Ascendancy
Complex and beautiful 4x game with a twist on space building
4X is best represented by the X games, X2, X3, ... but, before this series became famous, almost eponymous with 4X, the genre was much more diverse. One game that took a different road in this genre was Ascendancy, a game that featured a lot of the 4X staples, but also managed to have its own personality and to imbibe the style with its own type of personality and individuality. Ascendancy puts economic growth through building and construction, while also featuring hostile alien creatures, battles in space and even alliances. Your goal is to slowly and steadily build an empire, one that will gradually become a self controlled entity, a galactic empire. In terms of mechanics, you will play turn based, picking from a number of control windows, available at any time and offering you multiple options. So, the game has its own feel and its own tilting towards economics, but there are other elements out there, to create a really interesting 4X experience, overall. So, for all the 4X fans out there who want a mainly economic based experience, Ascendency is that plus a lot more, so do give it a good look.
A must-have in your collection
I have played quite some few space strategy games in my life, but never have I ever experienced such a complex game as Ascedancy. It's one of those 4x game (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) and a really awesome one as well. It is like taking one of the Civilization games and giving it a space theme and offering a more complex management mechanic. The plot of the game can be summed up in the following sentences: some of the species in the game have their own reason to reaching the stars. There are two categories of species: peaceful ones, who are just simple curious explorers, and hostile, whose only desire is to kill and conquer everything in their path. As you start a new game, you're greeted by the map of the Universe, which contains hundreds a stars, each representing a solar system. You start off by ruling a single solar system. When you select a star, you go to the solar system's map, where you have the planets. You can select a planet and start building building, slowly building up your galactic empire. After that, you can start expanding your rule, claiming other solar systems and conquering the opposing empires. You thought that you spent hours on Civilization 5? Wait till you play Ascendancy! Overall, the game is a great 4x TBS game and fans of the genre, and of other genres as well, should play this game! It's a must-have!
