Endless Space

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 566 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 345 out of 566
  2. Mixed: 151 out of 566
  3. Negative: 70 out of 566

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  1. Major_Death
    Jul 6, 2012
    6
    I am surprised at the number of 10's this game is getting. It's not a bad 4X game, but its not an outstanding one either. The combat system is bit pot luck, and the lack of ingame info is very frustrating. I get the feeling we will see more features as the game gets patched.
  2. Vasot
    Apr 30, 2013
    5
    AWFUL BATTLE SYSTEM THAT COMPLETELY RUINS A MAJOR PART OF THE GAME The battles are pre-render boring cutscenes and you have to use cards in battles. Why they made the battle system into something like Yu-Gi-Oh is beyond me. Tthe battles are a complete turn-off from my point of view As for the rest of the game (economy, colonization etc) fortunately it is better but everything you do inAWFUL BATTLE SYSTEM THAT COMPLETELY RUINS A MAJOR PART OF THE GAME The battles are pre-render boring cutscenes and you have to use cards in battles. Why they made the battle system into something like Yu-Gi-Oh is beyond me. Tthe battles are a complete turn-off from my point of view As for the rest of the game (economy, colonization etc) fortunately it is better but everything you do in the game feels like a chore somehow. After playing some hours i got bored with the game. Does not have the same kind of addiction like MOO2 had it becomes "stale" after playing some hours with it… Expand
  3. Rylan
    Jul 8, 2012
    6
    A particularly unengaging turned based strategy game which fails to deliver. The menu's, whilst crisp and clean, are unhelpful and confusing and the labels shown on new research skills provide little help as to what each actually provides. The control interface is counterintuitive and sluggish.

    The most important thing is that, for a strategy game, it is completely devoid of that. For    A particularly unengaging turned based strategy game which fails to deliver. The menu's, whilst crisp and clean, are unhelpful and confusing and the labels shown on new research skills provide little help as to what each actually provides. The control interface is counterintuitive and sluggish.

    The most important thing is that, for a strategy game, it is completely devoid of that. For the first 60 turns the only option is to colonize everything in site and the next 60 turns is spent building as many ships as you can to steamroll your opponents employing any other tactic.

    The space combat is dull and the camera spins around with little to no focus on what is actually happening and the Rock Paper Scissors gameplay adds little to the zergfest. Whoever has the most ships wins in almost all cases.

    Perhaps with much more content added this game will make something of itself but right now it's too much "End Turn" and not enough gameplay.    … Expand
  4. Leonius
    Jul 9, 2012
    6
    This game is way too simple and the tech tree needs some balancing too, whit some tech pretty much useless. I did liked it, but after the first game it gets boring really fast. What really left me disappointed were the "battles". You can "control" your ships choosing a battle card that has almost none impact on the battle, you can' t really control anything. The battles are slow, boring,This game is way too simple and the tech tree needs some balancing too, whit some tech pretty much useless. I did liked it, but after the first game it gets boring really fast. What really left me disappointed were the "battles". You can "control" your ships choosing a battle card that has almost none impact on the battle, you can' t really control anything. The battles are slow, boring, and you don' t really have time to choose the best card, you have to pick one, hoping. Yes, the game has pretty good graphics, and it' s one of the few games with a turn-based gameplay, but the combat is unbalanced (lasers are OP, along with missiles) and you can' t really customize your ships, it' s all about putting your best techs. When I played, let' s see, in MoO2, I customized my ships in order to give a role to every ship, but in endless space support ships go front line, exploding after few shots. Also the planet management is quite a mess, and you don' t know what will happen unless you do it. Also I have seen many people comparing this game to MoO2, and I can assure you that Master of Orion is on a higer level. The best part about this game is its price.… Expand
  5. krkbomb
    Jul 14, 2012
    5
    It wasn't terrible. Neither was it very good. The "simultaneous turn-based" gameplay makes absolutely no sense. I cannot imagine the clusterF*** that is in multiplayer. Pick one or the other, please. The interface is clean and good-looking, but cumbersome to use for repetitive tasks. Also some very weird design choices, like severely penalizing expansion... Isn't expansion the POINTIt wasn't terrible. Neither was it very good. The "simultaneous turn-based" gameplay makes absolutely no sense. I cannot imagine the clusterF*** that is in multiplayer. Pick one or the other, please. The interface is clean and good-looking, but cumbersome to use for repetitive tasks. Also some very weird design choices, like severely penalizing expansion... Isn't expansion the POINT of these games? 0.o

    No campaign to speak of (yet?). Complete fail for me personally. I'm sure a lot of bored 4X addicts will be interested for two hours before some flaw pisses them off.    … Expand
  6. Shadowbane
    Dec 3, 2012
    5
    This review is only of Single Player.

    I am going to start this review off by simply going through a match adding in the ups and downs. You begin by going through and either picking a race to play or creating your own. I found the premade races to be a bit generic, with only a few fresh races. Upon creating m own race I ran into m first few disappointments. 1st: Your race will have the    This review is only of Single Player.

    I am going to start this review off by simply going through a match adding in the ups and downs. You begin by going through and either picking a race to play or creating your own. I found the premade races to be a bit generic, with only a few fresh races. Upon creating m own race I ran into m first few disappointments. 1st: Your race will have the generic ship look of one of the premade races of your choice. You will not get to customize your races ships past conforming to a premade race style. Also your picture/portrait will also have to be a premade races portrait. Both of these things slightly irritated me from the start as my United Federation of Planets had no style of it's own. Moving on during race creation there is a ton of traits/skills/cultural things you can add to your race or take away. You can also use this system to give advantages or disadvantages to your home planet. I found this system to be very creative and well though up. You can even going into the negative in some aspects to get a higher bonus in others. Getting into the game I noticed the GFX were ok, the menu system and interface was easy enough to use as well. The tutorial while somewhat bland did indeed show me the basic ins and outs of the game systems. I will also add that the story line was non-existent. You just in a galaxy with a whole bunch of races who apparently just want to beat the other race or something. You then start playing with a couple ships to colonize and scout other systems out. One of the first positive things I found was that if you had a colony in a system you could use that planet to colonize other planets in the same system this is a boon as I would not have to build a ship for each planet. Early phase of the game is basically a scramble to colonize as many systems as you can, and to explore as much of the galaxy as possible. Each solar system that has not been explored by any factions has some sort of exploration event. These events tended to bore me as I seemed to always get the same one aka finding another scout ship out of magic land. Also it is worth noting when you meet another race early on you start as cold war status. This basically means they kill every ship of yours they see until you or them research peace through the research trees. Some reason every1 is just out to kill each other in this galaxy for no reason. During the mid game you will be focusing on upgrading solar systems and planets. Every planet can be exploited in one way be it for food (farms) labor (factory) money (called dust, and you never get a good explanation of exactly what it is) or science. Solar systems get a large amount of upgrades that require money, and labor. You can unlock better planet exploits and better solar system upgrades through the research trees. During mid game you are bound to get into combat. There is always one race that hates you no matter what, and you will be forced to smash their face or give them something for peace (even if your stronger) First off let me tell you there are only 6 ship visual designs per race. There is absolutely no ship visual custom designs. So no matter what you watch the same 6 ships no matter what weapons or armor you put on them. During combat you can see the different weapons in action, but this only amounts to a different color missile or a blue laser instead of a green. The combat is visually appealing, but slow and tedious. When you go to war and you have 4+ battles each turn you will quickly learn to hit the auto button (Might I add the auto fight still takes about 45 seconds of watching a blue bar fill). The combat system used cards to attacks/def bonuses. You opponent can counter your cards with their own. You start with about 6 cards and more can be researched through the tech tree. This system while original is utter horse **** So many times I went into a fight with a superior force only to be countered every time by the computers cards and loose my fleets. Also you only have 30-45 seconds to pick your first card, you don't have enough time to make a correct choice before the battle begins and you miss out. It boils down to pick as fast as you can and prey. The research trees are my next topic. To be frank it blows. Research is all over the map. If you want better weapons do down the combat tree, if you want bigger ships you gotta go down the exploration tree. If you want more ships in a fleet to kill your enemy with number you gotta go down the diplomacy tree..... What this amounts 2 is you either balance you tech out and play the same way every game of you get stomped. If you focus your combat weapons and def you will get destroyed by bigger ships in larger fleets. If you focus on big ships, you will be destroyed by larger fleets of ships with better weapons. If you just want large fleets then you will die to bigger ships with better guns.    … Expand
  7. AngleWyrm
    Jul 30, 2012
    6
    A goat in a pretty dress. GUI: In the trade screen items are listed for trade. But clicking on them often brings up an error message "trade refused. Reason is it contains an item you clicked". AI: The computer player frequently loses without any assistance, suffocating under the financial burden of many planetary upgrades that have no value or relevance to the planets they were put on.A goat in a pretty dress. GUI: In the trade screen items are listed for trade. But clicking on them often brings up an error message "trade refused. Reason is it contains an item you clicked". AI: The computer player frequently loses without any assistance, suffocating under the financial burden of many planetary upgrades that have no value or relevance to the planets they were put on. There is also no visible reaction or interaction with the player, it simply goes about it's private business of expanding and conquering worlds. So designing a rock-paper-scissors ship to defeat an opponent is a one-shot affair, with no counters forthcoming. Ships can be revamped at any colony shipyard; there's some needless restrictions on the number and naming of ship classes, which doesn't change the game play at all. The game is over after 20-30 turns, when it has become clear that you have completely outclassed all enemies. Then the rest of the time is spent on a long and dreary mop-up. Some bizarre penalty structure is applied to the player for early expansion because it is the winning strategy, which fails to alter the winning strategy. Overall, it can be enjoyed as a learning experience, an exploration of a new game for 10-20 hours. But I don't see any reason to play it again.… Expand
  8. Darvon
    Jul 11, 2012
    6
    It's fun for a while, but has very little staying power compared to other 4x games. Feels like playing a beta test with a untenably unworkable AI. The hardest difficulty in the game can be thoroughly beaten after only a few games due to poor AI choices, and multilayer synchronous turns and lack of cheat protection mean that it is a poor substitute for single player.

    Worth picking up    It's fun for a while, but has very little staying power compared to other 4x games. Feels like playing a beta test with a untenably unworkable AI. The hardest difficulty in the game can be thoroughly beaten after only a few games due to poor AI choices, and multilayer synchronous turns and lack of cheat protection mean that it is a poor substitute for single player.

    Worth picking up if you like Space 4x games, but don't expect more than 30 hours game play out of it.    … Expand
  9. anagain
    Jul 14, 2012
    5
    Endless Space is fun for a time but it lacks that final punch and most of this is down to depth. There's really not enough of it. The galaxy is small, even on the huge setting, and the tech tree, whilst looking large, is more often filled up with technical babble. You can fill the whole tree without a lot of effort. Just to emphasise my point about the galaxy size, I was quite surprised toEndless Space is fun for a time but it lacks that final punch and most of this is down to depth. There's really not enough of it. The galaxy is small, even on the huge setting, and the tech tree, whilst looking large, is more often filled up with technical babble. You can fill the whole tree without a lot of effort. Just to emphasise my point about the galaxy size, I was quite surprised to find, in my latest game, that I had explored almost the entire galaxy and found little more, if indeed, than 24 planets. I'd recommend Endless Space to those fans of 4X that like their games quick; those games where you don't have to trundle through turn after turn before you get to the middle game meat. There's a lot of promise here but it's just not deep enough. I'd actually lump this game in as a crossover between turn based 4X and a puzzler. You have to pick your expoansion path carefully and can block other empires if you get it right.… Expand
  10. xian
    Jul 17, 2012
    5
    Ascendancy - I was looking for a 4X game like that classic from 1995 when I bought Endless Space. Now I'm somewhat dissappointed.
    The interface is crisp in Endless Space. Clear cut information, good tool-tips, self-explaining symbols and most of the time a good layout. Feels like a fresh, well though out game that is easy to get into and not easy to get out of because like in every    Ascendancy - I was looking for a 4X game like that classic from 1995 when I bought Endless Space. Now I'm somewhat dissappointed.
    The interface is crisp in Endless Space. Clear cut information, good tool-tips, self-explaining symbols and most of the time a good layout. Feels like a fresh, well though out game that is easy to get into and not easy to get out of because like in every turn-based 4X you can settle just one more system and research just one more tech. But after a while you notice this smell and you start the wonder why you are playing this. The rotten parts of the game come to your attention: Huge tech-tree? Missle1, Missle2...Shield1, Shield2... The numbers go up, the gameplay and even the graphics stay the same. There is no satisfaction in building your new ship with fancy weapons when it looks and fights just as the old one. Are the fights nail-biting and challenging? I set them to auto-resolve 15min into the game - boring card drawing system that takes forever. The boring fighting system is a huge turn-down because in SP you will have to grind through endless amounts of ai fleets that like to suicide into your fleets. That turns out to be a problem because there's only enough space for one fleet at a time to attack in "Endless Space". The highest ai difficulty is called "Endless". That probably stands for 'endless' amounts of metal they can send into your meat grinder and still not win because you can still outexpand, outtech and outsmart them. You spent 5min clicking on auto-resolve when playing against the ai at higher levels. Multiplayer is a little better but still not good. Don't attack the host. When he leaves the others have to remake the game. I didn't encounter crashes or major bugs in my game. That's what pulls up the rating for me a little. You can't expect that anymore at release nowadays.
    Endless Space is not a bad game but there is no way this is a 10 like many people here rate it. Only buy it if you're desperate for a 4X game and don't expect too much complexity.    … Expand
  11. Calico01
    Jul 6, 2012
    6
    Although ES has some promising features, it also lacks a lot in several departments. Balancing, AI, some Bugs and Ingame-Help haven't been finished until release, which makes this a rushed release. The general "feel" is that has a clean look, graphics are good and the game is fun to play.... for some time. Don't expect to much of it, it's ok for it's price. But it's no AAA title and likelyAlthough ES has some promising features, it also lacks a lot in several departments. Balancing, AI, some Bugs and Ingame-Help haven't been finished until release, which makes this a rushed release. The general "feel" is that has a clean look, graphics are good and the game is fun to play.... for some time. Don't expect to much of it, it's ok for it's price. But it's no AAA title and likely will never be one, even when Amplitude continues the development for some months.

    It lacks the one distinctive feature that can make a Indie Game a huge hit: serious Innovation.    … Expand
  12. Kanazawa
    Jan 27, 2013
    5
    It's okay. Really there's just not anything special about this 4X game. I wanted to enjoy it, but it ended up being really repetitive once I got the hang of the game. The same strategies are usually used to win every game, and there's not much difference. The maps are too small even at the largest size. I wish it were more entertaining, but it feels like it's missing too much.
  13. Quellor
    Mar 18, 2013
    5
    I've purchased the game, based on some user reviews and the video content of game play. From what I see, it's a turn based game similar to Civilization 3. No graphic display of combat. I'm a bit disappointed and I feel a bit mislead by the video with regards to fleet combat. Combat is a bit like some card based game, use hero cards mixed with action cards and boom, win or lose after aI've purchased the game, based on some user reviews and the video content of game play. From what I see, it's a turn based game similar to Civilization 3. No graphic display of combat. I'm a bit disappointed and I feel a bit mislead by the video with regards to fleet combat. Combat is a bit like some card based game, use hero cards mixed with action cards and boom, win or lose after a click. Some of the game shows polish with art and concept, but there is no game beyond micro managing star systems and Pokimon style combat. I choose you Defence Frigate, use tactic 1 for +10% combat strength and use Captain card for a +15% bonus. Lets see, looks good, click and lose... Just glad it was on sale.… Expand
  14. karmasleeper
    Aug 14, 2012
    7
    As a gamer fairly new to the 4x genre, I found Endless Space a great introduction. The mechanics are easy to grasp and the game becomes less intimidating the more you play. Unfortunately, a couple annoying flaws prevent it from standing out. The developer has admitted the game is not a finished product and I can only hope they dedicate themselves to continued improvement of a promisingAs a gamer fairly new to the 4x genre, I found Endless Space a great introduction. The mechanics are easy to grasp and the game becomes less intimidating the more you play. Unfortunately, a couple annoying flaws prevent it from standing out. The developer has admitted the game is not a finished product and I can only hope they dedicate themselves to continued improvement of a promising title. One flaw is the enemy AI. It will frequently amass huge fleets in one or two systems and do nothing with them. The AI does not actively challenge the player as he or she grows an empire across the galaxy map. The more your empire expands, the more your populace becomes unhappy. Even if you are playing an expansionist or militarist faction, you suffer an enormous approval penalty for growing your empire too quickly. Many people have complained about fleet combat because players have very limited control over it. Once you engage an enemy fleet with one of your own, your fleet attacks on its own. You have three rounds of combat to play a tactics card that gives you bonuses and rock paper scissors counters to other cards. You have no direct control over fleet movement or attack during combat. Personally, I don't mind this as it simulates managing an empire from afar and leaving the dirty work to the admirals. You can customize ships with technology that forms another rock paper scissors mechanic. Admittedly, I have not played multiplayer, but I am thinking it is probably a lot more rewarding than playing against the AI. If you're new to 4x games, I would recommend Endless Space. If you're a veteran looking for a new, engrossing experience, you might not find what you're looking for. The game is a good amount of fun, rewarding (if only for a while), and a nice segway into games like EU3, GalCiv2, and Victoria.… Expand
  15. ABNMP
    Jul 14, 2012
    7
    If you liked Civilization 5 then this might be up your alley. Be warned though, while Civ 5 is nice to look at while you are waiting for your turn, Endless Space seems bland by comparison. Both titles have about the same depth, but Civ 5 wins out for me. If you like a simple space based version of Civ 5 then pick this up. Wouldn't pay more than $10 for it though.
  16. Planetar
    Sep 5, 2012
    7
    Refreshing game in this genre, have lot of upgrades, lot of improves, lot of everything but don't have more important thing...story which would make you to sit and read, watch, interact in the same story of being ultimate best strategist of universe! also its much more addicted when its battle time because game itself is a bit of boring when u wait for research, turns, but when shipRefreshing game in this genre, have lot of upgrades, lot of improves, lot of everything but don't have more important thing...story which would make you to sit and read, watch, interact in the same story of being ultimate best strategist of universe! also its much more addicted when its battle time because game itself is a bit of boring when u wait for research, turns, but when ship creation start then begins fun and build of same! tons of ships, tons of dps, tons of everything! 7/10 just because lack of deeper reason for playing. .… Expand
  17. IriathZhul
    Jul 8, 2012
    6
    I wanted to like this game--indeed, I bought because of the user praise and was hoping for a nice GalCiv2 successor. Sadly, while the game is clearly polished, it desperately lacks some form of visual feedback for the player. Since planets are virtually never visible, battles are terse and lifeless, and improvements and technologies never manifest as anything other than one more pastelI wanted to like this game--indeed, I bought because of the user praise and was hoping for a nice GalCiv2 successor. Sadly, while the game is clearly polished, it desperately lacks some form of visual feedback for the player. Since planets are virtually never visible, battles are terse and lifeless, and improvements and technologies never manifest as anything other than one more pastel icon that disappears from the completely unorganized list. Compare to Civilization 5: that game is simpler than Endless Space in many ways, but is more rewarding to play. Every improvement, unit, and many technologies has an immediate, obvious, and visual impact on the gameplay, giving the player a sense of progress. Endless Space has none of that, and thus feels more like playing a spreadsheet.… Expand
  18. Orctownorc
    Dec 29, 2012
    6
    This game has elegant design and a nice progress system for developing colonies and terraforming planets. Good luck trying to actually win a game though if you want to be peaceful. There are numerous victory conditions and NONE of them are EXPLAINED. It's a game based on building the biggest space empire possible yet if you expand you are BRUTALLY PUNISHED with DISAPPROVAL. Why? Um,This game has elegant design and a nice progress system for developing colonies and terraforming planets. Good luck trying to actually win a game though if you want to be peaceful. There are numerous victory conditions and NONE of them are EXPLAINED. It's a game based on building the biggest space empire possible yet if you expand you are BRUTALLY PUNISHED with DISAPPROVAL. Why? Um, because people don't want to be part of a large successful empire?????? You can "Choose" eight factions, only there are no choices beyond the selection. You are stuck with a horrible generic race portrait, and cannot choose any variants skill sets from the set-piece. All the science choices in the game unlock a vast number of system enhancements yet only a few of these, such as the one that allows travel through wormholes, are actually worth getting. And while there are dozens of "possible" play styles and victory conditions offered. All of them are a waste ot time, as the AI cheats and will beat you on even the easiest difficulty setting, and by huge margins if you waste your time hunting for an 'economic' science' or 'wonder' victory. The best and only way to come out on top in this game is find an ally and go to war. attack the other factions as soon as you can, develop as many war-techs and build as many ships as you can afford and destroy everyone else. When your enemies are dead betray and attack your ally. Diplomacy and trade in this game and undeveloped and joyless. The tech tree is a vast forest of useless distractions giving you literally hundreds of ways to improve your planetary systems which will be lost if you can't fight to hold them. Endless Space seems to have the makings of a good game. And it may get there with more patching and playtesting. For now you can summarize how much fun this is to play by the facts visible in the steam achievment screen: Less than 12% of gamers who bought this game have played more than 10 turns of it. They were the wise ones who quit while they were ahead. After 300 turns in 4 lost games I still can't figure out how it is the AI be trading tech or whatver it is they are doing behind the scenes that gives them such massive score boosts, such superiority in all development areas and such massive fleets. Something is wrong with this game. At present it is more frustrating than enjoyable, and it needs, if nothing else some kind of INSTRUCTIVE tutorial that actually illustrates the principles of winning. As a side note, I actually love the combat card system. The game gets many things right and could be sublime if the developers either explain how to play better, or re-code it to support the less aggressive victory types… Expand
  19. Jirekianu
    Jul 6, 2012
    5
    The game is alright. It has a few flaws that are pretty glaring. One is the combat mechanic. It's a rock/paper/scissors guessing game. Even vast gaps in strength between your fleet and the enemies don't matter if you pick poorly even once. Another flaw seems to be the AI for planets. At least half a dozen times I'll select an AI for upgrading a certain facet of a system's planets. NotThe game is alright. It has a few flaws that are pretty glaring. One is the combat mechanic. It's a rock/paper/scissors guessing game. Even vast gaps in strength between your fleet and the enemies don't matter if you pick poorly even once. Another flaw seems to be the AI for planets. At least half a dozen times I'll select an AI for upgrading a certain facet of a system's planets. Not only are there colonized planets/locations with no exploitations (one of the most basic construction items) but some have irritating problems. I had an AI on a system set for approval increase. I had three different approval increasing improvements available thanks to research and for what turned out to be 12 turns it did literally nothing. There are a few others, but suffice to say the game has a combination of buggy AI and poorly tested combat.

    An example of one of the worst battles I'd been in. Each engagement is a preliminary phase where you pick abilities, then you have long, medium, and melee range phases of the fight and then an epilogue thing and it's over. All automated. I picked -one- bad choice where the enemy had countered me. My fleet was an effective military score of about... 9200 or so. The enemy? 2100. If not a little less. Not only did I lose, I didn't even make it into the second phase of combat. All of my ships destroyed. Barely one of theirs dinged up. I would put this to a horrible RNG fluke. But similar (though not quite as bad) defeats have happened at least a half dozen more times in only the first 4 or 5 hours of me playing this game.

    I'd advise on waiting for a steam sale or a major patch to purchase this. I feel a bit cheated now and that I should have waited.    … Expand
  20. Admiral_Awesome
    Jul 11, 2012
    6
    The first couple of hours playing this were great, but it gets kind of stale after a while. The technology tree is only maximising existing stats even further (no new Weapons to be unlocked. no new building options besides building more and better stuff of the same type you already got) and the pretty nice graphics are hiding the missing depht of this game.
  21. TheBank
    Jul 9, 2012
    7
    This is a rating for how the game is now, and not how I hope it will be. Endless Space is a great game if you have time, patience and a love for strategy. There are a few things I don't like about it, such as the combat system (the fact that a space battle would always have both sides follow the battleplan of getting closer to each other is absurd), but if you're a fan of paper scissorsThis is a rating for how the game is now, and not how I hope it will be. Endless Space is a great game if you have time, patience and a love for strategy. There are a few things I don't like about it, such as the combat system (the fact that a space battle would always have both sides follow the battleplan of getting closer to each other is absurd), but if you're a fan of paper scissors rock, you might like the battle system. A lot of people will praise the UI of this game, I would say its good, but some more information could be displayed without having to change tabs. One thing I absolutely would love is if the game would tell you if an exploitation of a planet was cued up rather than saying "no exploitation" on the planet, then you check to see if you have an exploitation for the planet cued and go "oh yes, I do" this process requires too many steps and slows down the game for everyone. The games interface almost tries to make you have to select every single information tab during a turn, but really some more information could be displayed on the main galaxy view, just to save some players time. All in all this game is good, solid, and I'm glad I bought it.… Expand
  22. ianx50
    Dec 21, 2012
    6
    I felt this game could have used more micromanagement. Most similar to Master of Orion III. I played both Master of Orion two and three, and while MoO II was an excellent game, 10/10 would play for the rest of eternity, MoO III fell short. Why? No micromanagement. Same thing goes for Endless Space.
  23. Minowara
    Dec 2, 2012
    7
    A good 4x game for long winter nights, but with a disappointing card-based combat game play unfortunately. Perfect technology tree, nice graphics and good planetary management system.
  24. Yazah
    Aug 15, 2012
    7
    I'd really like to give this game a 7.5.

    This is not the best 4x game I've played and it seems to be lacking in some areas (combat) and has generally low customizability (compared to Galactic Civilizations and others) and become rather boring at higher levels of game play. However, as a pre-order player, I was very impressed by the responsiveness of the developers which seems to    I'd really like to give this game a 7.5.

    This is not the best 4x game I've played and it seems to be lacking in some areas (combat) and has generally low customizability (compared to Galactic Civilizations and others) and become rather boring at higher levels of game play.

    However, as a pre-order player, I was very impressed by the responsiveness of the developers which seems to matter more and more. They are very dedicated to creating a quality experience and I'm sure it will get better with time.

    I like this game and it had some neat ideas and implementations (resources, for example), but it is lacking in ways that reduce my desire to keep playing it and I've found myself returning to older classics instead.    … Expand
  25. KHAAANNN
    Jul 17, 2012
    7
    This was an enjoyable game, but I agree with other reviewers that it lacks depth or much replay-ability. The designers did an amazing job creating an intuitive interface that streamlines much of the micromanagement that inevitably is necessary in these types of games and I was able to pick up the fundamentals quickly based on past experience with "4x" games. The developers suggest thatThis was an enjoyable game, but I agree with other reviewers that it lacks depth or much replay-ability. The designers did an amazing job creating an intuitive interface that streamlines much of the micromanagement that inevitably is necessary in these types of games and I was able to pick up the fundamentals quickly based on past experience with "4x" games. The developers suggest that additional updates will provide new features, so perhaps soon then we'll finally have a worthy successor to Master of Orion. Until then, you'll get a few great hours of enjoyment with this one.. well worth the $30 or so.… Expand
  26. Necrotaur
    Dec 19, 2012
    6
    I came into Endless Space expecting something like Civilization meets Sins of a Solar Empire, and... well, I don't know what I got. It plays very similarly to Civ in that it's turn based, has a tech tree, and you direct your 'civ' through their first steps into colonizing other planets, but that's about where the similarities end. The biggest surprise for me was finding battles are foughtI came into Endless Space expecting something like Civilization meets Sins of a Solar Empire, and... well, I don't know what I got. It plays very similarly to Civ in that it's turn based, has a tech tree, and you direct your 'civ' through their first steps into colonizing other planets, but that's about where the similarities end. The biggest surprise for me was finding battles are fought through a 'card' system as opposed to something more tactical. Perhaps it was a bad assumption on my part, but it's not mentioned in the game description and the screenshots seem to indicate otherwise, so it's something to be aware of. The rest of the game (tech tree, economy, even ship designing) is pretty shallow once you get past the technobabble. Researching Xenobiology sounds cool the first time, but soon you'll realize about 3/4 of the entire tech tree just give +1 to a particular stat in a star system, and research loses a lot of shine. The biggest disappointment: 90% of the game is spent staring at the galaxy map clicking 'end turn'. On the plus side, graphics during the combat portion are pretty nice, and I enjoyed the random events which pop up from time to time. So, I don't know, Endless Space isn't bad, but then again, it's not all that great, either.… Expand
  27. UnDeAdOvErLoRd
    Aug 21, 2012
    6
    So when i first played this game i was lost with no idea what to do very little in terms of a tutorial. First game i thought i was doing good then when i went to the score screen i was in last place on normal difficulty. So i looked up on-line to find some techniques to help me out and after implementing them it seems this game only has one real way to play it successfully. Other ReviewersSo when i first played this game i was lost with no idea what to do very little in terms of a tutorial. First game i thought i was doing good then when i went to the score screen i was in last place on normal difficulty. So i looked up on-line to find some techniques to help me out and after implementing them it seems this game only has one real way to play it successfully. Other Reviewers don't like the Rock Paper Scissors aspect of the combat it was a nice break at first but after many battles it was whoever had the better research. A really powerful pair of scissors can cut through rocks and so on. I did like this game but i know there is better out there somewhere.… Expand
  28. omniste
    Aug 20, 2012
    7
    Given the proliferation of bug ridden 4x strategies recently, Endless Space is worthy of commendation. The game represents a smooth, polished example of the genre. First impressions reveal a well built game with ample humor and character in the tool tips and design choices. Sadly, this experience does not continue throughout the game. Ship design is limited, with little real freedom otherGiven the proliferation of bug ridden 4x strategies recently, Endless Space is worthy of commendation. The game represents a smooth, polished example of the genre. First impressions reveal a well built game with ample humor and character in the tool tips and design choices. Sadly, this experience does not continue throughout the game. Ship design is limited, with little real freedom other than equipping lots of the most recent module. The combat likewise is limited. Although employing an innovative 'cards' system which allows bonuses and counter reactions, combat is automated and largely a case of the biggest, best armed ships winning regardless of strategy. Repeated playthroughs will find little real character or differentiation in this game. Overall an enjoyable but bland game which bears future potential dependent on post launch added features.… Expand
  29. refdxf
    Jul 10, 2012
    5
    Another title claiming to be the heir to Master of Orion 2. I buy every title that claims to be that heir. I guess it's my fault, I should just go play that game.
  30. Chomag
    Dec 3, 2012
    7
    It's an indie game. Ofcourse it has little to no voice-overs or amateuristically done at best and the quality is low to mediocre. I wish people would stop buying indie games only to whine about the lack of depth and quality.
  31. Remainz
    Oct 10, 2012
    6
    Fun, but needs a lot more work to be worth the $30 I put into it. I guess we will see how the three major updates they promised change the game.
  32. rant
    Oct 15, 2012
    7
    It's a fun, straight-forward 4x space strategy game, with a great UI. The developers seem motivated to keep improving the game, too. Not a classic, and not a must-have, but also not a bad way to spend some time.
  33. Boltfrowah
    Feb 28, 2013
    7
    Played this game recently and it wasn't too bad. I agree that there is a bit of lacking in the depth area, both in content as well as the races. The combat system was a bit redundant in that I grew quickly tired of the same battle cutscenes time and time again. The tech tree is just all over the place. And the AI pose little to no threat on a consistent basis. While this game did have somePlayed this game recently and it wasn't too bad. I agree that there is a bit of lacking in the depth area, both in content as well as the races. The combat system was a bit redundant in that I grew quickly tired of the same battle cutscenes time and time again. The tech tree is just all over the place. And the AI pose little to no threat on a consistent basis. While this game did have some potential, it's replay-ability was pretty much in the shallow end.… Expand
  34. Cailore
    Jul 17, 2013
    5
    It is a pretty game, until it crashes, and it will.

    The "strategy" is next to non-existent as you try to out spread AI players in an endless slog of waiting after pushing the "end turn" button.

    So very much wasted potential, doesn't live up to the Master of Orion comparison.
  35. Triggerhappy
    Dec 1, 2012
    6
    The current installment is decent and fun to play. If you are looking to colonize space, research futuristic techs and design your own battleships, this is definitely worth the money. It has little to no storyline and very little "flavour", tho, and feels a bit too cold - I would say that it lacks a little grit that old masters like Alpha Centauri or Masters of Orion had. But it still hasThe current installment is decent and fun to play. If you are looking to colonize space, research futuristic techs and design your own battleships, this is definitely worth the money. It has little to no storyline and very little "flavour", tho, and feels a bit too cold - I would say that it lacks a little grit that old masters like Alpha Centauri or Masters of Orion had. But it still has good, distinct feel to it and a very decent soundtrack. Negatives include linear gameplay - there really is only one winning strategy, despite multiple "victory types", repetitivness of tasks (all systems colonized need to have nearly the same basic structures build, in the same order), pointless diplomacy options (all are worthless) and a lack of any voiceover. I can't help it, but I would love to have some narrative and voiceovers incorporated.… Expand
  36. vence
    Dec 23, 2013
    6
    Boring game, you are supposed to lead your civilization into the galactic age searching for some ancient race or something but everything is so abstract you just don't care anymore after a few turn and you just keep playing like a zombie, even fighting use a paper-rock-scissor system to resolve battles and you can not witness your mighty battle steeds clashing in glorious battle
  37. Ajdino
    Oct 22, 2012
    6
    As nice as the game is in looks, it's a very difficult game to enjoy. Even on the easiest difficulties, I find my race always in last place, eventually being wiped out. Nothing is more torturous than a game you can't win. Other then difficulty, it's an alright strategy game. The music is good, as well as the climatic battle scenes. The graphics are beautiful. If you've ever scene theAs nice as the game is in looks, it's a very difficult game to enjoy. Even on the easiest difficulties, I find my race always in last place, eventually being wiped out. Nothing is more torturous than a game you can't win. Other then difficulty, it's an alright strategy game. The music is good, as well as the climatic battle scenes. The graphics are beautiful. If you've ever scene the camera work for Battlestar Galactica, it's just like that. Multiplayer is a failed concept. Turn based multiplayer is an absolute bear.… Expand
  38. Slackerboy
    Oct 22, 2012
    7
    This game was so close to being a classic game but fell short on a number of bugs and lack of polish. I can not tell you how disappointing it can be to play a 20 hour long game and at long last when you win what happens? A simple pop-up that says y"You win!"

    That's it. It would have been worth at least 1 more point to have had something at the win/lose of a game beyond 2 words. The    This game was so close to being a classic game but fell short on a number of bugs and lack of polish. I can not tell you how disappointing it can be to play a 20 hour long game and at long last when you win what happens? A simple pop-up that says y"You win!"

    That's it. It would have been worth at least 1 more point to have had something at the win/lose of a game beyond 2 words.

    The other major issue was with the lack of information, too many parts of the game just had to be tried to find out what they did and many I still do not really understand despite having over 40 hours into the game.

    Still it is a nice twist on the 4x games and was a lot of fun, with a little patching this game could be an easy 9.    … Expand
  39. Latrec
    Sep 13, 2012
    6
    An cap of a space rts game, if only to fall short on the mark.. This game features ruling ruling solar systems, space fleets, and heroes. Unfortunately the lack of random events, indepth diplomacy or strategic battleplay or actual planetary system management makes this game somewhat bland. You'll find urself ignoring food production or public happiness and seeking merely to boostAn cap of a space rts game, if only to fall short on the mark.. This game features ruling ruling solar systems, space fleets, and heroes. Unfortunately the lack of random events, indepth diplomacy or strategic battleplay or actual planetary system management makes this game somewhat bland. You'll find urself ignoring food production or public happiness and seeking merely to boost production/economic output. Your space battles will be fun at first, but will quickly turn to a repetitive "damn i have to sit through another one..." as it is purely cinematic, unskippeable and there is a lack of tactical mobility. You'll find yourself trying more to figure out/research your tech tree than actually playing an rts game. With a few patches this game could quite likely become something to talk about, but up to this point its not.… Expand
  40. Jintoss
    Oct 26, 2012
    6
    The card-based combat is an interesting idea that could have been executed much better. As it stands, there are two ways to approach combat. You can gamble with your fleets which is not a good idea because you will need them as AIs will get very aggressive as soon as your borders meet (the AI has a knack for suddenly exploding in military despite the most retarded planet managementThe card-based combat is an interesting idea that could have been executed much better. As it stands, there are two ways to approach combat. You can gamble with your fleets which is not a good idea because you will need them as AIs will get very aggressive as soon as your borders meet (the AI has a knack for suddenly exploding in military despite the most retarded planet management ever...), which they will always because you either expand or get overrun. Or the better choice is to just ignore the combat mechanic entirely and just focus on outnumbering (ships per fleet, not overall - that would be impossible) and just steamroll through fleet after fleet loosing only a few ships. Then switch your weapon tech when they adapt (AI is very slow at adapting). Almost trivial.

    In the end, all the components of a good 4x seem to be in place, but it just doesn't 'balance out' in the end. And the game becomes either trivial or frustrating. Still could be fixed with some balancing of techs, introducing some AI (I wouldn't call the current computer oppenents 'intelligent' at all, just abusive of difficulty bonuses - raw resources for them, and approval penalties for you, what joy!) and a rework of the combat.

    TLDR: Another promising 4X game that misses the mark entirely. You will either figure it out the game-breaking strategies quickly and grow bored, or will give up trying.    … Expand
  41. MannyUK
    Oct 14, 2012
    7
    A good modern remake of the classic game STARS! in my opinion. This is a typical 4X game (eXpand, eXplore, eXploit, eXterminate). Turn based games bring back the nostalgia of the 90's and so does this one, it made me dig out the original CD for STARS! and install it with dosbox to compare. They are both good but i think STARS! edges it with the extra depth. Good graphics, they remindA good modern remake of the classic game STARS! in my opinion. This is a typical 4X game (eXpand, eXplore, eXploit, eXterminate). Turn based games bring back the nostalgia of the 90's and so does this one, it made me dig out the original CD for STARS! and install it with dosbox to compare. They are both good but i think STARS! edges it with the extra depth. Good graphics, they remind me of the ships from EVE. Brilliant interface, very smooth and easy to work. Makes the learning curve a little less vertical.

    I would reccomend it to kill a few nights but not varied enough to make me go back for more. I got about 20 hours out of the game.    … Expand
  42. KingMob4313
    Aug 23, 2013
    7
    Possibly the best successor to Master of Orion 2, even better than Galactic Civilization 1.

    ...If it didn't completely fall apart in the last half of the game. The game is very easy to master and best even on the highest difficulties. The game is in serious need of balancing (Favors expansion far too much) and the tech tree provides too little bang for your buck. Still, if you're    Possibly the best successor to Master of Orion 2, even better than Galactic Civilization 1.

    ...If it didn't completely fall apart in the last half of the game. The game is very easy to master and best even on the highest difficulties. The game is in serious need of balancing (Favors expansion far too much) and the tech tree provides too little bang for your buck.

    Still, if you're looking for your x4 fix and you've completely exhausted MOO2 and you find the humor makes Galactic Civ 1 feel too lightweight for you, this might be your game.    … Expand
  43. suneater
    Dec 26, 2012
    7
    4X turn-based strategy with a focus on economy & tactics. The music is very immersive and changes based on where you are in the game (planetary view, shipyard, etc.). Combined with the crisp, clean visuals the devs have found a way to make the sterile menu navigation somehow not boring. Sadly this charm can only last so long since most of the game is spent digging through menus trying to4X turn-based strategy with a focus on economy & tactics. The music is very immersive and changes based on where you are in the game (planetary view, shipyard, etc.). Combined with the crisp, clean visuals the devs have found a way to make the sterile menu navigation somehow not boring. Sadly this charm can only last so long since most of the game is spent digging through menus trying to balance your empire on a see-saw. The biggest graphical disappointment is how "flat" the galaxy feels; there are eye-catching planetary views when zoomed into a star but from above it feels like playing a board game. Although there is combat, there is an "Auto" mode that lets you pre-load commands so many battles end up playing themselves. Even with the wealth of tooltips, many basic game features are hard to grasp, such as the seven victory conditions. The devs have been working hard to improve the game but the current tutorial is really barebones and is basically popup screenshots that explain things that the tooltips already show.

    Endless Space is a highly customizable sandbox in space that offers you many unique ways to conquer the galaxy (or not at all; you can disable all victory conditions). A work in progress worth picking up if you can handle the difficulty and steep learning curve.    … Expand
  44. TacSmasher
    Oct 29, 2012
    6
    Endless Space is a dumbed down version of the strategy classic Galactic Civilisations II. You dont even get better graphics, compare the old graphics of 'GalCiv' with this and GalCiv wins every time. If you are one of those people scoring it a 10 then go get a copy of the aforementioned game (I think you can still get it as a digital download) and be prepared to be astounded by theEndless Space is a dumbed down version of the strategy classic Galactic Civilisations II. You dont even get better graphics, compare the old graphics of 'GalCiv' with this and GalCiv wins every time. If you are one of those people scoring it a 10 then go get a copy of the aforementioned game (I think you can still get it as a digital download) and be prepared to be astounded by the gameplay and combat cut scenes. (yeah more than a little has been taken by Endless Space from that old Classic - unfortunately not enough). I give Endless Space a score of 6 because its at least a step towards satisfying my desperate need for a good successor to GalCiv II.… Expand
  45. madmax55
    Nov 9, 2012
    5
    Wouf.
    Seemed to be a funny game. Amount of playing time won over the fun I had. Mysterious technology tree, mysterious conditions to win. Sometime you play for 10 hours and the computer suddenly annouce you that you have lost even if everythings was looking like if you were heading to win. At a moment I faced some agressive pirates and when I finally get rid of them, I had two planet and    Wouf.
    Seemed to be a funny game. Amount of playing time won over the fun I had. Mysterious technology tree, mysterious conditions to win. Sometime you play for 10 hours and the computer suddenly annouce you that you have lost even if everythings was looking like if you were heading to win. At a moment I faced some agressive pirates and when I finally get rid of them, I had two planet and my neighbours 20 ! another lost game and few suggestions to do better. If you choose an easy way, you will overcome and destroy any ennemy. If you choose the hard way, the ennemy arrive with unbeatable armada. I had like to find the middle way.    … Expand
  46. Efferkongen
    Nov 15, 2012
    6
    As much as the research is nice, the game is horribly slow. I have given it several chances because I really want to like the game, but it just has boring combat and a limited A.I system, plus the lack of story mode is to bad.
  47. billybobdiddly
    Jul 19, 2013
    7
    Started off with a lot of potential. Felt a lot like a space-based Civ V, in a good way. I liked it. I was just getting into it when the battles started. That's when it began to unravel for me. The battle system for individual battles is OK, I get how it's supposed to work. But there isn't a way to defend your territory. Enemy ships get to blow by my fleet like it's not even there. So, IStarted off with a lot of potential. Felt a lot like a space-based Civ V, in a good way. I liked it. I was just getting into it when the battles started. That's when it began to unravel for me. The battle system for individual battles is OK, I get how it's supposed to work. But there isn't a way to defend your territory. Enemy ships get to blow by my fleet like it's not even there. So, I have to cover every one of my planets with large fleets to defend them, meanwhile endlessly chasing the enemy around? Lost me at that point.… Expand
  48. Fyrestorm3
    Dec 31, 2013
    5
    It's not a bad game, per se, but the learning curve is astronomical (pun intended). There's also a distinct lack of in-game information; the tutorials do a good job of explaining what all the buttons do, but leave out so many crucial pieces of information that you'll constantly find yourself Googling what should be basic questions about the game. It would have been nice to know that theIt's not a bad game, per se, but the learning curve is astronomical (pun intended). There's also a distinct lack of in-game information; the tutorials do a good job of explaining what all the buttons do, but leave out so many crucial pieces of information that you'll constantly find yourself Googling what should be basic questions about the game. It would have been nice to know that the "wavy" planetary connections are wormholes, and require advanced technology to navigate, or that ships only repair themselves when in combat or in friendly territory.

    The in-game notifications and tooltips don't help much, either. It's so hard to determine exactly what you'll unlock when choosing what new technologies to research; the tech tree explains what things are just fine, but it has serious trouble telling you what they do. This extends to all facets of the game. Nothing seems intuitive; instead, it all seems designed for someone already familiar with the gameplay. This is a major problem, because the game has so much to do, and so much to understand, that new players absolutely need their hands held during their first few games. It's primarily for this reason that I found myself absolutely unable to get into the game.

    There's some minor gameplay issues as well (the combat is fairly unimaginative), but overall, it plays fine... if you know what you're doing. Exploring the galaxy is plenty of fun, but be prepared for some serious trial-and-error and many moments that will leave you scratching your head and/or Googling for an answer. If you're looking for this kind of strategy game, I'd recommend Civilization V instead.    … Expand
  49. timujin
    Mar 10, 2014
    7
    Bottom Line:
    if you are looking for a game that has a beautiful package you will enjoy this title.
    if you are looking for a game with depth / challenge this one is not for you. p.s. there is the multiplayer option i hadn't played Pros: -Graphics -Plenty of options to randomize the generated universe or your race -Replay-ability -GUI is fluent and of great design Cons    Bottom Line:
    if you are looking for a game that has a beautiful package you will enjoy this title.
    if you are looking for a game with depth / challenge this one is not for you.

    p.s. there is the multiplayer option i hadn't played

    Pros:

    -Graphics
    -Plenty of options to randomize the generated universe or your race
    -Replay-ability
    -GUI is fluent and of great design

    Cons
    -Unsatisfying combat
    -After 10 hours of game-play the O.S.T might annoy you.
    -Poor AI
    -Poor Balance, some tactics / weapons etc.. much more powerful / useful then others
    -You will not feel much room for decisions. some times you will find yourself just clicking end turn button until you win.

    On normal difficulty level, i won several times just by building the right building according to the planet / system researching the cheapest tech each time and attacking the weakest AI neighbour. Basically the AI is so bad, and there is so little strategic depth to this game that by following several rules of a thumb a cat can beat the AI.

    On higher difficulty level, AI gets bonuses, to overcame them you will need to look for the OP weapons / techs / race bonuses to win. Meaning your choice of tactics narrows to 20% of the OP things out of all what the game has to offer.    … Expand
  50. snowbert87
    Dec 12, 2014
    7
    Endless Space is a capable turn based strategy and civilization game that suffers from late game boredom. Every time I come back to this game and get started I'm excited about my racial features and exploration. mapping the galaxy, forming new colonies and growing in the different development trees is fun. The game boasts enough complexity to make my choices matter, without being soEndless Space is a capable turn based strategy and civilization game that suffers from late game boredom. Every time I come back to this game and get started I'm excited about my racial features and exploration. mapping the galaxy, forming new colonies and growing in the different development trees is fun. The game boasts enough complexity to make my choices matter, without being so confusing that I spend all my time looking stuff up on forums and wikis.

    The goal of the game is to achieve victory through, economic, exploration, population, diplomatic, militaristic or natural wonder conditions. Different species are more suited to different victory conditions and have strengths and drawbacks that give depth and meaning to my choices. These victories all center on reaching new star systems and colonizing planets. Each planet based on it's planet type and what each player constructs on it will support the empire differently. There are about 10 types of planets and some planets have positive or negative attributes associated with them. For instance a planet might have acid rain which decreases food production or it might be mineral rich increasing money generated from factories on the planet. I have also been excited to find some rare specific planets that have wonders on them like a giant living tree or a polar workshop. These special planets are rare and most galaxy's (game boards) only have 1 of each type. The exploration and colonization of galaxies is definitely the game's, strongest and for me, most enjoyable aspect.

    Endless Space looks pretty good however the graphics are primarily a 2D game board with ships moving like pieces on it. The star system and planet UI is straight forward and accessible to use. The ship battle cut scenes are out of place. they felt unnecessary and too drawn out for my taste. In ship to ship combat you can pre-select orders for each of the 3 battle phases and then see the results which skips the cut-scenes. It was rare that my choices during ship battles felt very meaningful. I either had a lone colonization or explorer ship that I immediately retreated with, or I had a bunch of warships that defeated whatever they came across. Perhaps I didn't draw enough militaristic enemies in my different play-throughs of the game, but other ships never changed how I played my games.

    My biggest concern with the game is that one victory condition seems to be more easily attainable than all the others. The economic victory is a simple matter of achieving X gold based on how big the galaxy is and how many players there are. Other victories force players to endure the long task of completing entire discovery trees, or the slow monotonous over taking of the galaxy which requires tens of turns per star system to do. The diplomatic, scientific, wonder and expansion victories are all much harder to complete than the economic or supremacy victory.

    Endless Space did allow me to tailor each game to only allow for certain types of victories to actually count. In fact I can customize almost every part of the game before it starts. There was a little piece of me that really didn't want to change how victory came because I felt like it was a way of turning the difficulty down. I won't say that this issue ruined the game for me, but ti took me a while to get over and is why I think this game is more of a 7 and less of a 9.    … Expand
  51. Vorpal_SF
    Dec 29, 2014
    7
    I had high hopes for Endless Space, since the space-based 4X genre is my favorite. The game ended up leaving me a bit disappointed. It's good, I guess, but really feels limited. It marries a well-executed strategic empire management game to a paper-thin tactical space combat engine. To be honest, the space combat seems like an idea that just didn't succeed, so the developers threw in theI had high hopes for Endless Space, since the space-based 4X genre is my favorite. The game ended up leaving me a bit disappointed. It's good, I guess, but really feels limited. It marries a well-executed strategic empire management game to a paper-thin tactical space combat engine. To be honest, the space combat seems like an idea that just didn't succeed, so the developers threw in the visuals because they'd already done the work. If this was the space combat they envisioned from the start, I really wonder why they bothered. The "manual" combat mode leaves you basically as an observer with almost no control over the battle once it's begun (other than ordering a retreat that, due to the mechanics of the game, would almost certainly come too late to be useful). The combat mechanics are disappointing as well. While you get to design your ships (a must for any game in this genre, IMO) the design choices are really only reflected in the power ratings for your ships, So, all your research basically just increases the numbers a ship has, but not its play style or tactics. The tactics themselves are basically a set of rock-scissors-paper decisions (beam-projectile-missile and long-medium-short range). They only play into the game pre-battle, when you pick tactics. So, the tactical combat basically just ends up being empires throwind ever-larger stacks of ships against each other to compare numbers and have one side win.

    The strategic game is better, but except for the setting (a universe in which a powerful elder race came before you and left ruined wonders) it's basically like every other space game. The developers seemed to want to create variety through many different playable races, but they all basically play the same, so it doesn't work.

    All in all, it scratched my sci-fi 4X itch for a while, though not particularly satisfyingly. The 7 I'm giving it is pretty soft, but I did play through several times on escalating difficulty levels, hoping for more depth and challenge (I never found it). It treads the same path as Master of Orion, though not quite as well. For my money, if you want a space-based 4X game, the gold standard is the indie series "Space Empires". SE is not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the best combination of a strong strategic game with a functional tactical one.    … Expand
  52. GolovA
    Jun 19, 2018
    7
    Good 4X.

    Although if you are not waging war, gameplay becomes somewhat boring, since you cannot overtake Star System any other way, such as through influence.

    Good 4X.
  53. dinin70
    Feb 10, 2016
    7
    Oh my god... I decided to step in after reading so many negative reviews of people losing in Medium Difficulty (go back to Civilization 5 pleaaase) or playing in Easy (do you really excpect challenge in easy?)

    The game is for me a 7. Pros: I've never seen a game providing you such a wonderful user friendly interface. It's is incredibly well done. Even with 30 systems, and LOADS of    Oh my god... I decided to step in after reading so many negative reviews of people losing in Medium Difficulty (go back to Civilization 5 pleaaase) or playing in Easy (do you really excpect challenge in easy?)

    The game is for me a 7.

    Pros: I've never seen a game providing you such a wonderful user friendly interface. It's is incredibly well done. Even with 30 systems, and LOADS of armies, you can quickly see everything that is going on and plan you moves according to the situation. This is where it clearly crushes Galactic Civilization in which, at later game stages, you were completely overrun by a ridiculously high number of armies and systems to manage in an unfriendly manner. A bit like in Civilization IV, where at later stage, you have TOO MUCH of everything.

    This is really where Endless Space excels: the interface, I repeat myself I know, is well made that you could have 100 systems and 100 fleets, and even if you are overwhelmed of information, you can quickly figure out what to do, and, most importantly, you do it quickly and easily.

    But make no mistake, this is NOT an easy game and requires you a very high degree of thinking.

    The game however falls TOO short in two aspects:

    1. combat is just awful. You can customize your ships very easily and create armies based on the strategy you want to follow and it's GREAT on that side. But once the battle starts, it's really a rock-paper-scissors that anyway has a few impact on battle... Pitty... It's better no doing anything, engaging the battle and see how it goes (like in Civilization). Anyway in Endless Space 2, combat system looks GREAT.

    2. this is the worse part: IMMERSION is ZERO!!! While Endless Legend provides a great immersion, one of the best I ever saw side by side with Dominions, Endless Space looks completely empty... You don't feel in ANY way connected to your empire. As Total Biscuit says, the game is well made it is fade... What do I mean: you pick up a Race, you play a certain strategy and all races are different enough and provide a different gameplay experience. The "Play" is different, yes, but the "Feel" is non existent... No images; no architecture whatsoever, ships barely different on Map (in battle you don't really care)...

    PLEASE ADD SOME FEELING!!    … Expand
  54. NathanAllen
    Mar 13, 2015
    5
    It's not terrible, it's not good. That basically sums it up. Three years later and some basic features still not implemented . Influence is just there so you can waste research points until you figure out there's no real need for it. No real espionage. There are still typos in some descriptions and the tutorial. Just doesn't seem like a fleshed out 4X. It's enjoyable only because IIt's not terrible, it's not good. That basically sums it up. Three years later and some basic features still not implemented . Influence is just there so you can waste research points until you figure out there's no real need for it. No real espionage. There are still typos in some descriptions and the tutorial. Just doesn't seem like a fleshed out 4X. It's enjoyable only because I got it cheap.… Expand
  55. zombiechan
    Feb 11, 2015
    7
    I find it to be a good turn based space strategy game. Though I couldn't get most of my friends to pick it up, I did enjoy playing against the AI.

    The combat mechanics are interesting, but can't say I'm a huge fan of it. I wish this game had the same combat as Endless Legends.
  56. Muramas
    Oct 13, 2015
    5
    Good intentions but a bad game.

    The game looks pretty but certain UI elements work against itself with ships not being clickable at times or unresponsive. The AI is pretty aggressive and can do stuff that you cant such as move ships in your area but you can't do the same (no notice of war prior to move) and high levels of micromanagement that doesn't give much feedback than the popup    Good intentions but a bad game.

    The game looks pretty but certain UI elements work against itself with ships not being clickable at times or unresponsive. The AI is pretty aggressive and can do stuff that you cant such as move ships in your area but you can't do the same (no notice of war prior to move) and high levels of micromanagement that doesn't give much feedback than the popup notifications at end of turn.

    The Bad
    -Combat falls on its face with a interface that has good intentions but ends up being difficult to use, best fleet trumps all type of battle style.
    -Needing to go into each planet to change its custom setting, change planet type or remove negative traits.
    -When research or building is done and queue is empty the game will not do anything to notify you.
    -Moons are mostly useless
    -Influence is useless
    -Luxury Resources are a bit confusing
    -Mood (purple buildings) have such a huge impact on the production, either they are building slow or everyone is 100% happy. This needs more of a happy medium.

    The good:
    -Being able to remove negative planet traits was nifty idea.    … Expand
  57. DuhDude
    Mar 29, 2019
    6
    One problem with this game that I never see mentioned is the OP human v. AI when it comes to battles. You somewhat get to pick which of the AI ships you want your ships to target, which is great, but you also get to pick which of your ships you want the AI to target, which is weird and completely unfair. You can just have 2-3 tank ships in every fleet that are loaded with nothing but hitOne problem with this game that I never see mentioned is the OP human v. AI when it comes to battles. You somewhat get to pick which of the AI ships you want your ships to target, which is great, but you also get to pick which of your ships you want the AI to target, which is weird and completely unfair. You can just have 2-3 tank ships in every fleet that are loaded with nothing but hit points, repair modules, armor, and defenses while all of your other ships can just be bristling with weapons since they never need to worry about being shot at.… Expand
  58. Tomicsavo
    Feb 17, 2020
    5
    It was free. I don't like sci-fi so much, but it's good.-------------------
  59. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    7
    Fun 4x game with a great fantasy to sell but ultimately falls short feels limited. Cinematic battles are cool but ultimately finnicky and hard to get a grip on. planet development is good but feels... limited for an interstellar civilization

Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Best PC Game of 2012
36
#36 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
60
#60 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 36
  3. Negative: 1 out of 36
  1. GameOver.gr
    Feb 12, 2013
    70
    What it lacks in storytelling and script it gains in gameplay and in the way it can get awfully addictive.
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  2. Gamer.no
    Oct 27, 2012
    80
    This is a fun and addictive space strategy game. It doesn't quite have the character of Master of Orion 2, but it offers intelligent gameplay, smart opponents and plenty of fun while you build your interplanetary empire. Well worth trying, for both hardcore and casual strategy gamers.
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  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 14, 2012
    83
    Master of Orion still retains its throne, but Endless Space with its enticing atmosphere and fluid gameplay is one of the best 4X games in recent years. [Sept 2012]
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