Posted April 20, 2010
Both of these games are fantastic exemplars of the turn-based strategy genre, and given that there isn't that much created in it anymore, it's a lucky thing these both hold up so well.
MoO1 is, for me, an outstanding game because it's simply and cleanly designed enough to have a real "boardgame" flavour about it. Depending on the settings, you can finish a game in a couple of hours, and the different races all give you a different way to play. The Psilons are basically an "easy" setting, but each race has its own appeal (even if just cosmetic) and the game unfolds differently depending on who you choose and how you play them. TBS can sometimes be a rather soporific affair; you make a plan at the beginning, then spend hundreds of turns clicking through various options just to implement that one "thought". MoO1 is much more dynamic than this; there are many moments of decision, multiple valid approaches... and it's fun to "fit" all the pieces of the game together in a way that leads to your triumph... or downfall.
MoO2 is also a great game, although personally I don't like it quite as much. It offers a lot more flexibility, better graphics, more "flavour"... but there are some problems that go with these improvements. It has a more civ-like game design (especially in the way you build up your cities, oops I mean planets) and the result is that you can spend much, much longer playing one game... it's less strategically satisfying, often because you lose or win based on one choice made early in the game (and once again, the Psilons are virtually a cheat code). Still, even if the strategy is a bit less elegant than in the first game, the flavour is a lot stronger (I love the innovative use of pilots as bonuses for specific fleets - what a great idea! Why hasn't this been widely copied?) and if you like games with strong personality and strong sense of "genre", this might be for you. Certainly most people seem to prefer it. :)
Since you get both in this pack, and for such a low price, it hardly matters which "camp" you fall into. If you like *any* turn-based strategy game, you're going to like one, or both, of these.
MoO1 is, for me, an outstanding game because it's simply and cleanly designed enough to have a real "boardgame" flavour about it. Depending on the settings, you can finish a game in a couple of hours, and the different races all give you a different way to play. The Psilons are basically an "easy" setting, but each race has its own appeal (even if just cosmetic) and the game unfolds differently depending on who you choose and how you play them. TBS can sometimes be a rather soporific affair; you make a plan at the beginning, then spend hundreds of turns clicking through various options just to implement that one "thought". MoO1 is much more dynamic than this; there are many moments of decision, multiple valid approaches... and it's fun to "fit" all the pieces of the game together in a way that leads to your triumph... or downfall.
MoO2 is also a great game, although personally I don't like it quite as much. It offers a lot more flexibility, better graphics, more "flavour"... but there are some problems that go with these improvements. It has a more civ-like game design (especially in the way you build up your cities, oops I mean planets) and the result is that you can spend much, much longer playing one game... it's less strategically satisfying, often because you lose or win based on one choice made early in the game (and once again, the Psilons are virtually a cheat code). Still, even if the strategy is a bit less elegant than in the first game, the flavour is a lot stronger (I love the innovative use of pilots as bonuses for specific fleets - what a great idea! Why hasn't this been widely copied?) and if you like games with strong personality and strong sense of "genre", this might be for you. Certainly most people seem to prefer it. :)
Since you get both in this pack, and for such a low price, it hardly matters which "camp" you fall into. If you like *any* turn-based strategy game, you're going to like one, or both, of these.