I haven't reviewed a game for a while, so it's time to take a proper look at Pandora: First Contact.
These thoughts are based on the most up-to-date version downloaded using the very hand auto-updater tool (not enough indie games have these built in, sure does cut down on manually keeping up to date!).
Major starting gripe: Unless you specifically click the "Linux" link on the platform list on their buy page you won't get the Linux version, their website's buy link is for the Windows version. Luckily I have been in touch with the developer and publisher who are both awesome and it is being sorted out, not to mention they gave me the review copy.
Major plus: Copying & Pasting the games key from my email to the games full screen window worked flawlessly as does alt+tab, this is something that doesn't work very often for me on Linux so that made me happy starting off, little niggles takes away make things nice to work with.
On first loading up the game you are greeting with a good-looking cinematic which turns into the game itself with one of the "drop-pods" turning into your landing pod and the game starts, that's a really nice touch. You are greeted with a very good looking tile based map and your first units that come out from the drop-pod (I have no idea what the actual name for the unit that drops you down, I'm totally making that up).
The in-game help system will carefully guide you through the process of learning to play, the language is easy to understand and it guides you in a way that with a simple brain like mine you won't get confused (unlike Crusader Kings II for example, that fried my brain). Sadly on my first attempt rather than doing the obvious thing of putting my city on top on a Gold Vein I colonized a blank tile, oops (hint: gold helps your wealth).
I was lucky in finding a Ruin right by where I colonized at the start which gave me some armour which I was able to give to my soldiers by selecting it in the workshop. Although it seems like it doesn't retro-fit your units when you adjust them in the workshop, they are given the enhancements only if they are built after.
Be warned, you and your fellow colonists aren't alone on this planet you will come up against flying aliens, aliens and their hives and possibly more as the developers seem to be a fan of my favourite film series 'Alien, Aliens, etc' by calling them Xenomorphs which was a nice touch for me. Although they touch on 'Starship Troopers' as well since the soldiers refer to Xenomorph drones as "bugs". Sadly my first encounter with them like in those films i mentioned ended in tears, my soldiers all died. It was a sad time for my people.
This is one of the few games that has engrossed me enough to actually read all of the "Compendium" so far. It makes it interested without being overwhelming.
As you progress through the research you are able to unlock buildings like a Training Facility that gives your units +1 rank when they are built (boosting their stats), that's a nice touch.
The UI of the game is a pleasure to use, everything you need is only usually one click away making the entire game feel very polished.
I certainly hope they come out with some sort of Alien based expansion for the game (it is inspired by Alpha Centauri after all). They could add a lot into the game easily from more terrain features, new types of native alien species and more random finds in ruins.
I have only scratched the surface of the game with this review as I don't like to ramble on too much since I have done a video for you all as well to showcase it under Linux.
Not everything is sunshine and rainbows for me though, something has really irked me - you can win a "Scientific Victory" where if you researched 75% of everything then you win, seems like a bit of a cop-out way to win a game like this, for me games like this should be about the strategy not about simply standing off and researching until you win a game. This reminds me how in Master of Orion 2 you could have a big empire and win the game by the AI voting you to be head of everyone it ruins the experience, I am hoping Pandora doesn't just end like that if you do hit the research limit.
That though is the only issue I have with this game and it's an issue I've not even encountered myself yet.
Gameplay Video
Note: This is a different game to the one I reviewed above, I started afresh for the video
Final verdict: Buy it. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
These thoughts are based on the most up-to-date version downloaded using the very hand auto-updater tool (not enough indie games have these built in, sure does cut down on manually keeping up to date!).
Major starting gripe: Unless you specifically click the "Linux" link on the platform list on their buy page you won't get the Linux version, their website's buy link is for the Windows version. Luckily I have been in touch with the developer and publisher who are both awesome and it is being sorted out, not to mention they gave me the review copy.
Major plus: Copying & Pasting the games key from my email to the games full screen window worked flawlessly as does alt+tab, this is something that doesn't work very often for me on Linux so that made me happy starting off, little niggles takes away make things nice to work with.
On first loading up the game you are greeting with a good-looking cinematic which turns into the game itself with one of the "drop-pods" turning into your landing pod and the game starts, that's a really nice touch. You are greeted with a very good looking tile based map and your first units that come out from the drop-pod (I have no idea what the actual name for the unit that drops you down, I'm totally making that up).
The in-game help system will carefully guide you through the process of learning to play, the language is easy to understand and it guides you in a way that with a simple brain like mine you won't get confused (unlike Crusader Kings II for example, that fried my brain). Sadly on my first attempt rather than doing the obvious thing of putting my city on top on a Gold Vein I colonized a blank tile, oops (hint: gold helps your wealth).
I was lucky in finding a Ruin right by where I colonized at the start which gave me some armour which I was able to give to my soldiers by selecting it in the workshop. Although it seems like it doesn't retro-fit your units when you adjust them in the workshop, they are given the enhancements only if they are built after.
Be warned, you and your fellow colonists aren't alone on this planet you will come up against flying aliens, aliens and their hives and possibly more as the developers seem to be a fan of my favourite film series 'Alien, Aliens, etc' by calling them Xenomorphs which was a nice touch for me. Although they touch on 'Starship Troopers' as well since the soldiers refer to Xenomorph drones as "bugs". Sadly my first encounter with them like in those films i mentioned ended in tears, my soldiers all died. It was a sad time for my people.
This is one of the few games that has engrossed me enough to actually read all of the "Compendium" so far. It makes it interested without being overwhelming.
As you progress through the research you are able to unlock buildings like a Training Facility that gives your units +1 rank when they are built (boosting their stats), that's a nice touch.
The UI of the game is a pleasure to use, everything you need is only usually one click away making the entire game feel very polished.
I certainly hope they come out with some sort of Alien based expansion for the game (it is inspired by Alpha Centauri after all). They could add a lot into the game easily from more terrain features, new types of native alien species and more random finds in ruins.
I have only scratched the surface of the game with this review as I don't like to ramble on too much since I have done a video for you all as well to showcase it under Linux.
Not everything is sunshine and rainbows for me though, something has really irked me - you can win a "Scientific Victory" where if you researched 75% of everything then you win, seems like a bit of a cop-out way to win a game like this, for me games like this should be about the strategy not about simply standing off and researching until you win a game. This reminds me how in Master of Orion 2 you could have a big empire and win the game by the AI voting you to be head of everyone it ruins the experience, I am hoping Pandora doesn't just end like that if you do hit the research limit.
That though is the only issue I have with this game and it's an issue I've not even encountered myself yet.
Gameplay Video
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Final verdict: Buy it. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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5 comments
Do you think the game is a good buy? My buddy watched a video of it and said it reminded him too much of Civ 5, which he hated. I saw the research victory and kind of turned away from it. The tech tree looked too limited to not reach that victory rather fast. The video I saw the guy was probably 50% into the tech 20 minutes into the game and he hadn't even engaged in combat.
I loved Alpha Centauri, I had games that lasted up to a week of game play. Also the last game I played like was Warlock Master of the Arcane, which I found enjoyable. Not sure how close this is to that if you've had a chance to play that.
I loved Alpha Centauri, I had games that lasted up to a week of game play. Also the last game I played like was Warlock Master of the Arcane, which I found enjoyable. Not sure how close this is to that if you've had a chance to play that.
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I suppose it would help if I noted that at the end - yes I would buy it :) that video was cut from a 35 minute play session and I'm pretty sure I was still quite early in the game.
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Cheeseness Nov 21, 2013
Didn't Alpha Centauri have research victories as well?
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It's pretty good...reminds me of warlock master of the arcane, which is also like civ 5, but sci fi. Never played alpha centauri so I can't really compare it to that.
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Does it have Custom Skirmish or Sandbox type modes vs AI? I can't seem to find an answer.
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