Imperium Galactica II

Herald rating: ****

GT Interactive

PC

$99.95

M15

Review: Peter Eley

The original game grew up on the back of classic space-exploration games such as Masters of Orion and, frankly, didn't match up.

Its much-delayed sequel is a wholly new game which can hold its own with the new breed of space-god games such as Alpha Centauri.

The appeal of these vast and seemingly interminable games is the level of control they give you over your own space empire.

The price of running the universe, of course, is that it's a complicated, downright messy business which demands a huge amount of concentration and has a steep learning curve.

Once hooked, you can expect weeks, even months, of good, clean fun as you colonise planets and spread your power base through distant galaxies.

While Imperium Galactica doesn't have the same level of micro-management as the laby-rinthine Alpha Centauri, it is a much easier game to jump straight into.

An easy-to-follow tutorial helps, although the game is not for those with short attention spans.

Excellent graphics make it even more accessible. While the control screens are not overly visual, they are easy to use, you can dive straight into 3D to view your colonies or view battles as you vie with alien races.

It's a big game, coming on four CDs — an installation disk, and one each for three playable civilisations, namely the human Solarians, the commerce-minded Shinari and the warlike Kra'hen.

The playing experience for each race is different, adding length to what is already a long game.

The gameplay is standard for such strategy games — explore, conquer, rip off your subject races and use the money for further exploration.

Like SimCity, collecting tax is the main way of raising cash. It's a finely balanced affair — take too much and output drops, reducing the taxable base.

Like most games, the more you research, the more buildings and weapons you can produce.

You need to build up a formidable fleet to protect your colonies, and they have to be assigned carefully to prevent sneak attacks, although fixed ground units can help to fend them off.

As well as the wider plot of exploration and conquest, some clever sub-plots crop up.

For example, your planet might be threatened by devastating earthquakes, and you will have to scour the known universe for a scientist who can stop them.