Hegemonia: Legions of Iron

"Some great ideas, some not so great ones, but still a good game"

After playing Homeworld, and Homeworld Cataclysm a bunch, i couldn't quite get my fix of space games, so i had to check this out. The story is pretty simple, earth and mars get into a war, and the aliens come, and then more aliens come, blah blah blah. The story is definitely not the strong point in this game, but more on that in a bit.

Graphics: Technically amazing. The game has absolutely amazing backgrounds (this is one of the places it beats Homeworld) that actually make you feel like you're in space. The ship models are very cool as well. It's neat the first time you zoom in to a base and see model/registration number on the side. The one problem i do have with the graphics, though it's not really a problem per say is the scale of the game. What i mean is how solar systems are represented. You can see the entire system from almost any point on the map. It's very cool to have the ability to traverse entire solar systems, but the way its represented in Hegemonia really takes the majesty, and absolute vastness of space that Homeworld did so well. There's never a moment where you just want to sit back and look at everything because it's all right in front of you.

Gameplay: Unit limits, unit limits, unit limits. The biggest problem i have with the gameplay is unit limits. I have this problem with all rts's but never have i felt so constrained by limits as i have with Hegemonia. I think the most combat units you can end up building is barely over 10. This is especially frustrating as you will almost certainly have enough resources to build fleet upon fleet, and they give you no reason why you can't build more (no supply limits like in other games). Add to this the fact that you may have 4 systems under your control, it becomes very hard to defend your property, especially since it takes so long to travel between systems. Now that i got that out of the way, the rest of the gameplay is very smooth, and very entertaining. Spies are pretty useful, and very easy to use. There's not a lot of micro-management to worry about so it's pretty straightforward. Though I am kind of disappointed that there's very little use for targeting weapons or engines on the enemies. The only time it's really useful is for attacking planets.

Sound: The music score is great. It's filled with classic military and space themes that capture a feeling of space. The sound effects are terrific too. The only problem is, is that you can only hear them if you're zoomed in close to the battle. It's too bad too, because when you do hear them, they're pretty awesome.

Minus a few glitches, and maybe a little lack of polish, Hegemonia is a good game. And given an expansion pack, or a good sequel, could be a great one.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/03, Updated 01/06/03