It’s hard to find the right word to describe the launch of Sword of the Stars 2. Troubled? Early? Turnippy? Kerberos CEO Martin Cirulis says the game will advance from “a turnip to a jewel”, which does unfortunately involve calling it a “turnip” in its current state. Both Kerberos and Paradox have released statements apologising for the state of the game, with the developers going into more detail about their hopes for the future. The original built up a strong fanbase in large part because Kerberos improved it over time, but with the sequel initial reports of an accidentally released beta and then an update with serious problems of its own have caused, let us say, a furore.

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You know how I feel about ludicrously overwrought voiceovers, and the Sword of the Stars II opening cinematic, which you can see below, this year’s winner in that regard. It shows “the Lords of Winter themselves in action – the ancient Suul’ka have returned to their lost empire and are seeking to regain the power they once had”. Grumpy space tentacle beasts are melodramatic! Who would have guessed it?

I had a look at the game itself a couple of months back, and expect to see more before it is launched next month.
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Last week I got a chance to look at upcoming 4X sequel, Sword Of The Stars II. We’ve all seen the fruits of the overhauled 3D battle engine, but what what of the other aspects of this many tentacled space-beast? Read on for some thoughts.

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No, really, it’s for you, Steve. The rest you guys can watch it to, I suppose. In it developers Kerberos talk a bit about what they’re up to with Sword of the Stars II: a dark force returning to the universe, giant spacecraft raking each other with giant beam-weapons, a complex and story-driven 4X game, an empire-driven hierarchies and organisation, complex diplomacy, and so on. Interestingly, lead designer Martin Cirulis suggests that the game will essentially start you “mid-game”, in that you won’t be building up the races from scratch to fight the big bad, you’ll already be well developed, and taking it from there.
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The previously announced Sword of the Stars II? Well, they’ve only gone and released a trailer. HOT FOOTAGE of slowly rotating enormo-ships follow. There is nothing more PC gaming than enormous space-ships, except for terrain. Terrain remains number 1! Number 1 4EVA!
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The chaps over at Paradox Interactive have been announcing loads of games recently, and one of the standout titles is the sequel to lesser-known 4X game, Sword Of The Stars. The new game sounds like something of a remake, as it’ll include the races from the original game and its numerous expansions. This should excite quite a few space-fanatics, as the original game was a remarkably under-rated take on the genre. There are few other details at the moment, but we’ll keep an eye out for them when they arrive. In the meantime we’ll be playing Neptune’s Pride…