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. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. wTetw
    Nov 2, 2022
    6
    A solid game the bad thing is that they are not getting more support for this game anymore
  9. 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

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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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