4X-meets-real-time-strategy game Sins Of A Solar Empire 2 will finally launch on Steam this summer, Stardock and Ironclad Games have announced, a couple of years after going into technical early access on Epic Games Store. I loved the first Sins and so did Kieron Gillen (RPS in peace) whose 16-year-old review dwells appreciatively on the spectacle of cruisers and frigates bouncing to hyperspace on the very edge of a solar system. We don't seem to have written about the second one - time to change that, I guess. Here's the Steam release announcement trailer.
]]>Earlier this month, we asked you to vote for your favourite strategy games of all time to celebrate the launch (and glorious return) of several strategy classics this month, including Relic's WW2 RTS Company Of Heroes 3, Blue Byte's The Settlers: New Allies and Cyanide's fantasy Warhamball Blood Bowl 3. And cor, I've never seen such love for individual expansions and total conversion mods among mainline RTS games and 4Xs. As with all strategy games, however, there can only be one victor - and you can find out what that single strategy game to rule them all is right here. Here are your 50 favourite strategy games of all time, as voted for by you, the RPS readership.
]]>I remember when it were all Sins of A Solar Empire [official site] 'round these parts. Couldn't move for Rossignols and Gillens talking about spaceship real-time strategy/4X games. Over eight chuffing years later, oh God I am so old, Ironclad and Stardock's space management'n'war-em'up is still going strong. It was reinvigorated with the shinier Rebellion expandalone in 2012, which has just now received new, criminal empire-focused DLC that also includes a slew of new maps.
]]>In the grand scheme of MOBAs, Ironclad's Sins of a Dark Age is quite the bold thing. AI directors, random rule-rewriting quests, and other RPG-influenced, flow-shattering shenanigans? This certainly isn't DOTA 2.5 or Assortment of Apologues, and it's not trying to be. But at one point, it was doing its damndest to be so much more. Unfortunately, the RTS-style base-building and commanding didn't pan out, and Ironclad scratched them almost entirely. But according to studio director and co-owner Blair Fraser, his MOBA's retching rejection of all things RTS is indicative of much larger problems for both genres. One, he argues, is on its death bed, and the other could be following suit if it doesn't start blazing new trails.
]]>I tend to lose my sense of connection to science fictional narratives once they get into the realm of prophecies and pseudo-deities, so the idea of a return to the Mass Effect universe that's only about the neat spaceshippy stuff and none of the Circle Of Destiny soapboxing appeals enormously. Frinstance, this unofficial mod for the TIGHT space strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire which plans to recreate the Normandy and its multi-species chums' war against the Geth, Collectors and Reapers.
]]>Stardock and Ironclad Games send word that the final phase of their Sins Of A Solar Empire: Rebellion beta is now underway, and have immortalised that event with a YouTube'd trailer, which you can see below, along with the main trailer. The pre-orders for the new version of the game get you access to the beta, of course, and you get $10 off if you own the original game. I have to say I am quite excited about Rebellion, which arrives June 12th, because even though it is essentially a standalone expansion, it's as close as we're going to get to a sequel to the original RTS, which consumed a huge chunk of my time when it hit four years ago. Rebellion, with a huge suite of options derived from the previous mini-expansions, and new visuals, is certainly going to get my attention.
]]>It was with profuse apologies that I entered the demo room for Sins Of A Dark Age. "No, I haven't, I'm sorry," I said meekly when asked if I've played Sins Of A Solar Empire. Am I familiar with RTS games then? "Er, sorry, no," with more looking at my shoes. DOTA? "Barely... Look, I'm the wrong person for this, okay. But see: I'm good at taking information and writing it in an entertaining fashion." But here's the thing - by the end of my time watching the game being played, I rather wanted a go.
]]>We've not heard much about the Sins of a Solar Empire expandalone/quasi sequel Rebellion since it appeared on the radar back in March. Today though Stardock sent over a couple of images (below) showing how the graphical overhaul will shiny-up the ships from the original game to give the new game a good dose of polish. And they are at least 25% shinier, according to my Pixelshaderised shinometer. Of course Sins of a Solar Empire has been expanding and overhauling aplenty (and with stuff that matters to the game) since the 2007 release, and became far more interesting to play after the Diplomacy pack. Rebellion gets to build on this with new factions, new ships, and of course the whole rebellion theme - factions will be splinter off the main factions to create "rebel" and "loyalist" sub-factions, which in turn makes the conflict all the more hectic. With that and some AI improvements, well, we'll be looking forward to it. Still no release date for Rebellion, but apparently it will be digital download only. Convenient for some, as Sins is now on Steam.
]]>Nothing kickstarts a grim Northern day quite like a bit of digital retail news. It's the stuff that really gets my blood pumping and makes me realise how much I love this land called Interactive Entertaindom. You may remember that Impulse, the download service previously operated by Stardock, was purchased by Gamestop earlier this year. This led to some gnashing of teeth but the ski slopes of Hell remained out of commission.
Now, Sins of a Solar Empire has appeared on Steam, leading me to visibly flinch this morning as if reality had fallen out of joint. It hadn't. Explanations below.
]]>Stardock might have broken a few hearts with the whole Elemental launch fiasco (for which they recently offered a remarkably earnest mea culpa), but it's clear they're still well aware what's important. Specifically, an epic comeback for Sins of a Solar Empire, the space strategy game that got RPS's hive-heart all a-flutter back in 2007. It is to return, in the form of standalone expansion pack Rebellion. Immediately standing out in the list of planned features is "New Titan-class ships: Massive warships for each race that dwarf capital ships, these deadly new monsters are capable of wiping out entire enemy fleets single-handedly."
Massive. Dwarf. Deadly. Monsters. Single-handedly. These are all mighty promising words. These, truly, are words of space war.
]]>Aha! I knew I had downloaded something interesting and then forgotten about it. That something, I now realise, was Diplomacy, the latest expansion for Sins Of A Solar Empire. It came out last week, and I had a nagging feeling there was something I was meant to be playing... just couldn't put my finger on it. Anyway, it looks a lot like this expansion finishes off the SOASE experience, with a range of political options for this real-time space strategy - envoys, pacts, missions in multiplayer. Rather than wait for another week for me to get around to playing a full game, I thought I'd open it up to you lot. Who's playing it? Any thoughts on worthiness of the new features?
]]>As much as I dislike the beta-access for pre-order trend, this is one case in which I'm sorely tempted to just slap down the cash. Sins Of A Solar Empire's second expandy update thing, Diplomacy, will open its beta (currently in progress) to anyone who pre-orders via Impulse. It requires the original game and Entrenchment to play, but I have been playing the crap out of Entrenchment over the past few weeks. Diplomacy pretty much adds everything I've been lusting for in the 4xRTS, which means diplomatic tech tree, diplomatic ships, and a host of other non-violence options for your Solar Empire. The problem of course, is that I haven't really got time to be playing another reinvigorated RTS. Anyone else's finger hovering over the button?
]]>If I were making a trailer for the brilliant Sins Of A Solar Empire I would definitely show the best feature in the game: the extraordinary long zoom from space craft out to solar map. It's the kind of camera wizziness that puts Supreme Commander to shame. It's the thing that makes the game as impressive as it is. Instead, the new movie for the expansion, Entrenchment, shows off the exploding spacecraft, and their laser combat. That's all good stuff, but it's not the crux of the game. Come on trailer-making folks, let's see genuine game footage. We're all gamers here.
]]>For the fourth game of Christmas my true blog gave to me…
]]>We know how much you love to conquer the universe. So with that in mind we're delighted to be able to give away five copies of the excellent real-time interstellar space war strategy, Sins Of A Solar Empire. As you'll recall from our previous discussions, this is a game that we'd definitely recommend people buying, so we'd triply recommend entering a competition to win a copy. Honestly, you might as well click through to the details.
]]>Good news for Europeans who are a bit wary around Digital Downloads - Stardock have announced that they've found someone with the good sense to bring Sins of a Solar Empire to retail in Europe, the Middle and Far East. Kudos to Kalypso Media for doing the decent thing and taking our money. The press release says that it'll be for £29.99 (Or 39.99 Euro-poundies) and "will contain an additional bonus of six exclusive maps, a techtree poster and a comprehensive manual". Late May/Early June is promised, though there's no set date yet set. Until then, probably a good time to re-read our RPS Sins of a Solar Empire verdict. Yes.
]]>Kieron: Ready? Jim: Ready. Kieron: Okay. I stick on Mogwai Fears Satan, as it's the most piece of SPACE WAR music I have to hand. And let's consider Sins Of A Solar Empire, the game people are literally calling “Sins Of A Solar Empire”. It's a Space-based RTS from some guys who we mainly know for Homeworld Cataclysm, published by the guys who made Gal Civ 2. As the lineage may suggest, it's an enormous Space War game which mashes a load of Gal-Civ-esque elements into a more traditional RTS. I've played it since the Beta. What about you, Jim? Jim: Hmm, well I tend to go for more Lustmord when in spacewar. I like that alien-thunder in the depths of space vibe, plus I'm secretly a goth from Manchester. Anyway, I've been playing the game since it arrived on my desk a few weeks ago.
]]>Excuse me if I whoop and perhaps punch the air, but I am uncharacteristically over-excited by the announcement that RPS' favourite space RTS of the moment, the gigantic and enthralling Sins Of A Solar Empire, is going to get an expansion pack. Wired are the couriers of this splendid news:
]]>Just in time for the weekend, Stardock have released a Sins of a Solar Empire demo. Just over 38-Peggles in size, it includes the tutorials, a couple of pre-generated small maps and a randomly-generated medium one (Allowing up to two and three AI opponents respectively). Its' limited to ninety minutes of play. Get it from here, and read my review and our interview with Ironclad to remind yourselves why you should give it a shot.
]]>This'll make you feel all fuzzy-warm inside. Sins Of A Solar Empire, Stardock's mighty, but somewhat under-the-radar, space RTS, was the second-best selling PC game in February, according to omni-analysts NPD.
Yeah, we already knew it was doing well. Nonetheless, it looks really strange in there, coolly trumping all yer chart-mainstay Warcrafts and Simses and Orange Boxes - it's like seeing Art Brut on Top of the Pops.
Stardock reckon that's only half the story, as NPD doesn't include digital downloads - which constitute "most sales of Sins of a Solar Empire thus far", apparently - nor does it include copies bought in Walmart. "Unofficial tallies we've received internally put Sins at #1," they say. Good work, those men.
]]>Eurogamer's put up my review of Ironclad's Space-epic RTS up on their fine organ. I start like this...
]]>Yesterday, the first big strategy game of the year slid out of its space-dock. Sins of a Solar Empire, which we've talked about previously (In short: Space Woo!) and will be reviewing shortly. But we need more! Born Journalistic Pirates, we boarded the celebratory cruise-vessel of Stardock and cornered Ironclad's Producer and Lead Designer, Blair Fraser, and Stardock's CEO and President Brad Wardell to prise away our desired booty. That is, talk about the game, their future plans and the surprising and somewhat disappointing reason why it doesn't have a UK distributor yet...
That, and absolutely no more over-elaborate analogies beyond the cut.
]]>I truly wish I had more spare time right now, because I really want to sink a few days of solitude in Sins Of A Solar Empire. Kieron and I have been blasting away at the beta and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. For me it gets the enormity of space battle just right - with the capital ships standing out as these vast, BattleStar-styled monoliths of space power. It's the kind of thing that my other space-love, Eve Online, generally falls down on. For a taste of why I'm finding Sins so satisfying, take a look at this trailer:
]]>In celebration of Sins of the Solar Empire going gold, Stardock release a set of shots from the final build, pictures of the box and general office stuff. This includes - I quote - "Stardock's "wall of synergy" covered with concept art for next major 4X game...". Which looks like this!
]]>As always, we are two nations divided by a common language. Despite being online and PC gaming for a clear decade, my first reaction to hearing anyone say 4X is to think of cheap Australian Lager rather than the ol' explore, expand, exploit, exterminate of strategy games. Doesn't make me love them any less, of course. This is one. But it's different. How to describe it? Oh, let's be cheap and nasty. Since Sins of a Solar Empire is being published by Stardock, even though it's being developed by the Sierra/Take2/Rockstar alumni at Ironclad, let's imagine the stunning Galactic Civilization 2, but in real time.
Before you play it, you may think that a little overwhelming. And, from my experiences in the Beta, you'll be right. Just that it's in an "overwhelmingly exciting" sort of way.
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