Master of Orion III

You can see what the developers were trying to do, remove the micro-management that can bog you down in this type of game, but they have failed so miserably that it almost makes you want to cry. You can set empire wide policies and development plans that your planetary viceroys (the AI planet controllers) are supposed to follow, but the AI is so dumb you find that you are constantly fighting it. The AI will not build what you want, no matter what policies or plans you set in place, so you find yourself struggling through the worst interface ever devised to correct its mistakes and do what YOU want to do.

Gone is the charm of MOO2; there's no more Galactic News Network, technology breakthrough cutscenes or planetary views. All you are left with is a list of boring, meaningless numbers displayed on boring, meaningless screens.

I so wanted to like this game. I played it for about 40 hours, trying out different gameplay approaches to try and get some enjoyment out of it. All you are left with is a feeling of depression and frustration as you feel that you are constantly fighting the game rather than enjoying it.

Definitely one to miss.

Initially, it's impressive: lousy graphics, but that's not what this game is about. You start with one planet, and have all the usual options for growth, setting your technology tree, etc.

The problem is with the way that MOO3 grapples with macro versus micro management. Traditionally with this sort of game, you start out be carefully selecting all the details of your early planets, before eventually,in mid-end game giving up on all that and focusing on the military and diplomatic arena. And to some extent it remains the same. The problem is that you tend to end withe a choice of completely micro-managing, or gving up control altogether.

An example: with 50-odd planets under my control, I reveiewed the fleet that had been built for me automatically. It consisted of 120 troop ships, and 20 scout ships,at a point when I had consideably bigger ships available. And *there is no way to change the AI bias*. The only thing I could do was make Troop Ships obsolete.

OK, you say: micro-manage, go in and add to the build queues yourself. OK, except for 2 things; firstly, there are only *3* spaces in the queue per planet. Build 3 colony ships, and the AI will revert to Troop Ships. Secondly, there is nowhere to review all the ships being built, so you have to to each planet, with no way to get an overview.

Eventually, you give up, and let the AI just build what it likes, and accept that it does a bad job.

The tactical screen is awful. You do get some sense of great space battles, as the map area is large, with planets being relatively small. But *there is no mini-map*. Finding the enemy is a question of scrawling randomly across the map. By the time you find some ships to attack, the battle is just about over. And there is no replay, nor pause, nor slow-down, no way to review why you lost or how to do better.

Ultimatley, MOO3 is not a game; it's a simulation, which can be quite fun to watch unfolding, but in which you don't greatly participate. Great shame, and I know they released it for financial reasons, but I felt greatly let down.

Wait for MOO3.5, or Galactic Alliances.