Sins of a Solar Empire: A Warning Label

[Moriato]

I personally am a fan of space combat RTS games, which are few and far between. Homeworld and to a lesser extent Nexus: The Jupiter Incident (Lesser as it in it being not quite an RTS, not in it being an inferior game, certainly not) are really the only that I can think of off the top of my head. So I was naturally excited when I saw Sins of a Solar Empire. It seemed to have every quality I wanted in such a game, and essentially, it does.... Except for one thing:


THERE IS NO SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN.


There is no storyline, no missions, nothing. There are only one-shot battles. That's all.

To me, this isn't even a finished game. Imagine buying Neverwinter nights, and only getting the DM toolset, and nothing else. If all you want are one-shot battles, that's fine. To each his own. But for me, and I'm sure many other people out there, this game is completely worthless. I played through the tutorials, discovered there was no campaign of any sort, and realized I will never play this game again, and was, in my opinion, just cheated out of $40.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Eeehm. Wrong board, pal. This one is for tabletop gaming. You should try in the other gaming board.

[Moriato]

Eeehm. Wrong board, pal. This one is for tabletop gaming. You should try in the other gaming board.

You are correct, and I could swear I selected Gaming (Other Games), and that's where I meant to put this. A move would not only not offend me, but be appreciated

[Avor]

Agreed, it made me sad, especialy considering the races involved. Super Capitalists, Religious Zelots, and a Alien Empire.

I was exspecting at least a few levels for each. Right now the game feels like how Supream Commander would feel without a campain.

[Grey Paladin]

I hate RTS campaigns, they are usually ridiculously easy and have an idiotic plot- I only ever play Skirmish and Multiplayer.

I am glad the developers haven't wasted money on something I see as useless.

And honestly, a Skirmish on the largest possible Map in SoaSE is as long as Supreme Commander's official campaign and much more entertaining.

[Azerian Kelimon]

One word: Starcraft. Bona fide plot.

Further: Anything that is Warhammer 40K, though the tabletop game is even better.

[strayth]

I hate RTS campaigns, they are usually ridiculously easy and have an idiotic plot- I only ever play Skirmish and Multiplayer.

I am glad the developers haven't wasted money on something I see as useless.

And honestly, a Skirmish on the largest possible Map in SoaSE is as long as Supreme Commander's official campaign and much more entertaining.

This. 90% of a time it's a waste to tack on a campaign, and the game is completely fine without it.

[Avor]

It bugs me, they add in Cultural influence, but I don't even know what my people's culture is.

One level for each race would be at least something, give you some insight to who you are, otherwise the game is stupid. There is no difference between the races, they all have practicaly the same units.

Playing on Skrimmish is ok, but on stupidly large maps it's just gay. I just cave in and get a ally compute jsut to take over planets and level. I don't want to micro manage 60 planets.

[Ascension]

I almost bought it the other day... now I'm glad I didn't. I know many people disparage them, but I for one love campaigns. Sure, they're usually pretty simple, but then I'm not really a hardcore gamer anyway. I play video games just for fun, and I really enjoy campaigns because generally at least some of the missions have non-traditional win conditions. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from simple conquer-everything gameplay. I also prefer for my races/factions/whatever to have at least a little personality... without any sort of a story they're prone to come out bland.

[strayth]

There are a ton of scenarios for setting up unusual conditions. It's a great game, shame for the people who miss it.

And you can learn about the cultures in the instruction booklet. Or be imaginative, which is what I do.

[Moriato]

This. 90% of a time it's a waste to tack on a campaign, and the game is completely fine without it.

You've completely changed my mind with your brilliant argument of "This." Now that I know "this" I see the error of my ways and realize how my opinion was incorrect. I'm sorry for ever expressing it, when "this" clearly makes my own opinion null and void.

[Grey Paladin]

'it' is forgiven

[LoopyZebra]

I think you guys are looking at Sins in the wrong way. Its a 4x game in real time, not an RTS. If you look at it from the direction of Galactic Civilizations or Civilization, its a considerably better game, and explains the lack of a campaign or in-depth battles. If you go in expecting, say, Civ 4 or Gal Civ 2, you'll have a much better time with the game, since its similar to those than other RTSs.

Note: Unlike the Civs, Sins doesn't provide good options for peaceful victory. It's possible, I suppose, but not very efficient or fun. So it's more like a traditional RTS like that.

That said, I was a little disappointed with the games single player experience, mainly because it was difficult to maintain two fleets at once, and playing a large FFA game against the computer, they simply attacked on two fronts and I was out. But as Tycho (of Penny Arcade) described it, the game moves like molasses - its slow, but sweet. Assaults and battles simply aren't fast enough for a surprise attack to completely overwhelm your nation and gives you the time you need to oversee an empire and a battle.

My single player problems were compounded by the fact that the diplomacy system needs fleshing out (in my opinion). Diplomacy starts everyone at war, and is reminiscent of how diplomacy worked in Age of Empires II, if more advanced. It's hard to actually make peace or ally with an AI.

That said, I had a blast with a "co-op" scenario with me and my roommate against the AIs. I think multiplayer for this game could be very strong given the different sizes of battles that could take place "two hours to two months" (from a Sins preview ), allowing you to play with a buddy through a "grand campaign" or just do a quick deathmatch.

((Also, when's this being moved?))

EDIT: Something I should have tagged on earlier: a campaign would be difficult to make with this game, at least in the traditional sense of a series of scenarios strung together, since its more like a 4x game (Civ). I point to Gal Civ 2's campaign as evidence.