Review: Endless Space 2

The cosmos has always been large enough for an infinite number of space-based 4X provenance strategies, regardless of the fact that at any moment there was a dominant game that overwhelmed everyone else. This equilibrium existed until the appearance of a great unifier, Vasiliev and autocrat, Stellaris.

Endless Space 2 does not try to be Stellaris instead of the caliph but moves through narrow focus and perfection of the ultimate presentation. Endless Space 2 seeks to be comfortable and fast with each molecule, and, unlike Stellaris, its medium-sized party (medium-sized galaxy, default number ...) does not last for three days, one afternoon. In fact, talking about differences does not make much sense because these two games separate more things than they connect. A real common element is a need they meet with the smallest but most intelligent percentage of the gaming population that enjoys this genre. The need to deeply penetrate the universe, explore, conquer, war, and stretch it while thinking the pulsation of the tempest vein does not start to stir up the neighborhood.



Endless Space 2 is a moving 4X strategy with pre-defined fractions, complex, fractional-specific stories that are the backbone of the campaign, beautiful graphics and an overly-complicated interface that looks fantastic. When I'm already in the interface ... It's dynamically scaled in line with the resolution, and it also allows manual including, so that no one owner of the 8K monitor will be disassembled for comfortable playing. I recall that support for such scaling Stellaris got only after a week, which is why I lost 8% of sight, insufficient for a disability pension, but enough that in the future war I can not be a sniper.

The basis on which the gamble of Endless Space 2 rests is identical with every normal 4X game. You move from one of the poorer planets, and through intelligent space exploration and technology, timely colonization and suppression of competitors, you achieve your goals. Differences in the gamble generated by specific races primarily relate to colonization and (to some extent) logistics around the population. The United Empire (mankind) is expanding in a standard way, by producing colonization ships and sending them through compatible planets. Then there is an outpost which gradually turns into a colony. The Nomadic Race of Religious Fanatics Vodyani, on the other hand, before thinking about colonization, should take away sufficient numbers of inhabitants of other planets who serve as a currency for the construction of massive arcs that allow instant colonization of the desired worlds ... The difference between light colonization through the outpost and the current through the area is drastic: your galactic rivals do nothing to prevent them from building their base in the system your colonization started, to run with you, and through the investment of resources to build the colony before you! On the other hand, the abduction of the population from inhabited planets very quickly antagonizes the victim, so the effectiveness of Vodyana colonization is compensated by the wrath of competition that easily leads to war.




The construction of ships and their equipping with weapons and modules are relatively detailed and well-designed, but the struggle is passive and the player's influence is reduced only to the initial choice of tactics before a single battle. Although it is possible to play a combination of different weapons (long-range, short-range, energy, ballistic ...) and applied tactics, it is generally the rule that one who has a larger fleet with modernly equipped ships will be the winner. 




The most striking element of the game is ultra-slim graphics that head and shoulders above the entire 4X genre.