No, they were already working on theirs and well ahead before we'd started. Also it doesn't look like anything that we were working on. It's not hard for me because I thought they stole anything. They had their own design teams and creative teams working out through all the possible ideas they could come up with to shake and stir the moldy genre and make something new. What really kills me is that I worked a few years on a similar game, often 14 hours a day and then had the rug pulled from under me by my business partner. It's just that I really cared for that game I was working on, it got killed and it would be close to completion around now. Logically I see I never had the funds and that there were conceptual errors embedded into the design and so.. But the feels! Honestly I'm hoping Stellaris turns out great. I set out to create something like it - I failed but if they can pull it through it's all good! I ended up with a job and if they succeed I also get that game I always wanted! Win-win! That doesn't mean I won't have regrets or a chip in my shoulder over that game studio I was involved in that simply failed at everything. But I don't hold that against anyone else. TL;DR THEY STOLE MY IDEA!
There is discount voucher for this one in greenman gaming: 25% off with code: WATCH25 Edit: No idea how long voucher is valid, but atleast it works today (6.may)
Out today... some reviews I snagged from reddit page: Printed Reviews in English: Destructiod 9/10 A hallmark of excellence. It may have some flaws, but they are negligible to what is otherwise a supreme title. GameWatcher 9.0/10.0 Stellaris is simply wonderful. If you enjoy grand strategy games then you’ll love this. If you don’t then this could be the one to change your mind. If you’ve been too intimidated to try the genre before now, then here’s your ideal starting point. PC Invasion 8/10 All the galactic flavour and themes of a 4X space title, married to the mechanics of Paradox's recent grand strategy offerings. Stellaris has a space opera tale of gene manipulation, Federation politics, or colonial slavery for everyone. Eurogamer Recommended More approachable than ever, Stellaris is the Paradox grand strategy game you need to play. IGN 6.3/10.0 Stellaris is filled with good ideas, and it’s not difficult to see the outline of a great space strategy game where those ideas could come together. But beyond the early game, it’s only compelling in bits and pieces – it turns into a largely uneventful slog after that. Paradox has developed a reputation of major upgrades to their games for years after launch, and Stellaris is going to need all that love and more to reach its potential. PC Gamer 70/100 None of which is to say Stellaris is a bad game, just an inconsistent one. Given Paradox's history, I hope upcoming patches and expansions can fill in the gaps, and smooth out the omissions and weird quirks of diplomacy. I desperately want the full game to match the promise of its opening. Tweaked in the right way, Stellaris has a chance to become an enduring classic. Right now, it doesn't meet its full potential. PC World 4/5 Stellaris is great. Maybe not Crusader Kings II great yet—give it a few expansions to fill out—but it’s a compelling bit of player-directed science fiction. Freed from the chains of history Paradox has created something creative and bold and inspiring, something that illuminates just how vast and unknowable space is and how tiny our place in it. Still there’s something reassuring, watching the decades and centuries tick by and the tendrils of civilization creep across the galaxy, thinking “That could be us someday.” Maybe. PC Games N 9/10 Calling Stellaris Europa Universalis in space is probably reductive, but it was the first thing I did in this review not because they are almost exactly alike, but because, when I put away my empires and get on with my day, the stories that have played out in these digital worlds embed themselves in my brain, and I so desperately want to tell people about them. Both games tickle the part of my brain that wants every battle to have some greater context, every move I make to be part of a larger narrative. Stellaris manages to do this without history to lean on, though, and does so with aplomb. RockPaperShotgun No Score The great experiment of the game was not so much the change of scenery, from history to science fiction, it was the decision to create a Civ-like game of expansion with some complexities and aspects of simulation borrowed from grand strategy. It’s in the simulation of a living galaxy that most of the complexity has been lost, but what has been gained is a precise and finely tuned machine. Less erratic and surprising than its ancestors, but much more elegant in its design. TICGN 10/10 For the price of admission, and the impeccable track record Paradox has with supporting their games with ongoing patches and content, you will have an improving gameplay experience that will get better with time. The game offers a unique look into managing a government, and give you a great escape into a time where you will be zipping across our massive galaxy exploring new and interesting species. Besides the fact that you’ll experience a far flung future where Warp drives exists, you’ll spend hours discussing diplomatic relations with other species with friends who also play the game. Multiplayer gives players an even bigger base to play with, opening your world to play up against real world gamers who might not be so forgiving in their strategy.
So it sounds like pretty much what i expected then a bit limited in content but we will likely see alot of expansions/DLC in the future to fix these things. I have yet to download this but I will when I get a chance.
Salary day coming up. Going to need to get it ASAP. I'm shaking in my slippers and itching to play it. Indeed, Paradox are known to bake decent expansions.
purchased and downloading... EDIT: What the fuck IGN? http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/05/09/stellaris-review You give this a 6.3/10 but you feel perfectly fine with giving Evolve a 9/10. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02/12/evolve-review Utter bullshit.
Kinguin has the base game steam key at $33 and the galaxy edition for $56 for those interested in it.
