017
    Outside of Civ’s relentless near-perfection, Endless Space 2 is now one of the real standard-bearers in the 4X space. While some of its more direct elements come up short, its implementation of politics is a masterstroke, adding depth and complexity to part of a game that often feels like an arbitrary chore.
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    May 18, 2017
    From the interface to economics, it sports some of the best systems I’ve seen in a 4X game, and like Endless Legend, it’s simultaneously confident and experimental, finding new ways to spice up a genre that can too often be bland. [RPS Recommended]
  3. Vice
    May 26, 2017
    But I think it's worth the investment. With Endless Space 2 I feel like a lot of the loose observations and conclusions I drew from Endless Legend are finally coalescing into knowledge, and Amplitude's strategic language is starting to sound like poetry.

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Best PC Game of 2017
74
#74 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
83
#83 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 186 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 133 out of 186
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 186
  3. Negative: 24 out of 186
  1. socokid
    May 19, 2017
    9
    I'm only 9 hours in, but I can already tell this is going to have me engrossed for the foreseeable future. It you muscle through the tutorialI'm only 9 hours in, but I can already tell this is going to have me engrossed for the foreseeable future. It you muscle through the tutorial the work will be rewarded with a fun, beautiful, complex, but not unapproachable 4x Space game.

    I didn't give a 10 due to some silly spelling errors, etc... things like that which I'm sure will be fixed. Otherwise, I haven't experienced any bugs in the main game, and have been having an absolute blast. Especially after the sometimes arduous tutorial, which is both needed and well done.

    If you are a fan of games anywhere near this genre, this is what you have been waiting for.    … Full Review »
  2. TsukasaHiiragi
    May 22, 2017
    6
    A solid sequel to the original 4X game, however it is still currently plagued by some fairly nasty bugs and balance problems.

    For me    A solid sequel to the original 4X game, however it is still currently plagued by some fairly nasty bugs and balance problems.

    For me though, I would have loved the endless series more if they did away with the terrible and broken Over-colonization penalties, these have never worked properly - and always hurts the player more than the A.I, ES2 has even harsher penalties and severely limits the games appeal for me, since it really does prevent creating spawling empires, it heavily impacts conquests because you are forced to raze colonies so you don't go over your control limit and thus get hit with massive penalties which unfortunately even with tech/wonders can't really be offset by much, to be honest - I wish they would do away with this feature completely.

    The 3D battle scenes are nice to look at, but ultimately serve very little purpose because it is just watching a static battle, you have no control at all and because of that, you'll be skipping battles all the time.    … Full Review »
  3. Eysteinh
    May 21, 2017
    10
    Endless space 2 is complex yet accessible, It has amazing lore, soundtrack, artwork and 4x mechanism. It is supported by developers with aEndless space 2 is complex yet accessible, It has amazing lore, soundtrack, artwork and 4x mechanism. It is supported by developers with a track record for listening to its community and inviting feedback (games2gether platform.) In short Endless space 2 is the best 4x game (base game compared with base game of other 4x games) I have played in 25 years of 4x gaming. For me it is only lacking a good hall of fame system (Hopefully coming) yet I cant bring myself to give it any other score than 10/10 when compared with the other games historically and currently available in the 4x genre.… Full Review »
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