StarDrive 2

 PC
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 105 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 105
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 105
  3. Negative: 38 out of 105

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  1. Baldonus
    Apr 6, 2016
    5
    The game is good, with unique mechanics from StarDrive 1. Unfortunately, game experience is often ruined by bugs, fleet battles that go at 1/2 fps even with a good pc setup, and shows a game that is now tested.
    From the concept, I like it, from the execution, it's far from a professional game on Unity, game crashes often.
  2. theirrelephants
    Mar 7, 2016
    6
    Better than the first game, still not nearly as good as it could have been. It's trying to be a successor to Master of Orion, and it keeps getting closer and closer with each game - but it still isn't there yet. He also seems to have a problem with actually finishing his games, releasing them well before promised features are implemented - and then NEVER IMPLEMENTING THEM (thats why it'sBetter than the first game, still not nearly as good as it could have been. It's trying to be a successor to Master of Orion, and it keeps getting closer and closer with each game - but it still isn't there yet. He also seems to have a problem with actually finishing his games, releasing them well before promised features are implemented - and then NEVER IMPLEMENTING THEM (thats why it's a 6 instead of a 7).

    The actual game play was improved over the first one... buuuut, the AI is still pretty bad (but better than in the 1st game) and UI is better.

    You will see people in the reviews complaining about tough AI. Ignore them, they are bad at the game. The AI is only tough on your first run through. After that, you should be able to beat it on the 2nd hardest difficulty with only few to moderate problems. Following that, beating it on the hardest difficulty is pathetically easy.

    Spoilers: Build missile ships. The AI's laser ships will never get within range to hit you, making battles stupidly lopsided in your favor. I was consistently destroying massive armadas with a handful of ships.

    The worst part was the attempted humor by whoever wrote the galactic robot/news guy. Holy crap was that irritating and cringe worthy. I hope the developer fire whoever did that, or alternatively hire someone who can actually write if he did it himself.    … Expand
  3. psycros
    May 8, 2015
    5
    Stardrive 2 starts out with the enticing possibility that it really is a modern answer to MOO/MOO 2. It doesn't take very long to discover this isn't quite the case. The AI isn't just ultra-aggressive but also cheats more than just about any game in recent memory. Forget about winning - its impossible to even keep pace with the computer. And that's on the "easy" setting. Many aspectsStardrive 2 starts out with the enticing possibility that it really is a modern answer to MOO/MOO 2. It doesn't take very long to discover this isn't quite the case. The AI isn't just ultra-aggressive but also cheats more than just about any game in recent memory. Forget about winning - its impossible to even keep pace with the computer. And that's on the "easy" setting. Many aspects of the UI are vague and difficult to figure out as well as lacking polish and even the most basic of "smart" features. There are all sorts of side missions that recruited NPCs offer but they require playing an annoying turn-based tactical game ala Front Mission or X-COM..but at least you have a chance of beating them if you're careful. That's about the only victory you can hope to see in Stardrive 2 past the first couple of random encounters with space crystals or pirates. Even the galaxy maps aren't very friendly. If you have multiple fleets around a star its sometimes impossible to click on one of them because they display in the exact same position. There are a fair number of rough edges all round. Want to start a game with a custom race? That's a crashin'. Actually winning a space battle in hands-on mode (i.e. non-auto combat)? That's a crashin' more often than not. All that having been said, this is still an impressive effort from a small indie developer. The game probably just needs a bigger team and about another six months in the oven. The devotion to the 4X perfection of MOO2 is hugely appreciated and I have hopes that Stardrive 2 will be made playable in the near future. Right now its a bit of a mess. Sidenote: there's some bathroom language in at least one NPC dialog which seems totally out of place in a game like this (and most games, if I'm honest).… Expand
  4. Zanteogo
    Apr 19, 2015
    6
    This game is a mixed bag.

    It's not a bad game, but I find it's a game with missing potential. The graphics are nice, the UI is crisp. The game shines with space combat. However, it's lacking in many other areas. The game is way too war and combat focused. If you want to build an empire and have mostly peaceful relations with a war or two mixed in, this is not the game for you. Not    This game is a mixed bag.

    It's not a bad game, but I find it's a game with missing potential. The graphics are nice, the UI is crisp.

    The game shines with space combat. However, it's lacking in many other areas.

    The game is way too war and combat focused. If you want to build an empire and have mostly peaceful relations with a war or two mixed in, this is not the game for you. Not yet anyhow.

    All the systems in place are designed to make you, sooner or later, to be at war with most of the galaxy. Diplomacy has some base flaws, once the AI starts to dislike you, you can never really build up any sort of relations. Every AI will start to dislike you at some point, thanks to an over harsh expansion relations penalty. The AI will also start sending colony ships to take the toxic "useless" worlds in the middle of your core space. This puts giant holes in the middle of your empire that will frustrate you to no end. You are left with no real options but to declare war and take these worlds from them. (and further increasing your "expansion" penalty) The AI can for some reason fly around your core space and you can do nothing but go to war. (while the AI is able to attack you without going to war in THIER core space...)

    Another annoying flaw is that, though the AI does not cheat with production and research at normal difficulty level, the AI does play by special rules. It can see the whole galaxy from the start, it has special rules that apply to it's borders, and other strangeness.

    I do give the sole programmer of this game credit, he has been patching this game like mad since release to remove the (fairly limited) number of bugs and to balance the space combat. I really hope he turns his attention to make the game more "open" to other play styles rather than the "attack everyone!!" style all my games have forced me into.    … Expand
  5. Eysteinh
    Apr 17, 2015
    6
    This review is after 1 week of playing. The game very much captures the spirit of Master of orion 2. However it is lacking some features of that game like: Hall of fame, Score and end game victory conditions and MP. What it improves upon MOO2 is the diplomacy system (due to tolerance), different designs for different races (albeit not very balanced), a real time combat system in a turnThis review is after 1 week of playing. The game very much captures the spirit of Master of orion 2. However it is lacking some features of that game like: Hall of fame, Score and end game victory conditions and MP. What it improves upon MOO2 is the diplomacy system (due to tolerance), different designs for different races (albeit not very balanced), a real time combat system in a turn based game and finally the races feel much more unqiue than the MOO2 races. Overall I have had good fun with the game and it is worth its price point so I give it a score of 6/10. With expansion packs fixing the missing features this game can easily become a 8-9 or even 10/10.… Expand
  6. ConstantineXI
    Apr 15, 2015
    7
    This is a review of SD2, not SD1. I fully understand the frustrations over SD1 since I played it through development and release. SD2 does not feel like a full sequel to me due to the limited time in development between the two titles and the large amount of reused assets.

    That said, this is a good space 4x game that should please fans of the genre. I have played almost every 4x game    This is a review of SD2, not SD1. I fully understand the frustrations over SD1 since I played it through development and release. SD2 does not feel like a full sequel to me due to the limited time in development between the two titles and the large amount of reused assets.

    That said, this is a good space 4x game that should please fans of the genre.

    I have played almost every 4x game ever released, and many of the modern crop, including many of the more recent space 4x games. SD2 is easily the best of the modern space 4x games from the last few years, and certainly stands in the company of other top space 4x games. It has the majority of features expected of the genre. It has wonderful graphics and sounds. It includes tactical space and ground combat. It features some new and innovative ideas that are new or uncommon in the genre. While many of these features have rough edges, there is really no reason for this game to be getting a bottom tier score. It is a far more complete experience than most of the other recent space 4x games.

    There have already been several balance patches, and I expect more to come. The mod scene is also getting moving, which should help expand the game. If Zero continues to refine the game, and expands it a bit with some additional content, then SD2 will clearly be a top tier space 4x. Once the base game is improved a bit, there is even room for DLC and expansions, which I would be willing to pay for (assuming the base game is fixed this time, unlike SD1).

    My favorite parts of the game:
    - Instanced combat. I liked the liveliness of SD1's real time galaxy, but I greatly prefer the turn based strategic layer, which feels far less frantic and twitch-focused. Ground combat is also greatly improved by having a separate mode.
    - Exploration / Experience. The universe feels interesting, with plenty of different surprises to be found. This could be improved with a larger amount of content so that you don't see the same storyline missions every game.

    Things to improve:
    - Diplomacy. There are some good systems in place, but it still lacks some basic options.
    - Victory conditions. This is very limited and forces you to play for conquest. Really needs some other paths to victory.

    I'm far more excited about this game than Galactic Civilizations 3, which looks to be far less exciting and innovative than SD2. Hopefully it will sell well enough for Zero to keep improving it.    … Expand
  7. Rellin
    Apr 13, 2015
    6
    I would not recommend this game at this time. Ship design has been dumbed down with much less flexibility and therefore much less depth. You can not determine the directions face as an example, it is based on where the weapon is located on the ship. The new "instanced" combat windows where battles take place are much less fun and strategic than the first version of this game.I would not recommend this game at this time. Ship design has been dumbed down with much less flexibility and therefore much less depth. You can not determine the directions face as an example, it is based on where the weapon is located on the ship. The new "instanced" combat windows where battles take place are much less fun and strategic than the first version of this game. Performance is still extremely terrible during large late game battles. Racial hull sizes are not balanced by any inherent bonuses to smaller hulls, therefore the races with the largest hulls that can fit the most stuff on them are the strongest. In addition, "command points" limit the number of ships you can field and races with smaller ships of the same class, e.g. Battleships, for two given races where one is much larger than the other still cost the same amount of command points to field. I feel like most of the random map generation settings, which are limited in the first place, are largely non-functional. If you choose an ultra-fertile galaxy, you will not find it to be ultra-fertile, but still largely barren and uncolonizable. The game does not save your previous game settings, so if you are like me, and restart until you get a good starting system, it takes many click and slider adjustments to restart the map over and over.

    I may change this review later, but because Zer0, the only dev for this game, abandoned development of the previous title, Stardrive 1, before the performance was fixed, multiplayer was added, and other unfinished quests and bugs, I have little hope that this game will ever meet my expectations. I wish I had not bought it.

    All that said, it is decent, not terrible or great, but decent, but I would recommend something else instead such as GalCiv3 which I am sure will be much better than this upon release.    … Expand
  8. LittleHooah
    Apr 13, 2015
    6
    I won't be as radical as the fools that vote a game 10/10 or 0/10 but i'll be fair. If you played and enjoyed SD1 you'll be probably disappointed, a lot.

    The main problem of the game is that (as 1.00 release) it still unfinished: an UI that misses a lot of crucial infos, a very basic and lacking fleet control, a very basic and lacking ship building (totally dumbed down and "nerfed" in    I won't be as radical as the fools that vote a game 10/10 or 0/10 but i'll be fair. If you played and enjoyed SD1 you'll be probably disappointed, a lot.

    The main problem of the game is that (as 1.00 release) it still unfinished: an UI that misses a lot of crucial infos, a very basic and lacking fleet control, a very basic and lacking ship building (totally dumbed down and "nerfed" in respect of SD1), an extremely controversial diplomacy and much more. Every game that you play you find things that shouldn't be there or, more commonly, should be.

    I recommend to buy it 6 months from now. That's a beta not a release game. Maybe this time we'll get a multiplayer (not included now) ? Or the Dev is gonna dump even this game to work at SD 3 ? We'll see.    … Expand
  9. Koblihozrout
    Apr 12, 2015
    6
    It's basically a Master of Orion 2 clone, but it's worse in pretty much every aspect, except maybe combat. It only made me want to play MoO2 again, for it's better UI, less tedious micro demands and better game design depth.

    The game is playable, the AI is not disastrous (as is very common for 4x genre), but it feels like early raw alpha version. It feels like it was released year too    It's basically a Master of Orion 2 clone, but it's worse in pretty much every aspect, except maybe combat. It only made me want to play MoO2 again, for it's better UI, less tedious micro demands and better game design depth.

    The game is playable, the AI is not disastrous (as is very common for 4x genre), but it feels like early raw alpha version. It feels like it was released year too early. Shame I would really love a good MoO clone.    … Expand
  10. FurballHer0
    Apr 10, 2015
    7
    I've got about 7 hours in so far,

    As a veteran of Imperium galactic series, Galactic Civ, and SD1 as well as a few others I have to say StarDrive 2 holds its head up high among its piers. the gameplay is fresh yet familiar. I have to admit I was leery of the new turn based system but in the scheme of things it makes sense and it's a welcomed addition. Currently I've restarted the    I've got about 7 hours in so far,

    As a veteran of Imperium galactic series, Galactic Civ, and SD1 as well as a few others I have to say StarDrive 2 holds its head up high among its piers.

    the gameplay is fresh yet familiar. I have to admit I was leery of the new turn based system but in the scheme of things it makes sense and it's a welcomed addition.

    Currently I've restarted the campaign 3 times as I wrap my head around some of the new mechanics and because my poor human civilization was blasted to death by alien scum - which means either I'm terrible at this game or it's hard, which is awesome!.

    The graphics are beautiful, especially the way space combat looks, the planets are all awesome looking as well, the new hex system and fresh.

    The mechanics of researching and building your fleet is pretty much the same as SD1, which is a good thing.

    Space combat is enjoyable and satisfying, nice big explosions and a slow motion mode too! One gripe I have in space combat is that weapons don't lead targets, they aim at where the target was, not at its expected position. Missiles don't turn to intercept targets instead they make weird turns trying to catch up to it... it all feels very unnatural and I hope it's addressed in a patch.

    When it comes to planet colonization, the variety of planets is massive making the whole experience of picking and choosing where you want to focus the new seeds of your civilization as engaging as it is important.

    I like the way they've handled the freighters. Moving food and colonists around really saves us from a lot of the needless planetary micro from SD1. However freighters are not controllable, combine that with the smaller fleet caps and it makes it difficult to protect freighters when your main fleet is off attacking or exploring, they will literally fly directly at an enemy and suicide themselves. We should be able to control freighters, either directly or give us the ability to force them to dock at the nearest planet until the enemy fleet is taken care of.

    Fleet Caps: I really don't see the point of fleet caps. Since each ship has an upkeep cost which in itself is the fleet cap, to compound that with an additional cap to me seems redundant. I like the idea of the fleet cap but instead of having it give you a monetary penalty, it might be more interesting if it gave you a penalty to ships rearm and repair rate, maybe even a damage dealing reduction to ships. Reasoning being they just aren't receiving the maintenance they should.

    Ground combat. The research and upgrades aspect of it is well thought out and implemented however the actual ground combat is meek, it needs a re-tune. If it would have followed in the footsteps of Fallout 2 or X-COM it would have been amazing! But currently, weapons have a hard limit of minimum and maximum ranges,

    Covert Ops: Works similar to the first one, but different enough to be fresh, that being said I think it needs a re-tune. I have 5 spy's doing counter espionage which is the max and I'm still getting tech stolen from me every few turns, which is really quite frustrating. Perhaps remove the spy caps for home defense?

    Spatial anomalies, these are quite fun and new, really enjoying them so far and is a very welcomed addition.

    Interface: interface is well designed, lots of tooltips and the information is easy to understand and readily available in most circumstances. A few gripes I have, on the planetary screen, when cycling from planet to planet via the arrows - every time you click to go to a different planet, the arrows location move to a slightly different spot, making cycling planets in this way annoying, and dizzying. If a fleet is hovering over a planet, the planet under the fleet becomes un clickable, there's also a few other minor annoyances that needs that little bit extra polish.

    Overall, StarDrive2 is an engaging experience and I will surely play many more hours of it as I attempt to conquer the universe however as much as I like it, it's not quite there yet. everything seems 70-80%. It just needs one more good thick coat of polish to make this game really shine.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Jun 14, 2015
    82
    Close to greatness, needs an end game. Like the original Galactic Council. [June 2015]
  2. Everyeye.it
    May 29, 2015
    70
    If you like 4X strategy, this might be very interesting. It lacks multiplayer, but it makes up for it with many customizing options for single player games. Sometimes it lacks balancing, but the gameplay is still very compelling.
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  3. Gamer.nl
    May 17, 2015
    70
    Stardrive 2 is a pretty good turn-based science-fiction RTS. An extensive tutorial takes you away to a fantastic milky way where you are a galactic colonist. At times, this game does not seem to lead anywhere, but with AI that acts up and awesome but difficult battles, Stardrive 2 challenges you and your strategic side to the max.
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