GalCiv2, SotS, SEV: a 4X Comparison
After the fiasco of Master of Orion 3, which certainly didn't do any good for the genre of Space Strategy games (or 4X games), three new titles finally appeared this year: Galactic Civilizations 2 (GalCiv2), Sword of the Stars (SotS), and Space Empires V (SEV). Among these, two are obviously sequels and this ratio can easily be taken as the magic formula which is currently the trend in gaming industry: No more than one third true innovation. The aim of this comparative review is to give anyone interested in such games an insight into what are the weaknesses and strengths of each so that he can vote with his money. However, I think that anyone truly interested in the genre will end up with all three of them, simply because each one is far from being the disappointment MOO3 was.