For a game this complex, the brief tutorial texts and videos don't do very much at all. The developer's recommend that you read the manual in order to learn about the game, which also doesn't help you learn it. The game does not offer any campaign mode. There are some scenarios, but the majority of your game play will come from the custom game mode. Once you become more familiar with whatFor a game this complex, the brief tutorial texts and videos don't do very much at all. The developer's recommend that you read the manual in order to learn about the game, which also doesn't help you learn it. The game does not offer any campaign mode. There are some scenarios, but the majority of your game play will come from the custom game mode. Once you become more familiar with what you have to do to succeed, Sword of the Stars becomes addictive, no matter what the settings you have chosen. There are so many technologies to research, and so many modifications to make to your ships. This is an incredibly difficult game. It takes many, many tries to understand even the basics of the game. Perhaps I don't have the right strategy, but I am far from winning anything in this game. There are some very serious bugs. The End Turn button often breaks, and does not allow you to end your turn. The only way to continue playing is to quit to the main menu and reload an auto save. In addition, the news ticker often glitches, not allowing you to scroll it, or flickering the news in a way you can not read it. Sometimes, even if you click the auto-resolve battles button, the game takes you into battle micromanagement, which is a really serious problem. The artwork looks amateurish at best, reminiscent of children's cartoons from the 1980s. The voice acting is poor, with forced accents and distortions for every race. These voices often bombard the player with repetitive mutterings in what feels like a constant barrage of voice sounds. Thankfully, you can mute them. No matter what I try, or what strategy I implement, I am never successful. It's like nothing ever works. I've read guides, the wiki, forums, and asked for advice. Nothing worked for me, or helped me be more successful. The game is quite unintuitive and the learning curve seems inappropriate, badly thought out, and impossible for me to go through. Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection seems like an okay game, with its share of problems, and a learning curve that is not for the faint of heart. This game is too complicated for its own good. Other classic 4X games were never this complicated and unfriendly. Games like Sid Meier's Civilization, Master of Orion, and Master of Magic were extremely straightforward and enjoyable from the very beginning. Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection is not a good 4X game.… Expand
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