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

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  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.
prev
Page:

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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
  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]
See all critic reviews »