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Rating: 
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Homeworld was good in its time but its time to retire that game and say hello to a newer, bigger, better and superior game called Sins of a Solar Empire. A true TBS meets RTS game and the best mix of these two genres I have ever seen. Excellent single or multiplayer. One of the toughest computer AIs ever made. Beautiful graphics, some of the best space battles I have ever seen. Looks like it was ripped out of a top notch sci-fi flick. Capital ships are the coolest looking things and they are huge! Tiny fighters zip around them like ants just wait until you zoom in on the action. Superb replayablity, every galaxy in each scenario is randomly generated. The you can even customize your own with in game settings. Stop reading, add to cart and buy it, I will promise you will NOT be disppointed.
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SINS is a fun game that pits you against 1-7 opponents. You can play vs. people or computers or a combination. You can also team up and play cooperatively. The AI is pretty good, so adds a bit of challenge without just having the computer pump out tons of ships to compensate for terrible AI.
The built in game updater is handy since they send out a patch about once a month so far. I like the changes they have made so far.
Overall, the game is fun to play. I think if you aren't into RTS and strategy, you may get turned off by SINS. With the latest patches, you can speed parts of the game up (like ship speed) so the game doesn't drag on so long.
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First off, this game is not a "Master of Orion" style game in any way. It's far more comparable to Homeworld -- it's a space based RTS game.
Like most RTS games, the tech trees are fairly shallow with limited options and units are not customizable beyond researching new techs for them. There are three fairly similar races which are also not customizable.
However, it's not all bad news.
Although you'll likely be spending a lot of focus on overseeing large battles between fleets, there's also a lot of room to conduct secondary operations -- sending smaller strike teams out while the enemy is hopefully preoccupied with your main fleet. A lot of RTS games simply don't reward this sort of thing very well but in Sins, it opens up a lot of strategic options.
Multiplayer is integrated and well supported, including a feature that lets you save and resume multiplayer games. This is something that RTS gamers have been asking for for years.
Games can easily last several hours, depending on how many players and how big of a game you wanted. Personally, I enjoy the option of having a "big game" rather than simply the small map 15-minute skirmishes most RTS games offer.
The AI is pretty good and actually pretty amusing to have on your team. AIs will communicate with each other through standard chat and will try to coordinate with you and each other. (Enemy AI, on the other hand, tends to be annoying by making constant demands. This is the "diplomacy" aspect of the game and frankly it would probably be more fun without it.)
Graphics are very nice, should you choose to zoom in far enough to see them all, although the only reason to zoom in that far is to look at the graphics. It's generally more practical to be zoomed out far enough that ships are dots.
I think the bottom line for me is that I see this game as a good start. It's really nothing new. Real time space based empire games have been done before and arguably have been done better. However, I see this game as having a strong potential as a platform that they can build on. I don't regret my purchase but I'm more keenly interested in what they have in mind for Sins of a Solar Empire II. Deeper tech trees? More races? Customizable ships and races? There's a lot of room to expand and I hope they continue to build on it.
Rating: 
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This is a pretty good game. I enjoyed playing this game, for about 2 to 3 weeks, then started to crave more from it.
Its got very simple gameplay, and this is fine to start with as you can get into the gameplay very quickly, but as you get into it you will start to want more depth, more umph if you like. Some variation would be nice.
Once you have learned how to do it. It doesnt matter how big the galaxy you are playing in or how many planets or apponants you have. Its still the same plod along game.
A little more depth and variation would have really made this a winner.
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Sins of a Solar Empire is a great game with a few tragic flaws.
The graphics are amazing- especially given the scope of the game. All the ships are well designed and have uniqe abilities. With the details set pretty high, they shine in the sunlight and generally look really good. The dynamic zoom is handy, and allows you to select any unit you want in about 1/2 sec. The empire tree on the left side of the screen is also a great way to manage the entire empire all at once. Resources are easy to understand and collect. Sins also adds culture to the mix. By building broadcast stations and spreading your influence, you can take over planets without bombing them to dust. As for the visuals, only the explosion and weapon effect detail leave something to be desired.
There is no single-player campaign, so if that's your thing, don't buy this game!
The random maps take A LONG TIME TO PLAY. My first game was a 14 planet (small) random map and it took me over 5 1/2 hour to complete. People have started games at the largest size (over 100 planets) and have been playing them as an ongoing project for months. If you like fast action and a flurry of clicking, this game is not for you. Sins is all about building a massive fleet and watching it obliterate everything- not frantically pressing special attacks.
The AI is decent, but nothing spectacular. Stardock is releasing upgrades to make the AI better. What's really annoying is that the computer players always seem to run from battle unless they have an overwhelming force. Also, there are space pirates who attack your empire on a regular basis. I find them really annoying, but they allow your capital ships to level up before facing another player.
Lastly, I have a pretty good laptop (Intel Core2Duo@2Ghz, 2gb RAM, NVidia 7300) and loading even a small map takes FOREVER. Literally, I start a map and walk away to do something else so I don't have to watch the bar inch across the screen. Once the game starts, it runs great though.
I gave this product 4/5 stars because 1)low effect detail 2)cowardly AI and 3)LOOONG load time
Overall, it's a great game I would recommend most to those who are into space RTS games, have a lot of free time, and like playing online.
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