In the third instalment of the space faring sim, Masters of Orion 3, is bigger and more complex than its predecessors. The goals of the game have remained largely the same: Dominate your enemies militaristically, get elected to the Presidential position on the Orion Senate, or find the 5 Antaran artefacts that have been scattered throughout the galaxy.
Multiplayer gaming remains largely the same as single player, although there is now an included option for imposing turn limits and financial benefits for brief turns, which addresses the serious problem of incredibly long waits seen in previous outings.
Each individual planet in your empire has a number of items that must be managed individually, including taxes, build queues, regional zoning, terra-forming, resource collection, economic infrastructure development, military versus planetary spending limits
A vital addition to the game is an AI "viceroy" for each planet. The Viceroys will do most of the mundane work for you based on empire-wide policies you can set, but don't expect them to do specifically what you want very often. The galactic scale is no less daunting, as you must manage not only a galactic budget and research management, but also military development and deployment, diplomatic relations and spy infiltration. Also new to MoO3 is the manner in which the player interacts with the Orion Senate. Although being elected President of the senate is still a game-winning condition, you can now become a member of the senate and call for or vote on laws to, among other things, impose sanctions on or declare war upon other alien races.
In the end, Masters of Orion 3 succeeds wonderfully with compelling gameplay that will leave you engrossed for hours (or possibly even days) at a time, which is spurred by the depth offered not only by the available management options, but also by the diverse and interesting playable alien races and a sprawling technology tree. Unfortunately, there is a fairly steep learning curve involved in mastering the game's many concepts, and this may frighten away those not interested in investing several hours into simply learning how the game works. However, the payoff is well worth the effort, and MoO3 is a fantastic title that I'd highly recommend to anyone who enjoys strategy games. --Jon Grover Amazon.com
Product Description
Master of Orion 3 (MOO3) is a deep and intuitive strategic-level game that evolves the Master of Orion series by modelling the story depth of science-fiction epics like those you've read and seen in the movies or on TV.
In Master of Orion 3, the sequel to one of the best-loved strategy games of all time, players assume the biggest role ever. No longer do players merely represent petty interplanetary dictators. In Master of Orion 3, players become the controlling power behind an entire galactic civilization; the dictators, presidents, councils, and overlords that come and go are merely pawns in the player's arsenal. One must use these governments, their citizens, and their leaders to secure the destiny of their civilization, to manipulate policies of freedom and oppression in both foreign and domestic arenas. It is not enough to be an able economist or a great starship captain to succeed in Master of Orion 3; considerable political, administrative, research, and espionage skills must be applied to craft your civilization's glorious chapter in the Annals of Time and Space.
