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Abe Sargent · 07-24-2006, 11:37 AM

Here, we are, in my lunch break, and the thing on my mind? Game number 28 on our countdown. Incidentally, I've edited the previous posts to add in the game developer, which I'm going to include from now on. At number 28, here's a game from a company many of you love and remember fondly:

28. Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares
PC
MicroProse
1996
GameSpot Review - 8.7
4X

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2

At its height, MicroProse was a legend of strategy games, and this will not be the only game from them to make this list. Ten years old, and Master of Orion II still stands out as the best strategy space game ever developed. It outscales all competitors from Galatic Civilizations and GalCiv II to Space Empires IV, Master of Orion III, Fragile Allegiance, and more.

Master of Orion II was legendary for being one of the best games around when it came to giving players options. From building your own race from scratch to outifitting ships with the weapons and equipment that you want, MOO2 really gave a player a lot of cloth to weave with.

Like several previous games, Master of Orion II was a weaving of two seperate games. The basic game was a strategy game where you colonized planets, issued build orders, developed new technologies, dispatched fleets, signed up leaders, accumulated taxes and tariffs, and more.

This created a lovely Civ-like space game that was tons of fun. It was balanced with some interesting tidbits. Namely, Orion itself, a star system in every galaxy with an amazing plant, just waiting for your ship to arrive, but guarded by the aptly named Guardian of Orion. And then there were those Antareans, nasty enemies of the people of Orion who are hopping from their dimension to yours, and you can build a Dimensional Transportal and hop over to their world and kick their ass. Other flavorful thigns included space monsters, especailly a space worm that would blockade a star system until you killed it, and if left alone long enough, would spawn other space worms that headed off to other systems. There were also Space Crystal monsters and Space Dragons. Pirate Caches in some systems rewarded the first one to find them with treasure. It was a wonderfully done game.

Can anyone else remember the sheer frustration that a Hyperspace Flux caused? That random event stopped all interstellar movement from occuring. It was nasty.

The other half of the game was when two fleets met up and began combat, you swiched to a combat screen where you moved your ships like chess pieces across the starry plane and fired weapons, missles, interceptors and various rays, including one ray that would actually spin an opposing ship.

Master of Orion II is really the grandchild of Sea Battle, and I hope you can see that. Both have an overview strategy map, where you duke it out strategically, and then both move to a battle front where you fight it out with ships, either in space or sea.

Master of Orion II is an amazing game that is still great to play today. I found my old disc, installed the game on my XP, downloaded the most recent patch, and then played the game again. No slow programs, no cheats, and no problems.

I know that MOO2 has a few problems. Once you understood the game, you could buld a broken race (Creative, Democracy, +1 research). Although, I personally swear by Subterranean and Large Home World as absolute requirements (which gives you twice the starting size HW as other races).

Still, the game has stood as one of the greatest strategy games of all time, and the space game all others are measured by.

-Anxiety

07-24-2006, 11:37 AM	#9
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	Here, we are, in my lunch break, and the thing on my mind? Game number 28 on our countdown. Incidentally, I've edited the previous posts to add in the game developer, which I'm going to include from now on. At number 28, here's a game from a company many of you love and remember fondly: 28. Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares PC MicroProse 1996 GameSpot Review - 8.7 4X http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2 At its height, MicroProse was a legend of strategy games, and this will not be the only game from them to make this list. Ten years old, and Master of Orion II still stands out as the best strategy space game ever developed. It outscales all competitors from Galatic Civilizations and GalCiv II to Space Empires IV, Master of Orion III, Fragile Allegiance, and more. Master of Orion II was legendary for being one of the best games around when it came to giving players options. From building your own race from scratch to outifitting ships with the weapons and equipment that you want, MOO2 really gave a player a lot of cloth to weave with. Like several previous games, Master of Orion II was a weaving of two seperate games. The basic game was a strategy game where you colonized planets, issued build orders, developed new technologies, dispatched fleets, signed up leaders, accumulated taxes and tariffs, and more. This created a lovely Civ-like space game that was tons of fun. It was balanced with some interesting tidbits. Namely, Orion itself, a star system in every galaxy with an amazing plant, just waiting for your ship to arrive, but guarded by the aptly named Guardian of Orion. And then there were those Antareans, nasty enemies of the people of Orion who are hopping from their dimension to yours, and you can build a Dimensional Transportal and hop over to their world and kick their ass. Other flavorful thigns included space monsters, especailly a space worm that would blockade a star system until you killed it, and if left alone long enough, would spawn other space worms that headed off to other systems. There were also Space Crystal monsters and Space Dragons. Pirate Caches in some systems rewarded the first one to find them with treasure. It was a wonderfully done game. Can anyone else remember the sheer frustration that a Hyperspace Flux caused? That random event stopped all interstellar movement from occuring. It was nasty. The other half of the game was when two fleets met up and began combat, you swiched to a combat screen where you moved your ships like chess pieces across the starry plane and fired weapons, missles, interceptors and various rays, including one ray that would actually spin an opposing ship. Master of Orion II is really the grandchild of Sea Battle, and I hope you can see that. Both have an overview strategy map, where you duke it out strategically, and then both move to a battle front where you fight it out with ships, either in space or sea. Master of Orion II is an amazing game that is still great to play today. I found my old disc, installed the game on my XP, downloaded the most recent patch, and then played the game again. No slow programs, no cheats, and no problems. I know that MOO2 has a few problems. Once you understood the game, you could buld a broken race (Creative, Democracy, +1 research). Although, I personally swear by Subterranean and Large Home World as absolute requirements (which gives you twice the starting size HW as other races). Still, the game has stood as one of the greatest strategy games of all time, and the space game all others are measured by. -Anxiety __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 05-01-2022 at 10:15 AM.