About the Game (From the Steam Store Page)
The Universe is Yours!
Distant Worlds: Universe is the newest chapter of this critically acclaimed sci-fi series, adding incredible new features and an exciting new storyline. Universe is also the ultimate collector’s edition, the first time all previous Distant Worlds releases have been included in one package, along with an updated manual and greatly expanded modding support.
Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game. Experience the full depth and detail of turn-based strategy, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game.
Vast galaxies are made to order: up to 1400 star systems, with up to 50,000 planets, moons and asteroids. Galaxies are so deep, fun and immersive that you won’t want to finish the game. Build, expand and improve your empire while playing through one of the storylines, with victory conditions or in an open-ended sandbox mode.
Each galaxy is packed with life and activity. Encounter other empires, independent alien colonies, traders, pirates and space monsters. Explore star systems, asteroid fields, gas clouds, supernovae, galactic storms and black holes. Discover evidence of civilizations long since past, uncovering secrets about the galaxy's troubled history...
Best of all, you can play the game your way: enjoy a quick, intense game in a crowded sector of space or take your time in an epic game spread across a vast galaxy!
Previous Playtime
5 hours
What Was I Thinking When I Bought This Game
I'm usually a pretty soft touch when it comes to space 4X games, and Distant Worlds: Universe had an extremely ambitious pitch. Seriously, I cut off like 2/3rds of the store description because who the hell needs to read a huge feature list second hand off a gaming blog.
That said, this particular game is one I danced around for quite a while. It costs $60 and rarely goes on sale. I wound up buying it half off, despite that being more money than I usually like to spend on a franchise I'm not familiar with, probably because I was psychologically manipulated by the desire to not "miss out" on a "limited time" deal.
Expectations and Prior Experience
I haven't gotten much past the tutorial and game setup screen, but I've like what I've seen so far. It appears to be an extremely fiddly empire management game set in a huge sci-fi galaxy. I don't see any iteration of that failing to delight me.
. . . Although . . . that might just be because I'm purposefully wearing blinders here. StarDrive fell flat for me, despite being, on paper, comfortably in the center of my wheel house. It's possible that Distant Worlds: Universe is similarly flawed, and I'm about to spend 20 hours with a game that mocks me by closely resembling something I love while lacking all the qualities that make it loveable.
That's pretty unlikely, though. I already have five hours on this game despite buying it in the middle of the blog, and that's usually a sign of something that gets its hooks into me fast. Worst case scenario is that it's tolerable, which is something I really need after Golden Axe.
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