Hegemonia: Legions of Iron

"Nearly perfect, a promising off-spring of Homeworld"

Opening Statement:

I have to say this one thing … this game is the cream of the crop for the computer fan. Definitely a state of the art game. Plot is good, game play is slick, graphics are astounding, and it is very compatible with older computers. A game worthy for my own “Game of the Year” award. Also can go up to the almost perfect game with Starcraft and Pac Man (because no game is perfect). Definitely beats O.R.B. by a long shot.

Graphics: 10/10

That being said lets get on to the game’s best quality, graphics. This uses state of the art graphics that give the best lighting affects to ships. I also mistook an in-game cut scene for a cinematic. All of the planets almost look rendered from a picture. You might notice little details like numbers on the stations or lights of cities on the night side of planets. The galaxy may be cluttered, but this adds to the uniqueness of the strategy. I mean who want to spend 10 years (real time) trying to travel to mars (more on this in the game section). The new graphics engine also utilizes old material, as said above. For instance I could play perfectly fine game with medium graphics on my g-force 2 MX and it still looked great. Definitely the best graphics I have EVER seen. Not to mention damage and explosions. I mean when it is done exploding, the big ships leave behind wreckage which can be minded for building.

Sound: 10/10

Sound effects are great! Though sometimes the voice acting may seem bleak you will forget about it when you hear the battle sounds. Like a missile impacting a hull or shield. The sounds when a station is going up in flames. Big explosions, slight screeching noises as the station brakes apart. Then there are the quiet moments when the music kicks in. Nice Freespace style music. Battle music is great as it times it just right. I had the music reach its climax and then pause when a station gave its final roar in explosions. Definitely 10/10 worthy.

Plot and Game Play: 9/10

Way too much to explain but I'll try. The story behind the game is a well written one. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you might want to read the manual in a car or on a plane flight. Maybe not as thrilling as Homeworld was, but it comes close. Game play has a nice smooth window to resemble the advances in technology the world has made. It takes Homeworld and skins it to be easy on the eyes and cool in the mind. The overview map is not nearly as good as Homeworld at least in camera angle. Large bitmaps are produced of a squad’s unit type. Five seconds after you are in it squad names appear so it is easy for you to pick out a single unit. Smaller ships are useless later in the campaign, but a balancing mod is coming out. Planets are made as simple as possible to control, build as many units as you can, and then add on to the planet with terra forming and what-not. Heroes do help with planets and ships too at a generally low salary. (GIMMICK ALERT) The co-op campaign is an interesting GIMMICK, but I had a friend over a LAN change the squad call signs to our own names so we didn't actually not fight over a squad. I suggest this only on a LAN which can be quite fun, but it is hard to communicate without being next to the other player or having Roger Wilco (software that lets you talk with a microphone). Bots are good and will give you a workout. I suggest 1 vs. 1 with an easy computer on siege mode (gives you your own galaxy) for the most fun. (Galaxies can be accessed through wormholes which lead to a subspace type area). The experienced players might want to think about 2 vs. 1 with a normal computer. And yes I did this and was killed pathetically. 2 vs. 2 easy computers has the most fun. P.S. your biggest fleet will be about 8 battle ships but believe me it is enough!

Lasting Appeal: 10/10

This will keep you playing even the demo for a long time. The campaign is large and multiplayer never gets old.

Buy or Burn: BUY!

I suggest this to all people who have played a massive multi-unit RPG. I suggest this to all people who have a computer.
LIST PRICE: $40.00 (wait for it to go down a few bucks maybe)

Overall: 9/10
(Because no game is perfect)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/03, Updated 01/08/03