The saddest review I've seen in ages - SU:DG

[Saint_Proverbius]

Just check this crap out, it's a review on a STRATEGY GAMING SITE about Starships Unlimited: Divided Galaxies, which is about the best damned real time 4X game ever made, IMHO.

Anyway, keep in mind that this is from a game site dedicated to strategy gaming.. Here's some snippies:

In today?s age of supah doopah graphics engines & instant action, Starships Unlimited shouldn?t really have a place to fit in ? its like a retro game that you could have been playing and enjoying about 10 years ago on something like a 386 system, but there is something about it which makes me keep going back for more.

So, it's highly replyable and fun.. But there's no INSTANT ACTION and the graphics aren't cutting edge.. And he can't make his mind up about it? What the hell?

The main problem as I see it, is that it is not a load & go game. I had to sit back & read the manual fully before I even figured out how to start the game, and you also have to make use of the full .pdf version to acquaint yourself with bits that are not covered very well in the ?main? manual (colonization for instance).

The horror! He had to read the manual!

I think the gene pool is not only shallow, but evaporating at an accellerated rate when you have a strategy gaming site complaining they had to refer to a manual.

The mechanics of the game are incredibly complex, but thankfully you can leave just about everything to be handled by the AI while you concentrate on which star systems to explore next.

Actually, the mechanics of SU:DG are fairly simple, far more simple than Space Empires or STARS! are.

The battles are generally over fairly quickly, and the visualisation somewhat jerky and, dare I say it, reminiscent of something that you may have seen on an old Commodore 64 ? I grew so fed up with them that I gave up actually watching the contest and just acknowledged the fact that a battle was going on somewhere

Again with the graphics.. Pleh.

Graphics wise the game is nothing to write home about, and would play just as well without them. Other races appear to be a conglomeration of those seen in many space films, from Ewok types to Scecsis, including a Kilrathi lookalike. The sound is adequate, but the music terribly boring, so much so that I turned it off rapidly.

Yet again..

If you are heavily in to micromanagement, then this game will appeal as you can set it so that you do everything. It does have potential, but I am left with the overall impression that it is outdated and unfortunately does not deliver what could be expected from the box shots.

This guy must be a huge Dungeon Siege fan if he thinks this game has too much micromanagement. It barely has any compared to most 4X games.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

I agree with most of your points, save that I never touch a manual save for some more creative ones (FO, Arcanum).
Intersting sounding game. Might have to try it out after my warring hippies conqure the universe in GC.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The main problem as I see it, is that it is not a load & go game. I had to sit back & read the manual fully before I even figured out how to start the game, and you also have to make use of the full .pdf version to acquaint yourself with bits that are not covered very well in the ?main? manual (colonization for instance).

The horror! He had to read the manual!

Lol, what a fucking idiot! No wonder that games are getting more simplistic and dumbed down these days if even reviewers complain that they had to read the manual. What the fuck is wrong with people?!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I could understand the reviewer being upset about how difficult the game was to understand if it wasn't on a strategy gaming site. Strategy games are supposed to be complex, and complexity generally requires a good manual to explain those things that make it complex. It's utterly pathetic that a reviewer on a strategy gaming site is put off because he had to actually read something.

As for the game itself, it's a damn fun little game. It's very unique in terms of 4X games.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Contrast the reviewers irritation at having to read the manual to Combat Mission:Beyond Overlord. On the box they state that the manual is over 250 pgs and this is offered *as a selling point*. As it should be . The manual is well done and more importantly absolutely essential in order to play the game.
I for one enjoy reading big fat manuals and always feel a bit gyped when one is not included. Hell even GTA3 while it has a skimpy manual at least manages to be entertaining.
Whatever - a gamer that doesn't want to manage his empire in a 4x game (leave to the AI!) is exactly the kind of gamer I would expect to be irked at having to read a manual.

 

[Tris McCall]

<<Contrast the reviewers irritation at having to read the manual to Combat Mission:Beyond Overlord. On the box they state that the manual is over 250 pgs and this is offered *as a selling point*. As it should be .>>

I strenuously agree! When I buy a game, one of the things I look forward to the most is getting a really interesting manual. Even if the manual is a reiteration of D&D rules that I already know, there's something about having a thick book close at hand that's really enjoyable.

The promise of getting an interesting game manual often prevents me from entertaining the idea of simply pirating software from a friend.

Tris McCall

 

[slavemaster]

Game manuals make awesome bathroom reading. I've got a ton of manuals in my bathroom.

 

[Greenskin13]

Game manuals make awesome bathroom reading. I've got a ton of manuals in my bathroom.

I'm glad I'm not alone.

Anyway, that's extremly pathetic that the reviewer is complaining about having to read the manual. How can anyone take him seriously?

I usually avoid review sites like a plague. They're filled with near-moronic reviewers who are so light-core and casual that it almost seems like they just give high ratings to which ever game has the most hype. Very rarely do I see an intelligent review outside of this site, and I think that's why a lot of people are fond of RPGCodex's reviews.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

You know another sad thing? The review spends more time bitching about the graphics than he does talking about the strategy elements of the title. I personally wouldn't expect a strategy gamer to worry nearly as much about the graphics, which aren't really that bad at all, as he would about how interesting the strategies in the game can be. Yet, in this review, the only strategy things he mentions are the planets can be governed by the AI and that you might want to develop more than one tech tree(duh).

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

In thinking about it I can only think of *one* strategy game that I have enjoyed recently that had good graphics - Disciples 2.

X-Com, Civ, Alpha Centauri, JA 1 and 2, Age of Wonders 1, Combat Mission all have poor-to medicore graphics. And these are recent (mostly) games. I haven't even included old school stuff - the halycon age when nobody gave a shit about graphics at all.
Manuals - good bathroom reading, good smoke-break reading and good reading whilst waiting for the game to install. Huzzah for manuals!