Endless Space 2

 PC
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

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  1. 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 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    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.    … Expand
  2. nitorita
    Nov 29, 2018
    7
    Endless Space 2 has been a pleasant experience so far, but I can't say whether it's better than its prequel. In the first game, you could love a faction to death and keep using them over and over for days on end, but in this one, you're more inclined to try each faction in order to keep the novelty going.

    Games feel like they last much longer in this sequel, and there seems to be a    Endless Space 2 has been a pleasant experience so far, but I can't say whether it's better than its prequel. In the first game, you could love a faction to death and keep using them over and over for days on end, but in this one, you're more inclined to try each faction in order to keep the novelty going.

    Games feel like they last much longer in this sequel, and there seems to be a strong bias towards a conquest victory, regardless of the faction. The other forms of victory are unrewarding to achieve. The AI isn't amazing in this game so diplomacy kinda sucks and resources are pretty much impossible to trade in this sequel, which means you're better off just taking over planets with the resources you need. Alliances are easy to make, but it feels like going solo is the best way to play.

    In the prequel, you had to figure out the best research pathways to take or else you would end up lagging behind other factions. However, in this sequel, you have much more freedom to pick whatever research you like, so the game is a lot more forgiving. If you played Path of Exile before, it's kind of like instead of having every faction start off somewhere different, every faction starts off as a Scion.

    Amplitude tried to polish the game a bit and introduce some new things while reworking others, but they neglected a lot of features that gave the first game its shine. It feels like this sequel was meant for playing with real players, not the AI. If you enjoy conquest victories, this game's pretty fun for that, but otherwise, you might want to stick to the prequel or Endless Legend. Not a whole lot has improved. "Above average" is the best way to describe this sequel.

    I think the game deserves a 7.5/10. It's okay, but I still prefer the first game and its factions more. I get my money's worth out of this game because of how long each session lasts, but I think that's just a way for the devs to hide the fact that the game turns kinda grindy after the early game. This sequel is really just a recycled version of its prequel.    … Expand
  3. KonstantinPayne
    Aug 29, 2020
    8
    Красивейшая космическая стратегия. Визуал, виды, и общее оформление выполнены безупречно. Виднеется культура работы разрабов в отношении к своему творению. Стратегии достаточно, но реиграбельность меньше чем у цивы.
  4. Tomplifier
    Feb 17, 2021
    8
    Maybe the most beatiful 4X-game out there. The races are few but fun and totally different to play. The stories are nice but have the effect, that you play mostly the same way. Battles are great, to build your own personalized army is fun. The exploration of the galaxy is moderate. There are so many good ideas in this game. But it has some weakness. After you played through all the racesMaybe the most beatiful 4X-game out there. The races are few but fun and totally different to play. The stories are nice but have the effect, that you play mostly the same way. Battles are great, to build your own personalized army is fun. The exploration of the galaxy is moderate. There are so many good ideas in this game. But it has some weakness. After you played through all the races the motivation is gone. The galaxy becomes a boring view after several hours. So no competitor to Civilization in the end.… Expand
  5. akarnokd
    Sep 19, 2018
    7
    It's a fun game, better in some ways than its predecessor, but overall the same gameplay mechanics and balancing decisions can eventually remove the fun. Namely, all those effects that punish you for being a big empire. You have to grow because of the special resources scattered around. The faction-specific story elements and achievements can keep one going on but eventually, the churn toIt's a fun game, better in some ways than its predecessor, but overall the same gameplay mechanics and balancing decisions can eventually remove the fun. Namely, all those effects that punish you for being a big empire. You have to grow because of the special resources scattered around. The faction-specific story elements and achievements can keep one going on but eventually, the churn to research tech from scratch over and over gets old sooner or later.… Expand
  6. Ludo79
    Jan 30, 2022
    5
    So dissapointing ; for the old-timer 4X player I am, ES2 looked like the perfect achievement. Until you realize it's an empty shell in terms of solo playing. and I'm a solo player.
    AI is so dumb ; AI fleet try to flee but get destroyed without combat because they can't flee a secund time... Nothing happen in terms of opposition unless you get to the last difficulty level or install an AI    So dissapointing ; for the old-timer 4X player I am, ES2 looked like the perfect achievement. Until you realize it's an empty shell in terms of solo playing. and I'm a solo player.
    AI is so dumb ; AI fleet try to flee but get destroyed without combat because they can't flee a secund time... Nothing happen in terms of opposition unless you get to the last difficulty level or install an AI booster mod.
    this game is graphically superb and appealing but totally boring after 10-20 hours of play...
    And if you go on testing for another 100 hours like I did, you'll get confirmed.
    If They could implement SOASE engine with their graphic skin, that'd be wonderful !    … Expand
  7. j555203
    Aug 25, 2017
    1
    More than 3 months after release, and the game is still unplayable. A game-breaking bug in which save files are corrupted after a mere 100 turns or so (even short games take at least 250 turns to complete) still prevents this game from being enjoyable or even playable. I have spent dozens of hours playing and attempting to remedy this issue to no avail. Even worse, the devs have releasedMore than 3 months after release, and the game is still unplayable. A game-breaking bug in which save files are corrupted after a mere 100 turns or so (even short games take at least 250 turns to complete) still prevents this game from being enjoyable or even playable. I have spent dozens of hours playing and attempting to remedy this issue to no avail. Even worse, the devs have released only a handful of updates over the past several months which have done nothing to correct this; and the largest update actually broke the game even more for most users. Despite an apology from the developers and a long-awaited bug fix/rebalance update earlier this month, the corrupt save file issues remains.

    I've tried to enjoy this game - far more than i would have had i not enjoyed the first Endless Space so much - and as much as I want it to work and be enjoyable I am giving up. 3 months later and countless hours searching for a fix for the corrupted save bug and the game is still UNPLAYABLE. I essentially paid for nothing. I have never felt so cheated by a developer, and will never purchase another game from Amplitude again.    … Expand
  8. Sjalka
    May 20, 2017
    8
    Endless space 2 feels like Endless space 1 - but bigger. Which seems to be the formula for it - most or less. It did not re-invent itself .. it adds a lot more complexity to the 4x nature of it - giving the player more access to micromanagement while also allowing similar automated modes.

    Its visual style is quite elegant and updated to what is expected today. Since most of the game is    Endless space 2 feels like Endless space 1 - but bigger. Which seems to be the formula for it - most or less. It did not re-invent itself .. it adds a lot more complexity to the 4x nature of it - giving the player more access to micromanagement while also allowing similar automated modes.

    Its visual style is quite elegant and updated to what is expected today. Since most of the game is spend on the galaxy screen or various sub-menus, the game itself is not too demanding on the hardware (more than Endless space 1 though)

    There is more variety in space combat - which was only a slideshow (more or less) in Endless space 1 - but still not enough to really care much about ... in my opinion. The way it is portrait still becomes repetitive quite quickly.

    And therein lays the problem for me. The game starts very strong - but becomes stale(r) with time. Compared to Civilization - which becomes more engaging the later the game is (at least in high difficulty settings) - Endless space 2 becomes more routine in the late game.
    I also felt like there was a certain threshold when you kind of "knew" that you had lost the game. When the AI was so far ahead that it would take game loopholes or exploiting the AI to get ahead again. (which is usually late mid game) - the game would go on and on and on after that point because the AI seemed not to wish to crush me - even if it could - but i would not manage to catch up again - no matter what.

    Speaking of AI - i hardly see any improvements in that department in most computer games. The AI is dumb most of the time - not recognizing bottlenecks and not amassing large enough forces to break through tough defenses - instead trickling small fleets against strong defenses one after another just to be torn apart. That does not mean that it cannot win of course - but it means that it is still - by no means - even close to a human opponent - and no noticable improvement compared to Endless space 1 (or similar games)

    However - the game is certainly above average and if you like space 4x games - you will most certainly get your moneys worth... as you will spend several hours having fun with the game. But for me - it is nowhere near the top of the food chain. ... About as good as the Master of Orion remake - but not as good as the original Master of Orion 2 (back then - for its time).    … Expand
  9. Vim88pl
    Dec 17, 2018
    8
    Very good game, my favorite Space 4x. The only problem is fact, that you cannot play multiplayer on the same computer.
  10. DevildogFF
    May 20, 2017
    10
    I've been playing 4X games since the original Civilization and Master of Orion 1. This is easily among the best of them. Its charm, depth, uniqueness, and gorgeous presentation all make this one of the best strategy games of all time, not just 4X strategy. You'd be remiss to pass this one up.
  11. 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 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    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 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.    … Expand
  12. M3RC3ER
    May 20, 2017
    9
    Maybe it doesn't have the overwhelming complexity and depth of some of it's genre colleagues, maybe it's not the innovative messiah of the 4X-games-universe but I simply love how Amplitude manages to pull me in with their distinctive art style and simple but creative FIDSI system - all well rounded with an easy to use and well organized UI. And looking at Endless Legend I expect a similarMaybe it doesn't have the overwhelming complexity and depth of some of it's genre colleagues, maybe it's not the innovative messiah of the 4X-games-universe but I simply love how Amplitude manages to pull me in with their distinctive art style and simple but creative FIDSI system - all well rounded with an easy to use and well organized UI. And looking at Endless Legend I expect a similar development regarding content and depth here - is it already worth 40 bucks? hell yeah...

    I recommend with all my heart.    … Expand
  13. 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 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 onlyEndless 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.… Expand
  14. BoredGamer42
    May 28, 2017
    4
    Another buggy launch after months in early access. If the studio fixes the bugs, it'll be an easy 8. As of now, not worth full price.

    Took notes from previous games - Endless Space, and Endless Legend. Suffers from some failings of those earlier titles as well. Endless Legend was broken because of Luxuries providing exponential bonuses. ES2 fixed that well enough, but introduced an    Another buggy launch after months in early access. If the studio fixes the bugs, it'll be an easy 8. As of now, not worth full price.

    Took notes from previous games - Endless Space, and Endless Legend. Suffers from some failings of those earlier titles as well. Endless Legend was broken because of Luxuries providing exponential bonuses. ES2 fixed that well enough, but introduced an even more broken exponential factor in the form of trade routes. Game's still fun - just turn off Economic Victory and don't exploit and it's alright.

    On to the bugs. I haven't been able to play a game to completion yet. It's being actively patched... in a slapdash manner that creates new game breaking bugs. Hung up - again - on Turn 153 (could never get that far with Economic Victory on). Had to keep reloading saves to get that far, with new bugs freezing the game in an Endless loop every time. I think they'll fix a few bugs and sell the game on glitz to casual players who never plan to finish a match anyway.

    Might be a good game in 7 months or so, if they don't just crap out and start spamming expansions, which they very well might. Not worth buying as of 5/28/17.

    Shame on them, and shame on you suckers for buying it anyway without getting a refund. I did.    … Expand
  15. TitaniumDragon
    Feb 22, 2021
    8
    Endless Space 2 is a 4x game set in - you guessed it - space. While in principle a science fiction game, the game is, in truth, nothing of the sort. The descriptions of the various technologies are quite silly and many of the factions - like the Horatio, a clone race - are quite silly.

    But the game at the very least uses the veneer of such things to justify its nature. The game map    Endless Space 2 is a 4x game set in - you guessed it - space. While in principle a science fiction game, the game is, in truth, nothing of the sort. The descriptions of the various technologies are quite silly and many of the factions - like the Horatio, a clone race - are quite silly.

    But the game at the very least uses the veneer of such things to justify its nature.

    The game map centers around solar systems. Each system contains 1-5 planets, all of which can be colonized with the right technology. Initially, you can only colonize the nicest planets, but as you climb the tech tree you gain the ability to colonize everything, from lava worlds to gas giants. This adds a nice extra dimension to expansion, as researching specific technologies allows you to not only colonize more systems, but to add more population to existing systems. The tension between colonizing different kinds of planets and researching other important technologies leads to interesting choices in the early game.

    Each solar system you colonize is treated much like a city from another game; you build system-wide improvements and move your population between colonized planets within the system.

    One interesting aspect to the game is these populations. Unlike many 4x games, your population is broken down into various species of aliens. You start out with your own population and perhaps one kind of alien coexisting with you, but as you expand you can get other population types, either by taking over or integrating worlds that belong to minor races, by conquest of other civilizations' worlds, by discovering refugees who settle on your worlds, or even by proximity to worlds owned by other species. Each of these populations adds bonuses of their own, and getting them in sufficient numbers grants additional bonuses.

    Because of this, and the limited population slots on planets, there is additionally the ability to upgrade your systems with starports that allow you to ship your citizens between worlds, both to keep growing your population as well as to speed the development of new colonies and sculpt their demographic makeup.

    For being a game set in space, exploration is fairly familiar. The star systems are in "constellations" which have lanes between stars which enable travel between them; these act like continents of sorts. Later you develop technology that exposes wormholes between the constellations or which allow lane-free warp travel. Your exploration ships can be equipped with probes, which can be sent off blindly to expose more of the map or used in a solar system to perform expeditions, which can expose resources on planets, find new colonists, discover blueprints to design new weapon and armor systems, or trigger side quests or combat encounters.

    As you ascend the tech tree, you discover new technologies that allow you to build new ship designs. Unlike Civilization, you get to design these units, with each ship design having slots for weapons, armor, and utility components, all of which are unlocked by researching new technologies and sometimes from exploration. This customization can also determine how fast the ships go and at what range in combat they are most effective.

    The technology tree is also interesting in that it isn’t really a “tree” at all, but rather a series of concentric rings; you don’t need to research particular technologies to research future ones, but you do need to research enough on each “level” within a given technological sector to unlock the next level. As these levels unlock new functions and abilities, as well as some new sidequests, there’s tension between filling out your tech tree and pushing more advanced but slower to research technologies that will advance your overall progression. It is also possible to skip various technologies as a result of this approach, allowing you to customize your approach to the game but also possibly leaving you without various seemingly “necessary” things.

    Hero units are also unlocked over the course of the game. They can be assigned to systems to promote growth or to fleets and given custom ships to make your fleets of spaceships more potent or faster or better at exploring. They gain experience either way, and having a good mix of both is helpful.

    The quests are perhaps what sets the game the most apart from games like Civilization. Rather than simply building up your empire over time, you have a main story quest, where you make various decisions that influence the progression of your empire. Depending on your decisions, you can change your race’s bonuses, what buildings you build, what heroes you get, and whether your empire is more focused towards science, industry, military aggression, or making money. There are various objectives which you can sometimes even choose between to change how the plot of your quest advances.    … Expand
  16. KingBread8
    Nov 19, 2017
    9
    Endless Space 2 is one of the most beautiful experience in 4X genre. Gameplay is deep and rewarding, aesthetics are breathtaking, and devs are adding free content on regular basis. The only thing that sometimes feels lacking is combat system.
  17. Ryskim
    May 30, 2017
    10
    I played many videogames in my life and then some more. Endless Space 2 is something else. Spectacular, fast, smooth, full of lore, oportunities, treachery and interesting factions each with its uniqueness, nice graphics, love the music, the mechanics of the game, the political system. This game is the epitome of how a 4X game should be made. Took them a while but Amplitude finally madeI played many videogames in my life and then some more. Endless Space 2 is something else. Spectacular, fast, smooth, full of lore, oportunities, treachery and interesting factions each with its uniqueness, nice graphics, love the music, the mechanics of the game, the political system. This game is the epitome of how a 4X game should be made. Took them a while but Amplitude finally made it. And the best is yet to come with the expansions. Can't wait to see more content of this AAAA game.… Expand
  18. vezon
    Jun 9, 2017
    7
    First of all, I love how the races are fleshed out, back story with a cool movie, nice ship design.
    The economic part (system building) didn't really changed much from ES1, so for me its only an ok. As I stated in my Civ6 review, I'm not fond of Civ1 citybuilding, it was good enough for the first ever 4x strategy game to be in the hall of fame, but after Orion1 and Colonization1 its it's    First of all, I love how the races are fleshed out, back story with a cool movie, nice ship design.
    The economic part (system building) didn't really changed much from ES1, so for me its only an ok. As I stated in my Civ6 review, I'm not fond of Civ1 citybuilding, it was good enough for the first ever 4x strategy game to be in the hall of fame, but after Orion1 and Colonization1 its it's just nono for me.
    I loved the event system, even more than in Stellaris. And the political system, even if somehow I feel that is bugged or juts plain simple not balanced.
    The battle. Hmm, I have nothing against autoresolved battles, but first of all beside good looking ships, the camera angles, weapon visual and sound effects are a very very low score for me, and when u think the only reason to exist is to be awe by it (even a 10 year old SoS battle si looking better). The only reason I was entering sometimes in battles, to see the ships and for the Overview camera. The 2nd problem, as in with ES1, I saw right away the weakness of the system and I was going for only one type of ships and killing much stronger enemies with no damage taken, I got even the AI in offside, because it was doing only one type of ships. At least in ES1, I was needed 3 type of ships for my fleet to be complete. So do I have a choices?
    Diplomacy and AI. Should I have to be surprised about the AI in an era when we get dumber and dumber Ais in 4x strategies, but hey they are much smaller company so I'm not expecting miracles.
    So I really liked it at first, but I got bored really fast.
    It just baffles me, how many people are saying that they played Orion1, but Civ1 and can't see what made those games marvelous. Orion2 it was my first disappointment, in an era when new games could not disappoint you and yet everybody clones it. It doesn't matter how complicate a game is if it's core design is flawed. Chess, Backgammon, Catan etc, there are great not because they are complicated, but because they are complex.    … Expand
  19. rustyfeeder
    May 20, 2017
    9
    One of the best 4x games I've ever played. Sure it's not as accessible as Civ but it's part of it's charm. Not every game needs to try to grip the widest audience.
  20. Gmfeier
    Nov 28, 2017
    10
    This is the MoO II replacement I have been waiting for for 20 years. It expands on MoO II in every area. It's a new game and will surely improve over time, but it already has a much better combat AI than Civilization VI. It does have a steep learning curve and the UI could use some work, but the combat graphics are impressive. The "Just one more turn" factor is as high as in any game IThis is the MoO II replacement I have been waiting for for 20 years. It expands on MoO II in every area. It's a new game and will surely improve over time, but it already has a much better combat AI than Civilization VI. It does have a steep learning curve and the UI could use some work, but the combat graphics are impressive. The "Just one more turn" factor is as high as in any game I have ever played.… Expand
  21. Lordgrey
    May 23, 2017
    3
    Итак. Фактически это клон Эндлесс леженд в космосе, но с порезаной под корень механикой.

    Тактических боёв нет как явления, всё что вы можете- смотреть как ваши корабли уныло кружат вокруг воображаемой точки и перестреливаются, при этом камера будет самостоятельно и очень раздражающе прыгать на "выгодные" ракурсы. Всё колесо начных исследований учится за шесть часов игры буквально.    Итак. Фактически это клон Эндлесс леженд в космосе, но с порезаной под корень механикой.

    Тактических боёв нет как явления, всё что вы можете- смотреть как ваши корабли уныло кружат вокруг воображаемой точки и перестреливаются, при этом камера будет самостоятельно и очень раздражающе прыгать на "выгодные" ракурсы.

    Всё колесо начных исследований учится за шесть часов игры буквально. Все до единой технологии, и потом весь ваш научный потенциал превращается в тыкву, учить больше нечего, развиваться некуда, даже пассивки каких-то технологий типа щитов-кинетики-брони как в Стелларисе отсутствуют. Так же не продумана прокачка героев в лейтгейме. Они продолжают получать опыт и уровни. Но вкладывать очки навыков уже некуда. Короче вся игра мотивирует закончить партию часов за пять-семь, не больше. Что для глобальной стратегии откровенно скажем не очень.

    Ну и довольно занудная и глупая система войн. Прилетаешь флотом на планету, привозишь в трюмах своих истребителей-линкоров танки-самолёты, сбрасываешь и ждёшь несколько ходов пока они там воюют. потом ждёшь ходов 15 пока планета интегрируется в твою империю. И держишь там флот чтобы не захватили. И так по одной планетке раз за разом, никакой тактики снова нет, но мы можем установить сами пропорции танков и самолётов в нашем войске и всё...короче за всю войну (часов 6-8 войны) я тремя флотами захватил планет 8 (если не считать отвоёванные обратно собственные системы, их было три или четыре), да, примерно по одной планете в час. И ИИ врага тупит просто нещадно, присылая в атаку на мой флот с парой линкоров и под 29 коммандных очков партии самоубийц на 10 КО без единого тяжёлого корабля. Ассортимент боевых кораблей тоже не поражает воображение, два малых, два средних, один большой, назван авианосцем (в русской версии) но никаких авианосцев в игре не существует потому как нет никакой авиации, дронов и тому подобного. Всё что есть- два вида пушек (энергетика и кинетика, каждый подразделяется ещё на два), модули щитов и модули брони. Всё остальное для игры не важно.

    Дипломатия тоже не блещет от слова совсем. Враг ведёт себя как откровенный аутист. Экономика- дисбаллансна, ни на одной стадии игры нет дифицита ни в чём абсолютно. Вобщем скука. И шрифты и UI...в русской версии наезжают друг на друга, цифр не видно, при уменьшении масштаба даже до 70% они всё равно продолжают наезжать (при разрешении экрана 1920х1200) плюс становятся микроскопически нечитаемыми, это просто ужасно. Проект унылый, сырой, недоработанный, с учётом что игра не делалась с нуля и это не первый проект Амплитуд- троечка с минусом. Кто поработал хорошо- композиторы и артдизайнеры, заставки колонизации планет очень красивы, как и музыка.    … Expand
  22. Maverik
    May 21, 2017
    10
    Si te gustaron los anteriores juegos de Amplitude y los 4X en general estas de enhorabuena, este juego es la excelencia en cuanto a como debe diseñarse un 4X, profundo, elegante, variado y repleto de sorpresas.
    ¿A que esperas para probarlo?
  23. BlackForest
    May 31, 2017
    10
    Endless Space 2 is a great game tha underwent dramatic changes during its early release. Amplitude studios is one of the best listening to player feedback and they duly drop nonsense mechanics like hard forced truces or the underwhelming initial tree.

    In ES2 you pick one alian race with unique art and history. Every faction plays asymetrically and that adds greatly to the replayability.    Endless Space 2 is a great game tha underwent dramatic changes during its early release. Amplitude studios is one of the best listening to player feedback and they duly drop nonsense mechanics like hard forced truces or the underwhelming initial tree.

    In ES2 you pick one alian race with unique art and history. Every faction plays asymetrically and that adds greatly to the replayability. The gameplay is similar to 4x space strategy game: planet colonization, ship design, flotillas vombat, exploration etc

    The game is not perfect and it would be a 9 more than a 10 but I'd like to compensate for the unfair reviews in my opinion.

    My biggest flaw would be the combat, by far the weakest point in Amplitude games. The developers have tried to innovate which results in some interesting new mechanics and some more quirky than necessary.

    Among the novelties there is a new political system which is essential to manage to get powerful wide policy.

    Another innovation is the ability to mod the game AI called ENFER

    As usual the art, music and writing is superb. Endless games trademark is meaningful quests which add a lot of flavour to the game.

    I have beat endless difficulty after 100 hours of gameplay which was very satisfying. In the higher difficulties the AI have unfair advantages as usual but it offers a nice challenge.

    My biggest complaint in ES1 was that there were too many ships and that has been fixed in ES2. I consider Amplitude Studios productivity very high. They had a buggy day 0 release but quickly patch after only 1 day.

    All in all a must have for strategy enthusiasts    … Expand
  24. KRob4
    Jun 22, 2017
    10
    Quite simply one of the most beautifully crafted 4X games to date. So much polish, in every game system. Wonderful UI navigation with deep lore. Support this game!!!
  25. Klewer
    Apr 27, 2021
    7
    A solid 4x game for those who have the time and can get in to the finer details of it. Some improvements on the first and for fans of space exploration, settling the galaxies and fighting aliens it's a good time.
  26. Avalord
    Nov 19, 2017
    4
    Inferior in every way to its predecessor. Clunky controls. There were times you wished for better information in "Endless Space". With ES 2 they went the other way. Incredibly slow game start. You can't do ANYTHING for the first couple of hours. I return happily to the superior, first version of the game!
  27. Wiebe
    Feb 27, 2020
    3
    Too dumbed down, and some gameplay mechanics where not balanced or thought out well enough which hampered the gameplay, good ideas, but just not there
  28. andrewbrown
    Jul 3, 2017
    5
    It feels like the game is hidden by a 100 panels and lengthy text.
    The combat is one dimensional.
    The AI is dumb and provides no strategy even on the hardest difficulty.
    Its a chore to play this game thru and thru.
    I love 4x Strategy games but not this one.

    If you're itching for a space 4x strategy get some mods for Stellaris because that's the best we'll get.
  29. potaeto
    Jun 25, 2017
    9
    I like this game but it's buggy and unstable. If the writers and creative content people from this game teamed up with the engineers from Stellaris, they would have made a masterpiece. Overall, I still like this better than Stellaris because its RPG elements are way better than Stellaris.

    Edit: Adjusting my rating to 9 because the developers have since patched most of the    I like this game but it's buggy and unstable. If the writers and creative content people from this game teamed up with the engineers from Stellaris, they would have made a masterpiece. Overall, I still like this better than Stellaris because its RPG elements are way better than Stellaris.

    Edit: Adjusting my rating to 9 because the developers have since patched most of the game-breaking stuff. This is a very fun game.    … Expand
  30. koves
    Jul 24, 2017
    8
    The first time you play if, you feel like you are farmer converted to king in a future sci-f kingdom, and you will not understand how the game really works. But after two or three plays, you being to know better how the game works and I hat off the game designers. The art is well designeed and the quests are very enjoyable. Very good!
  31. symmetriebruch
    Sep 29, 2020
    3
    zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzz zzz zzzz zzz zzzz
  32. Flashback92
    Jan 26, 2019
    4
    The factions difference is minimal only 10%/faction.
    No landscape view for planetsurface.
    Graphics: medium
    Sound: low
    Controll: good
    music: depends on taste but i prefer unique stlye music/faction but the game use same music effects.
    Perfomance: sometimes we get unreasaonable low fps.
  33. alanwaketan
    Aug 8, 2020
    8
    还是一代那个味，正。在群星出来之前，无尽空间可能是唯一一个能展现征途是星辰大海的游戏。但二代遇到了它真正的对手。从各个角度上讲本作都是一个简化版本的群星，虽说制作组并不是这个本意只是延续了一代的风格而已。虽说是简化并不代表它简单，本作系统还是颇有些出彩之处。我最喜欢的莫过于其对于后期游戏防止滚雪球效应的拿捏。即不会让你在后期无事可做专心涂色，也不会让你度日如年举步维艰。举个例子，本作对于过度殖民的惩戒系统做得就很好。首先惩戒力度之大让你无法忽视这个问题，但与此同时又提供多个突破口让你解决这个问题而不至于让后期游戏聚拢为单一策略。像我就使用了军事政策和四级星球的双管齐下让国民快乐度始终保持100%而又能完成征服胜利。其次有两个颇为新颖的系统。第一个议会系统：该系统能让玩家通过控制特定种族人口的增长速度来获得该种族意识形态的议员席位从而左右不同政策的实施。第二个就是市场交易系统还是一代那个味，正。在群星出来之前，无尽空间可能是唯一一个能展现征途是星辰大海的游戏。但二代遇到了它真正的对手。从各个角度上讲本作都是一个简化版本的群星，虽说制作组并不是这个本意只是延续了一代的风格而已。虽说是简化并不代表它简单，本作系统还是颇有些出彩之处。我最喜欢的莫过于其对于后期游戏防止滚雪球效应的拿捏。即不会让你在后期无事可做专心涂色，也不会让你度日如年举步维艰。举个例子，本作对于过度殖民的惩戒系统做得就很好。首先惩戒力度之大让你无法忽视这个问题，但与此同时又提供多个突破口让你解决这个问题而不至于让后期游戏聚拢为单一策略。像我就使用了军事政策和四级星球的双管齐下让国民快乐度始终保持100%而又能完成征服胜利。其次有两个颇为新颖的系统。第一个议会系统：该系统能让玩家通过控制特定种族人口的增长速度来获得该种族意识形态的议员席位从而左右不同政策的实施。第二个就是市场交易系统：让玩家能够体验一把当原油国家的快乐和刺激。总的来讲是一款完成度相当之高的大战略游戏。… Expand
  34. Genek13
    Nov 15, 2019
    9
    Great space strategy game with fresh mechanics and story.
    All of the races are different to each other so gameplay is never the same.
    Very good graphics and atmosphere :) Kind of Ciiv 6 in space :)
  35. Tabbou
    Jul 10, 2022
    8
    Très complet et profond en terme de stratégies et possibilités.

    Assez difficile à prendre en main pour les néophytes, le jeu se révèle agréable à jouer une fois les premières heures passées. De nombreuses races jouables (et + avec les DLC) avec chacune quelques spécificités de gameplay et des quêtes "histoire" uniques et intrigantes. On peux même personnaliser sa race en fonction de    Très complet et profond en terme de stratégies et possibilités.

    Assez difficile à prendre en main pour les néophytes, le jeu se révèle agréable à jouer une fois les premières heures passées.
    De nombreuses races jouables (et + avec les DLC) avec chacune quelques spécificités de gameplay et des quêtes "histoire" uniques et intrigantes.
    On peux même personnaliser sa race en fonction de son style de jeu et plein d'autres options comme la taille de la galaxie, la difficulté, le nombre d'IA etc...
    Des dizaines et des dizaines d'heures de jeu à explorer la galaxie, créer des vaisseaux, coloniser des planètes, les améliorer, faire des combats, réaliser des quêtes et bien plus encore !

    On regrette les options diplomatiques mal fichues avec des IA qui refusent trop souvent des échanges et accords si l'on veux jouer pacifiquement. J'aurai également aprécié + de cinématiques sur l'histoire ou le développement de certaines races, la quête de l'académie nous laisse sur notre fin présageant un endless space 3 ? ou au moins une suite pour la série de jeux Endless on espère    … Expand
  36. wTetw
    Nov 2, 2022
    6
    A solid game the bad thing is that they are not getting more support for this game anymore
  37. zoliking
    Jul 28, 2023
    5
    This game is absolutely soulless. It feels like a group from an alien race found Earth, checked out our culture and saw some people play 4X games. Then they tried to make one, got all the elements in there, but didn't quite grasp what makes a game fun.

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 24, 2017
    80
    A perfect example of how the 4X strategy can be comprehensive, and yet remain clear and accessible to beginners. If you ignored the genre or it started to bore you, this is the reason to give it another chance. [Issue#274]
  2. Games Master UK
    Jul 13, 2017
    81
    Huge space strategy housed within a gleaming shell. It'll keep you boldly going for months. [Aug 2017, p.74]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jul 5, 2017
    85
    Even though I wish that Endless Space 2 had fully controllable battles and smarter AI opponents, this is still an amazing game that you will be exploring for hours.
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