Endless Space 2 is a grand space strategy game, in the 4X genre. Recently, a new wave of space-set games has been released and announced, ES2 included. When I first launched the game, I was expecting a real time, space set, grand strategy game similar to Stellaris. Instead, I received a turn based, beautiful universe more in line with Civilization. I must say, I was not disappointed by this surprise.
Welcome, Recruit!
First launching the game, I’m greeted by an ominous music, similar to that of Halo. The menu is clean and well organized, and the screen it rests on is already showing off the game’s beauty before I was even playing. Starting my first game, I was greeted with the option to select a tutorial level. Unlike many other games where tutorials are hidden, Endless Space 2 feels more welcoming to new players right off the bat. Playing the tutorial on the average depth, the game explained all the game mechanics as I encountered them naturally through play, rather than shoving them in my face at once, and I found that I actually learned better this way. The game mechanics seems very straightforward and easy, but there is a surprising amount of depth.
The basic idea of the game goes as so: you lead a galactic civilization, and must expand, conquer, and manage your colonies. This is exactly what you do, and there’s no section of the game I ever felt I could just ignore or leave alone. There’s multiple ways of winning, such as military, economy (which I won by), science, and more. Personally, I felt as if military conquest seemed almost useless, at least in my play through. It may be because of the difficulty setting I chose, but I ended up extremely isolated (with the other 3 A.I. being very near each other). However, overall I had fun exploring the galaxy, meeting the minor civilizations (one-system empires which can be assimilated), and colonizing my own systems.
A Broken Gem
Endless Space 2 is very well executed, as previously mentioned. At first launch, and as I played it, it however had many technical issues. The game is very beautiful and play is fluid, all wrapped in a streamlined U.I. However, the bugs could be overwhelming for some. One particularly annoying one I encountered was a bug related to the tutorial. The ship-building menu, new military-class ships are designed(as the only pre-designed ones received are scout class) was locked, and no matter what I did I could not access it until I closed the tutorial, permanently. While this allowed me to design the military ships I desperately needed to fight off invading pirates, it also prevented me from learning certain mechanics perhaps as well as I could have.
The other major issue I encountered was late game performance. As I neared the mid to later sections of the game, time to process the turns reached upwards of 10 seconds. This may not seem like a lot, but over the course of hundreds of turns, it certainly added up. Some gameplay oriented issues I had came in the form of the A.I. themselves. Often they would demand things of me or threaten me, but do nothing of the threat if I declined. Their decisions seemed rash and their mood changed randomly, but yet they seemed almost passive.
A Hidden Value
Even with so many issues, the game certainly has its pros. It’s very beautiful, sometimes feeling as if I was looking at an actual galaxy. The game is full of technologies to unlock, ships to design, and planets to customize. It features a government system, with certain actions I did contributing to the party voted in and laws unlocked. All ships can be fully customized, even those of special Hero characters unlocked throughout play. Heroes can be given different traits as they level up, benefiting either a fleet they lead or a system they manage.
I felt the control it gave me over certain areas was great, especially over my navy, as I could adjust them to fight certain enemies who were more prone to certain tactics. The mechanics and visuals are there, but it’s simply missing the technical quality that a triple A game should have. The developers have been quick on fixing many of the issues, but it seems to be too little to late for many players who have already given up on the game. Even though I greatly enjoyed playing, technical issues hold the game somewhat back.
3,5/5
Reviewed for PC.
