Master Of Orion 2God games are so limiting. I don’t want to mess with mere cities or planets - I want to rule the galaxy! Fortunately, I am not alone in my dreams of empire, and there have been several excellent titles over the years that put you in charge of mighty armies and awesome space fleets. The most successful of these was Master of Orion which came out in 1992, and though you could only play it against the computer it remained the one to beat.
What better to challenge its supremacy than Microprose’s long-awaited sequel, Battle At Antares - better known as MOO2. Existing players will find it instantly familiar - perhaps a bit too familiar. Although it now boasts SVGA graphics, a variety of multiplayer options and works under Windows 95 and DOS, it lacks the multimedia pizzazz of most contemporary games - there are almost no video clips, the battle sequences are visually unappealing and the sound effects and music quickly become monotonous.
But the original wasn’t popular because of its graphics - like Civilization, MOO’s appeal was the balance all would-be emperors have to strike between resource building, exploration, diplomacy, research and straightforward conquest. To that mix, it added a profusion of spaceship weapons with special characteristics and the opportunity to play a chess-like space combat against the computer.
MOO2 offers more new options at almost every level than we can describe here, and while a few of them (like having multiple colonizable planets at each star on the map) seem to add complexity without helping game play much, the rest have clearly been added after much play-testing and feedback from gamers. For example, players of the original game could amass huge star fleets over time, which made it hard to keep track of all of the ships and made the battles rather impersonal. Now ships cost more, there are strict limits to the number an empire can control, and there are mercenary "heroes" you can hire with special abilities, so losing even a single battleship can be a serious blow.
Even with a greatly improved online help feature it can take weeks of play before you feel you have mastered it, which some may find frustrating. If you’re after a real challenge, though, few games can match it, and ask yourself this - how many other games these days can keep your interest for that long?
System Requirements: 100MHz 486 or better (Pentium recommended), 8Mb of RAM (16Mb with Windows 95), double-speed CD-ROM, 75Mb of free HD space, SVGA graphics card
Contact: Microprose