No. of Reviews: 20
Review 1
Purchased!
For those times when you want to just play, not think or plan too much. Galactic
Civilization (1&2) is the best 4X space I have seen so far, then Space Empire V
then Armada 2526. I can envision playing Armada before Gal Civ when I don't feel
like committing too much time. It is challenging because opponents advance fast
and pile on, just have to be aggressive.
Review 2
Purchased!
Game goes from interesting to tedious and then off into boredom in about an hour
or two's worth of play. You try to keep going waiting for the excitement and
nothing. No sense of suspense even in combat situation. NPC interaction is also
more of an annoyance than an in depth gameplay tool.
Also although steam says only 7 or so hours I used to play this game via the
onlive service when I was young and only had a rubbish laptop. I've probably put
another 20 or so on top.
Summary - rather poopy.
Review 3
Purchased!
I played the game here and then I purchaed the gold edition on Gamer's Gate
before it was available on Steam. The game is fun to play and moddable. However
once you hit turn 200 or colonize 20 planets (this is RAM dependent I found
out(16gb, at 32gb you can colonize upto 30-50 planets maybe)) the game has a
dramatic slow down in game play. At this point you'll mostly be waiting on the
Resource or Population Manager, often times 20 mins plus for your turn to come
up. At turn 200, I was just getting into the game and having fun. So I checked
if there was a fix for this. No fix. Per the developers, the game is not
designed to be played for long periods or for you to colonize every planet in
sight. I usually won the game after 30-45 minutes of game play, often winning
before I ever met another race, having gotten bored with that, I modded the
victory conditions for more time. What's the point of having a universe with
hundreds of planets, but if you colonize more then 20 planets, the game becomes
unplayable with long periods (many minutes waiting on the AI to complete
processing your turn) between turns. Eventually you'll get tired of waiting and
hit crl+alt+del, kill the game and go play something else.
The other thing is that diplomacy is a joke. The ai will attack you, make peace,
agree not to attack you for 20 turns, 5 turns later will attack you again, make
peace, make you an ally, attack someone else, you'll attack the enemy of your
ally, they'll make peace, you won't even know they made peace, etc. Or you can
attack another race, make peace, attack them again, make peace, etc. If a planet
has too amny defesnses, buy the planet, the ai will sell any planet they have
except their home base. Hey, there's an invasion fleet at your planet, just buy
their ships if you have the cash.
If you manage to wipe out a race, they'll become friendly and start asking you
for tech, even though they don't have any ships or planets and you've completely
wiped them out.
I've never been able to get thru all the techs in the game, just takes to long
to research them and playing with the default game without modding, you'll just
barely scratch the surface. Once you've researched every tech in a particular
catagory, it would have been nice to get a messages about it, but you don't so
you have to keep checking and then remember to go thru every planet and delete
that type of research facility. I have noticed from conquered planets that the
ai does not have the same limitations as you do when it comes to building
research facilities. So the top tier reseach facility, you can only build 1 for
your empire, where as the ai can build 4 per planet. And on top of that, the ai
will always be willing to sell you any tech that you don't have and they've
researched.
There really isn't much difference between the standard game and the gold
edition. This game stil lhas all the bugs it did in the original, all they did
was add about 2 buildings as far as I can tell.
When I bought the gold version on Steam, I was hoping that the bugs and gameplay
had been fixed, but I came to find out nothing has changed. Luckly i got it for
around $4 so it's no that big of a loss, definitively not worth $20.
So all in all the game is fun in the beginning, is moddable, but has too many
issues to keep you inteserested for any length of time.
Update:
I'd like to note that most of my playtime is watching TV and waiting for my turn
7/23/2016 Update: Still works on windows 10.
7/26/2018: 2 years later I install it, get to turn 350, it hangs on Population
Manager, I quit and delete it.
Review 4
Purchased!
I find this game lacking in comparison to other 4x space games. But for $22 it's
alright. It's not a must have IMO, but if you must add to your 4X space game
collection, then I recommend getting this on sale.
Review 5
Purchased!
I really wish I could recommend this game. Most of the reviews I've read aren't
even aware that this is an unpdate of a game so old is pre-dates MOO and MOO2.
So to compare this with the MOO games isn't really fair, since it's just as
likely MOO took ideas from the old Armada 2525.
There are some great features to the game. In particular, the events
notifications after each turn allows itself to be used as a sort of checklist
when resolving issues, in a way that not even the new Civ games do. However,
there are several tedious features. Moving population around planets is
necessary, and it just takes a little too long to issue each transport command.
The issues are minor, such as having to move the mouse far across the screen,
instead of having common commands set right next to each other. So it isn't
awful, just a little tiring to me after some hours of play.
Alien races keep spamming me with requests and deal offers, and there is no way
to stop them. Unfortunately, most of the offers just aren't that important. I
finally declared war on one race to stop their nagging, which reduced
communications to a series of offers for peace. The aliens will also sometimes
park on your planets, doing no harm, but causing the game to prompt you to
declare war every single turn, which also gets tedious.
This is basically a good, relatively simple sci fi 4x game that probably has
some good strategy. But the polish isn't there, for me. The pace of play tends
to tire me rather than energize me. So I recommend avoiding it, although it
might be enjoyable if you are really interested in 4x sci fi games, of which
there are not enough.
I have only played the Gold edition. Based on the new features list, I would
avoid the regular edition and only buy the gold, if you do buy it. It adds quite
a lot.
Update: Okay, I changed my mind. But with some caveats. The game is funny,
quirky, and easy to mod. If you like exploring a game to see what makes it tick,
and if you don't take it too seriously, this might be a good buy. The problems I
mentioned lessen as the game progresses, and there are many ways to win. Myself,
I have made small changes to the random planet generation to reduce the number
of useless planets. It appears to have been made by one person, which I find
quite admirable. It isn't really polished, but it has a good heart.
Review 6
Purchased!
Armada 2526, is a fairly old game. There's alot of the UI where that shows, such
as ending turns in multiplayer games, ending your turn completely and being
unable to act.
Unit diversity could be a touch better as well in early game.
That all aside, the game is deep...shockingly deep. There is a whole lot to
fiddle with, and experiment here, from varying techs, planet and star system
setups, even setting up migrations of population from one star system to
another. Somewhere in the 50th turn I realized I was completely hooked, and my
fledling 9 world empire (this is TINY compared to the total number of stars
available, even in a "medium" sized map.) was just now barley starting to come
out of the red and into the black.
The sheer distance between stars, also makes you feel the sheer vastness of your
empire, even when you have 9 inhabited systems (you end up with far far far
more) it takes a very long time to get to your new planets. In early game, when
your colonizable planets are far flung, you are gambling. it's inevitable
really. Do you go so far out that reinforcements will be a LONG time in coming?
Or do you take the risk for higher inhabited worlds to come up quicker, and be
self sufficient before another empire decides to take them?
There is depth in a great many facets of the game on initial impression, and the
sheer scale involved is daunting. Highly recommend, especially as this game is
more often than not onsale, 50 to 75 percent off.
Review 7
Purchased!
Definitely dated.
There is certainly some depth but the UI requires way too many clicks and feels
reminiscent of 20th century games.
Space combat is not very good.
Checking your empire overall situation is cumbersome.
There are many better options thatn this space 4X.
Review 8
Purchased!
This game is much better than I expected. Having played a lot of hours of it I
continue to be impressed by the gameplay. I've played a lot of 4X games and
although many of them have some excellent features they tend to be a massive
grind. I've found that to be a problem, mid-game they become less space! and
more spreadsheet. I'm impressed by this game because it has a strong strategic
component, it is very well designed and a lot of fun.
Pros. Gameplay is much better than I expected. Movement is unusual but excellent
and the simple but effective flight range mechanic turns this into a proper
strategy game. It has sufficient 4X meat on its bones to stay interesting. The
alien species are numerous and sufficiently different to give replayability.
There is actual strategy in this game compared to many more recent 4X games
which can be simply economy sims or CIV inspired. This game loads and processes
action extremely quickly on a modern PC. This is also cheap which makes it a low
cost to try.
Cons. This is an old game. Graphics are not what you would get in a 2016
release. There is no vessel design system (ship classes and upgrades only). It
lacks the bells and whistles of a modern release.
This is very much of the vintage of the original "Masters of Orion" but it is
also a bit of a lost classic in the 4X genre. It is rare for me to find a 4x
game that is better than I expected, this one is definitely better IMHO than
many much more expensive alternatives. Try it!
Review 9
Purchased!
I bought this game when it was for sale, so I spent around five bucks, and at
first I hated it. I believed it to be an absolute bore.
However with some time and imagination, I loved it and found myself playing it
quite frequently.
Review 10
Purchased!
Blunt and honest...
Looks really nice, but I got bored of it frightfully fast. after 50 turns, I was
done.
Review 11
Purchased!
This is a great light game. Fun to play. Set it on Sparse, 7 opponents, 40 x 40
grid and you can play a game in just over an hour. This is great game if you
have a little time to kill. I also like to play it while listening to an audible
Book.
Review 12
Purchased!
4X Depends on whether you are playing solo or against other human players!!!!
Solo- not very challenging Multiplayer very interesting
Further analysis:
Solo - this is a "builder" / "researcher" game not a fighter game. The AI is
very passive and tends to just
build Enormous defensive forces which are challenging to overwhelm in late game.
But "winning" depends more on accumulating "racial specific" points rather than
killing off the AI opponents (which is not even necessary unless you want to
make that an absolute "winning" requirement).
So, even though the game comes with the usual varying standard races the
variation in actual "winning" requirements does not vary that much--with one
notable exception The Unn Pirates which are a non colonizing space living
civilization= worthy of challenging the most experienced 4x player.
Multiplayer- truth in lending moment- I play solo- but it is evident that with a
reasonably large universe and with different races having different strengths a
multiplayer game can be "tactically" on a grand strategic scale= do I defend? do
I attack? do I make multiplayer alliances? does my opponent have PSI powers?
PS For you 4X old timers (I am 73), I would not call this Armada 2526 Gold. I
played and enjoyed Armada 2525 back in the day but that game was more simplistic
to the extent that this game simply reflects, somewhat, an update to the usual
4X fare. I see no particular Armada in this version.
PPS Be aware that there are really 17 races not just the "12". I mention this
because the extra 5 are the more interesting to play.
Warning: This game comes with an annoying "adviser" who desperately wants to
advise you even on the custom games. Why the developers did not turn off the
adviser after the tutorial is beyond me, but as best I can tell the only way to
get rid of this XX#EE# adviser is to go into the game files and delete that
folder.
Review 13
Purchased!
It is enjoyable but not a great replacement for Games like Masters Of Orion or
Galactic Civilizations. Those are much better games than this.
Review 14
Purchased!
A good stratagy game with staightforword diplomacy, economy and, plantary
mangement.
I have logged about 30+ hours and see no reason not to play. Game has a good
variety of races and is pretty well made overall. Pretty easy to learn and for
the sale price I completely enjoyed my purchase.
The major dowmside is if you leave the game via alt tab or other form of
minimizing you haved to restart the game but the games autosaves after every
turn minimize the impavct of this.
Review 15
Purchased!
I've played this game since 2009 when it was released by Matrix. I really love
the space map as it's easy to navigate, great to look at and shows everything
you need to know. One of the biggest difference to other 4x games is that each
race has it's own goals. So it's not so much about conquer everyone but to
achieve your own objectives (happiness etc.). The game is really complete with
very different races to play with. While the combat could still be better, i
really like it because you can lead many ships as well as ground troops on a
single screen. This game is a classic and any 4x player should have it in it's
Library.
Some special key aspects:
- This game works great on Windows tablets (surface etc) without any touchpad or
mouse. Perfect to play it on the go (train etc.)
- The game scales really well on any screen sizes i've played it on.
- Multiplayer by pbem is easy and great.
Review 16
Purchased!
it is fun, if your into that kinda thing fun, my only real problem was the ai
loading inbetween turns can take up to 20mins on the biggest galaxy setting with
9 races, maybe its my computer, idk. ill always come back for more but its
really annoying when i got a thought out plan on what to do on my next turn only
to forget what i was going to do due to the fact the turns take forever with pop
up messages with deals that are of no use to me anyhow, which then causes me to
get annoyed and annihalate a single race due to the fact the game designers made
them that way i would say a must play if you loved gal civ but hated the fleet
restrictions. great setup but you can win with missle cruisers, fleet carriers
and roid rollers. all the other ships have their uses but if a massive wave of
missles wipe everything they have and fighters go into mop it up becomes
repetitive, ill be back for more but the game designers might want to considers
some changes next time.
Review 17
Purchased!
Me lembrou um jogo que joguei em 1996 chamado STARS! e esse por incrível que
pareça não é melhor...
https://wiki.starsautohost.org/wiki/Main_Page
Review 18
Purchased!
Its a wonderful strategy game! Witha plethora of starships to choose from
Armada2526 GE allows for limitless in battle strategies. While at the same time
allowing for dictator like control over all that goes on in your empire. If for
one reason or another micromanaging becomes a pain, several features allow you
to hand different aspects of control to the AI. Alothough there are only 18
different alien races, there are several other factions with differnt perks than
the main branch of that race. The map designer enpowers you to create just about
any galaxy you heart desires and choose the riches at each planet. The only down
falls to this game may be that the game can become a little monotonous after 200
turns if you don't set new goals for your-self and time between turns can be
long if you are playing with a lot of races. Above all the game provides a wide
variety of stratagies to conqur the galaxy.
Review 19
Purchased!
Great 4X game.It looks ugly but it sure plays well.
We need 2527.These gameplay concepts with better visuals.
Review 20
Purchased!
I have owned this game for over two years and i bought two seperate editions for
each computer when (if i remember correctly) i bought the basic Armada 2526 and
the expansion Supernova at $20 a pop. Twice, once for each computer. So now i
have bought it on Steam and i have laid out $100.
Now i can play it on either computer without porting problems.
The game is by far more interesting to me as my years of playing it go on.
Yes, it needs some creative tinkering to make it an even better game in forms of
management. I would love to be able to find just the planets that have reserch
staions that have become obsolete so i can both remove them and replace them
without going through hundreds of planets,
But if you like broad expansive strategy as well as figuring out how to make an
economy work I think you will like this "game of chess with few limits."