The Wrath of Cohen: A Distant Worlds-Shadows AAR

[John]

Oh, that's cool! I didn't know that defeated pirates may join you when you're playing as a pirate yourself. That's a whole side of Distant Worlds that I haven't delved into yet. This AAR is making me curious to start up a pirate game.

Love the Wrath of Khan shout-out at the end there.

[John]

Matrix Games just released Distant Worlds: Universe today. It's a compilation of Distant Worlds and its three expansion packs, plus new material exclusive to this special edition. Purchase the game before May 29 and you get $10 off, making the total $50. Plus, owners of previous Distant Worlds games are in line for a discount. Best of all, your purchase now entitles you to a Steam key! Read all about it here.

[Mike Dunn]

I grabbed it, paying $10 since I have the other expansions. Not sure I have time for it, but $10 is a no-brainer. And a steam key to boot.

[John]

Wot I Think: Distant Worlds – Universe

Distant Worlds: Universe is my favourite space strategy game. Not my favourite space strategy game released this week and not my favourite space strategy game released this year. It’s the definitive version of the best space strategy game I’ve ever played ...

I’m reminded of [Crusader Kings II] because Distant Worlds similarly puts the player in the position of a ruler rather than an omniscient, omnipotent god. Take Civilization – who do you play in Civilization? You’re not a character, you’re an idea. In Distant Worlds your society will function without your input and you can choose precisely how much is automated.

All the things that you don’t care about can be handled by the computer, which is a blessing when you’re straddling a hundred systems and trying to keep your mind from collapsing in on itself. There are plenty of sliders to tinker with, so you can set the ‘character’ of the automation, deciding where your empire should direct its efforts. And you can switch settings on the fly as well.

High praise indeed, and well deserved. Distant Worlds is the last game I have time to play, precisely because I don't play it. I just set up the universe and let it run in the background. When I finally have time to check in on it, I discover so many storylines have emerged, and I get to fill in the gaps with my imagination. If that sounds boring to you, by all means, control every aspect you like. Control everything, if you have the attention span for it! Or leave the parts that bore you to the AI and just handle what you like: combat, ship design, research, diplomacy, espionage, etc. There is pretty much no way you can not have fun with Distant Worlds.