Personally, I find this game a lot more complicated to learn than the Sins of a Solar Empire series. Even after sinking an hour plus in the game, I'm still learning new stuff. Played the beginner's map by the way. After all, I'm not particularly fond of getting my butt handed to me by the AI before I even manage to figure out how to assemble an attack fleet, set up defenses or build a colony :P

However, I should mention that the game's rather old and as such, many "convenience" features you may have come to rely on while playing other more recent 4x space strategy games aren't available here. It's more annoying than game-breaking honestly but still, I guess I'm just a tad bit too pampered... heh.

The graphics seem to hold up as well - they aren't exactly great-looking but I'd say they are serviceable. Similarly, the music really helps to set the atmosphere and the tone of the game but I wouldn't say that it's particularly memorable.

So, to sum up my not very comprehensive review (still figuring the game out - I'll edit this as I play more), I would say that Sword of the Stars II isn't exactly the first game you'll want to venture into the genre with. It can give you quite the headache to figure out everything - I reckon a couple of hours at least and maybe a butt-whopping by the AI for your very first match.

However, if you're a pro in the genre or in this game in the past, you'll definitely be able to enjoy the game a whole lot more than I did. This game is more of a "meh" for me - I'd go with SotSE games (especially Rebellion) for now :P

Okay, after playing my first game, I think I have an idea of how the game works. So far, the AI doesn't seem to be very aggressive - thank goodness - but I'm spending just too much on setting up new colonies and adding new fleets, and will probably bankrupt myself before I can conquer the AI :P

I still think that this game isn't as intuitive to learn but if you're willing to put in the time and have some pretty extensive experience with the genre, you can probably figure out how things work after a bit. Game's still a bit wonky because it's old and has not-so-convenient controls, so do take note of this if you're planning to buy the game.


If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/