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Master of Orion

Master of Orion

With the reboot of Master of Orion, Wargaming is shooting for the stars.

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Belarusian company Wargaming is doing well. And by well, we mean very well. Riding on the dizzying success of World of Tanks and its spin-offs, the studio is expanding their focus and diving into games that are unrelated to historical armed conflict. Their first venture in this direction takes aim at the stars, as they are rebooting the venerable Master of Orion series with a very promising effort.

Master of Orion is a complex strategy game that revolves around exploring, expanding, exploiting and exterminating the galaxy, its inhabitants and their resources. It's the kind of game that's difficult to describe in broad strokes, as every detail is involving. You typically start the game on the edge of the galaxy with very few resources available. From there you begin your conquest, always looking for new, optimal solar systems to strengthen your wealth and influence. You win by reaching one of five win conditions before any of your opponents do, like wiping out all other alien races, achieving a certain level of technology, or getting yourself elected as chairman of the galaxy council.

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The Master of Orion series is regarded as a classic within the turn-based 4X genre of strategy games. The original game is more than 20 years old, and the sequels were all made before the turn of the millennium. It's a venerable series with an older fan base, in other words - something the developers at WG Labs are acutely aware of. They're self-ascribed huge fans of the original game, and are aiming to keep the spirit and soul of that game alive while updating it to match the present state of the genre.

The goal, then, is to breathe new life into an old game with the right mix of entertainment, challenge and gameplay that's easy to learn but hard to master. One example of the latter is an option for new players that lets them automate large parts of the game. Everything from building base defences to constructing entire colonies or handling space battles as you explore the galaxy, can all be left in the hands of the computer. Once you have a better grasp of the game and its mechanics, you can take back control of any of these aspects and optimise to your heart's desire.

There's no pre-built campaign in Master of Orion, "just" randomly generated galaxies for you to explore and conquer. The game features a very sophisticated autosave feature that records every step of the game from beginning to end, letting you jump back to any earlier point in case an unforeseen danger has snuck up on you. There's a total of 11 races, some of which fans will already know. Among the newcomers are the arachnoid Klackon, the robotic Meklar and - reserved for buyers of the Collectors Edition - the malignant human species who dub themselves the Terrans. Experienced players also have the option of creating their own race before starting the game. It's a process where many different benefits and downsides have to be weighed against each other.

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The outstanding cast of voice actors deserves a special mention, as the list includes several names that science fiction fans will recognise or have heard before. Among them are Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn and Alan Tyduk, as well as Nolan North and Troy Baker.

Much work still remains to be done on the game, and the balancing in particular is far from finished. Once done, the plan is to release on PC, Mac and Linux, with work beginning on mod support after the game has launched. If you can't wait to get your hands on it, the collector's edition includes early access, among other things.

If you chose to get that, be prepared to set aside plenty of hours for the game. The Master of Orion reboot looks like an incredibly complex strategy game that is sure to tickle your "just one more turn..." addiction.

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