Master of Orion has entered Early Access stage three, which means it’s time for a bunch of new features for the remake of the 4X classic, including new races, a new victory condition and planet-bound species.
There’s plenty more in our list of PC’sbest strategy gamesfor all you tacticians.
The Darlocks and the Silicoids are now playable in MoO, meaning all ten original races from the classic 4X are now in the game.The two new races plan to shake up how you can achieve intergalactic domination.
The Darlocks are master spies who hoard information with espionage, bring down industry with research, steal technology and poison food. Basically, you don’t want to be mates with them. These new skills aren’t unique to them, however, as Espionage is now available to all races, giving everyone the ability to shoot their allies in the back or chip away at an enemy unseen.
The Silicoids, meanwhile, are skillful engineers who can capture colonies and build massive fleets. Although they are slow to grow as a population, their home-world is packed with rare minerals.
Espionage is the big takeaway here, though, as it’s what will be mixing up regular play, especially since there’s a new victory condition to take advantage of its cloak and dagger nature. Economic victories require you to corner the Interstellar Stock Exchange. You can sabotage structures and commit other nefarious deeds in a bid to make the populace on an enemy’s territory go on strike, halting their economy while you get ahead.
Another thing that could help you get ahead is the addition of Independent Planets. The species on these planets have no ambitions of conquering the stars, but you can still undertake missions for them and secure their vote for a diplomatic victory.
Master of Orion is $49.99 on Steam now, in Early Access.