Developed in 1994 this game was well ahead of its time, combining turn-based strategy with real time flight simulation this game managed to perfectly represent what I wanted out of gaming when I first started. It's not only up to you to find the resources for your human or alien empire, but you decide what to build with them and when conflict is necessary you can even control the ships you've built.
I first played this game as a kid, and found it quite captivating, and since then I've never quite found a game that I've enjoyed playing quite as much as I did this one.
I think this game set the stage for games like Imperium Galactica, Haegomonia, Birth of the Federation and even Nexus, the Jupiter Incident I believe has taken some inspiration from this, the first game of its kind.
The graphics were well ahead of its time and relatively revolutionary for the genre, especially during the real-time flight/combat simulations you could choose to embark on.
Although it has been a long while since I have played the game it is still imprinted firmly in my memory as one of the best games I have ever played, when considering joy ability against age, and I'd like to think this game will go down in history as one of the trend-setters. It was definitely the combination factor of
the strategy and real-time fight sequences that put this game a cut above the rest, as Wing Commander games before it only could manage one or the other, the ability to choose your area of expertise or dabble in both truly gave the game a real advantage over most other games of its time, and the fact it was the only game in its genre meant it had virtually no competition what so ever. Another advantage of this game was that it was one of the first multiplayer 3D-space flight combat simulators.
Over all the game was very good for its time and I'm proud to have been able to play on it and look forward to playing it again. A real classic from my childhood, I will always remember this game for the many hours of entertainment it afforded me to escape the horrific realities of, well, homework, and of course the harrowingly boring routine mind-numbing tasks of every day life that seem so unavoidable in this day and age.
