EXCLUSIVE! Master of Orion III review AND an interview with William C. Fisher

[JonahFalcon]

My review of Master of Orion III is now up - and unlike IGN, you don't have to pay to read it.

http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/moo3/default.asp

Here are the individual links:

Review:

http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/moo3/review.asp

Interview:

http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/moo3/interview.asp

Let me know what you think guys.

[13Matt13]

You would think that after hte Gamespot debacle, one would know DON'T POST HARVESTER INFO AT ALL EVER!

[JonahFalcon]

The single line is being excised, but frankly, this is the first I've heard of it. How about the rest of the review?

[kalbear]

Yeah, I was kind of surprised about that as well - especially since it's in the second paragraph of the review. Wacky.

Magnate civs are still in there. Perhaps the part about Magnates not having to be 'beaten down' is out, but they're still there.

It's not 'virtually' impossible to get all the techs through research, it's 'totally' impossible - the techs you get to research are randomly chosen from the beginning of the game, and you will not get 100% of them. You'll have to steal or trade for 'em.

It's a very clear review with excellent presentation of the important points about the game. Nicely written, good selection of SS, well organized and easy to read.

[JonahFalcon]

Okay, ENOUGH - it's being removed. Discuss the other parts of the review.

[rhofman]

JonahFalcon, I'm suprised you let the cat out of the bag. I'm not one to care about it but some people who read that paragraph about the Ithkul will be disappointed.

Other than that the review is concise and includes the major portions of the game. I'll let you know how well you covered it after I have it in my hands.

[JonahFalcon]

Again, that line was a mistake. (shrug) Just read below the advertisement. I'm still waiting for the guys at UGO to correct it.

However, no memo was ever sent to me regarding this - not when the review copies were sent, not yesterday. Frankly, it's not much of a spoiler, since everyone in the newsgroups knew the origins already, especially since the MOO3 trailer gives it away.

[kalbear]

It's okay - it's not as bad as the guy from ActiveReviews posting on the IGMoo forums full info on the harvesters and getting banned for it.

The interview is great! I'm loving that so far. Good questions. Very interesting answers - it's intriguing to hear about all this information about the planets, economy, etc that's calculated and used but not shown.

[rhofman]

Sorry JonahFalcon, I read the review and posted without refreshing to see that the Ithkul issue was covered.

[Barshy]

I thought you COULDN"T turn viceroy AI's off; that 's what other reviews have said. What's the verdict?

[kalbear]

That's been clarified -they will always manage your DEAs and FLUs automatically, but you can turn them off for other things apparently.

[JonahFalcon]

It hasn't been covered yet. Am still trying to get UGO.com to fix it.

BY THE WAY... the strategy guide has been out for four months, and already gives it away (Page 14). It's NOT NEWS.

[JonahFalcon]

There is a button on each planet screen to turn the viceroys decisions off. (AI off) I never turn the planetary AI off, though.

The spoiler in the third paragraph has been removed, so if you fear spoilers, you can safely read the entire review.

Did anyone read the interview yet? It tells what you might expect in the inevitable patch, that there may be an expansion, and the possibility of either Master of Magic II or Conquest of the New World II...

[13Matt13]

Yes, well some of us had managed to NOT buy the strat guide, NOT read "Spoiler" posts, and NOT read teh Gamespot preview that gave it away then. Too bad for us now....

And you might want to go tell Rantz how this stuff is "NOT NEWS". He still wants to keep it under wraps.

[kalbear]

I thought conquest of the new world was like a mega-pack of games and stuff - or am I thinking of something else? I swear I have this disk that has colonization, pirates, and a couple other games on it...

It was a very cool interview, like I said before. I liked how he emphasized that the hardest thing was cutting the features that they didn't need. I can only imagine...