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StarDrive 2

Zero Sum Games · Apr 9, 2015

PC

Rating pending

About

As the galactic ruler of your race you will lead your people into a procedurally-generated galaxy, exploring and expanding your space empire to greatness. Exploit planets, navigate asteroid belts and overcome deep space dangers while handling interspecies relations to gain the upper hand. Conduct diplomacy and espionage, make alien friends that will deliver thriving trade treaties – or enemies that will seek to exterminate you at all costs. Research new technologies and design powerful warships to defend your claims.

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Scores by platform

PC

Critic 6.7 (10 critics) · Gamer 5.5

6.5

Critic reviews

  • GameSpot

    Nick Capozzoli · May 13, 2015

    6.0
    But even though these systems achieve competency, they've been done before in many other games. So any praise leveled at StarDrive 2 inevitably ends up faint when it's taken alongside other entries in the sci-fi 4X genre. Is that a flaw of a navel-gazing piece of genre fare or of our own tendency to internalize lessons from an empire builder--that there can only be one winner and that existing for the sake of existing isn't enough?
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  • PC Gamer

    Leif Johnson · Apr 29, 2015

    7.0
    It's a good thing, then, that StarDrive 2's other elements rarely suffer so thoroughly, although its drive for 4X accessibility occasionally leaves it in danger of slipping into mere adequacy. What we're left with is an ambitious, sprawling admiralty sim that reaches for the stars but rarely achieves more than a comfortable orbit. But with space bears? For me, that makes it more than worth it.
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  • IGN

    Rob Zacny · Apr 20, 2015

    6.9
    StarDrive 2 isn't anything but honest about what it is: it says, right at the start of the manual, that the goal is to conquer the galaxy. But the focus on extermination saps excitement and possibilities from the strategic level, and the tactical minigames don’t have the AI needed to make the ship-building system’s depth pay off. When betrayal and war are always inevitable, one game starts to feel much the same as another.
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  • Game Revolution

    Anthony LaBella · Apr 15, 2015

    6.0
    Unfortunately, the combat lacks excitement and thus I used the auto feature in most situations. ...Combat is only a small portion of the overall experience, but the other aspects of the game don't particularly shine. It's as if StarDrive 2 is content in its adequacy. Ship-building is the only way in which StarDrive 2 truly separates itself from the crowd, and the rest of the game is serviceable at best. It results in some enjoyable moments in a strategy game that fails to make a significant impression.
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  • PCGamesN

    Fraser Brown · Apr 17, 2015

    6.0
    If the rest of the game had been crafted with the same care and attention given to warfare, StarDrive 2 would be an impressive 4X game. But its annoying tone, eccentric AI and the shallowness of the empire management casts a shadow over it. If we weren’t in the middle of an unexpected flood of 4X games, then its take on space conflict alone would make it worth playing, but at the moment there are just too many alternatives.
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  • Game Watcher

    Nick Horth · Apr 17, 2015

    7.5
    Despite the rough edges, though, I had a lot of fun with the game. It’s got a lot of character, it does a good job of streamlining empire management, and aside from a few visual quirks, it has a neat, attractive yet simple visual style that is very appealing. Sure, the AI can be a tad overzealous, and maybe the land battles should have been reconsidered, but those issues weren’t enough to stop me from enjoying my time with StarDrive 2.
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