Master of Orion

"One of the 5 best games ever made"

I admit, I just discovered this game on an abandonware site. It runs perfectly with a DOS emulator like DOSBox. Read the review, then GET THIS GAME NOW! If you like turn-based strategy in the Civilization mold, you won't regret it.

You start with one planet, two scouts, and a colony ship. From there, you may end up with a galaxy-wide empire and thousands of ships, which you design (and name) yourself. Along the way, you will do research, build factories, expand your empire, upgrade your planets, fortify your planets with missile bases and planetary shields, and design ships with better and better weapons as your technology advances. You will also negotiate with, spy on, and infiltrate other races, making treaties, trade agreements, stealing technologies and sabotaging their planets.

The main screen is mainly taken up with a starmap. On the right is a sidebar with different functions. If a planet is selected, you have sliders which allow you to decide how much of a planet's output is devoted to building ships, planet defense, building factories, ecology (factories make pollution) and research. You can also assign another planet as a gathering point for ships built there, transfer population to another planet (or launch a ground assault on an enemy planet, and choose what ship to build there). If a fleet is selected, you can decide what ships to send where. When ship battles take place, the screen changes to a 9x8 grid, and you move your ships like on a chessboard (or hit Auto and let the computer take care of it). You also have buttons at the bottom allowing you to design ships, conduct diplomacy, and set priorities for research.

I am not going to talk about graphics and sound. The game came out in 1994. Quite honestly, these elements do their job and do not detract from the timeless gameplay.

The true genius of this game is how tight the design is. Absolutely nothing is superfluous. There are actually very few actions you can take, but every choice is critically important. Choosing to accept or reject an alliance with another race can win or lose you the game. Attacking a race with highly developed ECM jammer technology with ships equipped with missiles will spell defeat. And the tough choices start right away. For example, an excellent quality planet is out of range of your initial colony ship. Do you try to rush research longer range technology, do you build an expensive colony ship with extended fuel tanks, or do you wait and attack the planet later once another race has snapped it up? Your choice depends on your starting race (each race gets a meaningful starting advantage) and the situation as it unfolds. No two games play alike.

For me, this is one of the all-time greatest games. It takes its place alongside Civilization, XCOM, and Jagged Alliance 2 as the pinnacle of what gaming can be. Now, go get it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/17/09

Game Release: Master of Orion (US, 1993)