It is safe to say that RTS games are in a strange spot. The resurgence of the genre was a false hope of sorts. Most of the RTS games of the past few years have been disappointments and decent at best. On the other hand, 4X games are a monolith, led by the legendary Civilization series, and hardly see proper competition.

Sins of a Solar Empire II is a combination of the two genres set in space. After a strenuous journey through the Epic Games Store, the game has recently been released on Steam, much to the delight of fans. The first Sins of the Solar Empire game, with its expansions, was a great addition to the genre, effectively combining the two genres on a galactic level, literally. It mixes empire-building and real-time battles taking place in space well, and its sequel does much of the same.

Sins of a Solar Empire II, Review, Gameplay, Screenshots, Space, Strategy

The first thing you notice is that the map isn't static. The planets, composed of specific' gravity wells', move. So you could be neighboring a dead empty gravity well one moment and a heavily defended gravity the next. This also applies to where you place your orbital structures since the phase lanes- interspace lines connecting gravity wells also move.

Sins of a Solar Empire II presents you with an extensive collection of min-tutorials that effectively explain every bit of the game. And it is sort of needed, for the game is incredibly complex, full of little mechanics that all come together to help you create your own hyper-empire.

Your single-player campaign starts with a myriad of scenarios with varying numbers of players. Most of you start far from each other, in your net of gravity wells. This starts a slow but mad dash to explore the local area, grow your fleets, and expand your home system without meeting any proper enemies.

Sins of a Solar Empire II has a lot of menus, seriously, a lot. You will be tabbing from the two research menus to the home system, to the other system, to the fleets, and so on. Each of these things has its sub-systems and mechanics that are really beyond the realm of any review.

The game presents you with three main currencies. Credit, Metals, and Crystals. Each of these lets you build ships, research, and so on. You eventually have also to get some exotic resources that have unique and devastating uses.

The planets have a certain number of districts that let you specialize the planets for different purposes. The various planet types also offer a range of bonuses or penalties, so you'll have to take different approaches for each.

Sins of a Solar Empire II, Review, Gameplay, Screenshots, Space, Strategy

On the orbital level, you'll have to build defensive structures, ports, and refineries, strategically placing them to maximize defensiveness. Each planet also has its own thing relating to upgrading an aspect of the planet. This includes commerce, logistics, defense, mining, and research rates.

Sins of a Solar Empire II’s tech tree has a relatively simple structure, giving you two different categories: civilian and military. They each require corresponding research stations to start researching, and the techs are tiered, so for the really useful ones, you'll need a lot of research stations. The trees themselves are large and linear; there are no choices present, but with the ability to choose from at least twenty techs at a time, you'll be scrutinizing the value of each one.

The game's factions are something to behold. They don't have much going for them other than their different titans and unique factional bonuses. Their lore is lackluster, and they offer little besides being violent conquerors. Sins of a Solar Empire II offers no way to achieve peace, prosperity, or perseverance. In this sinful galaxy, there is only war and death.

This basically also means that the game has poor options for diplomacy. There are three options, and they're pretty straightforward, but there's just one issue. Good luck actually getting them accepted. Even when you're ravaging half their empire, you'll find the AI stubbornly uninterested in any bouts of diplomacy. You could offer them reparations, entire planets, but it's like trying to hit a tiny pinata while blindfolded, and the pinata dodges all your moves like a pony Legolas.

The Minor Factions system is a bit more fleshed out, offering the use of influence to unlock tiers of reputation that then give you abilities to do a myriad of things. These minor factions are essential for your game as you'll often need to supplement your economy through the resource market.

Sins of a Solar Empire II, Review, Gameplay, Screenshots, Space, Strategy

These markets are naturally run by the minor faction. Where it hits the mark is that the factions themselves are, well, hollow. They are soulless, motiveless ability generators and middlemen that exist for the barest reasons.

Sins of a Solar Empire II’s combat is its greatest hallmark; each individual ship has specific stats, weapons, and defenses. These are all simulated, and you can see them work in real-time. Fleet composition is essential, but their overall formation is left irrelevant. The combat is fun, and the spectacle is great to look at, but at its heart, it remains another feature that could've been fleshed out more.

Each faction has its own designs and specialties and stands out from the others, which is a complete shame since that's the only actual lore they receive. Your capital ships can be outfitted with items, and each comes with abilities that can be upgraded and unlocked the longer they remain in service. You also have an amazing roster of many different units.

Again, with anything good, the game is presented with five different issues. A lot of the time, the battles feel unbalanced; it starts to become a numbers game or, worse, based on specific techs and modules. The balance is lacking, with certain ships being more superweapons than the actual superweapons in the game and their counters being incredibly costly; you'll often find yourself just creating your overpowered ships to stem the tide.

Sadly, Sins of a Solar Empire II does not have a narrative, and there are no campaigns or mission scenarios- nothing. This leaves the single-player scenarios as not too much of a draw. The PvP multiplayer, on the other hand, does a lot to patch the holes in this interstellar ship.

Sins of a Solar Empire II, Review, Gameplay, Screenshots, Space, Strategy

The diplomacy suddenly becomes good, great even. While you cannot do any backstabbing, you can set up treaties and just wait for them to end, all the while building up a large force and then attacking as soon as they end. The combat becomes more intuitive and adds a lot of depth.

As a successor, the game fixes a few things from its predecessor, but mainly, it adds a ton to the graphics. Each of the battles feels very cinematic, save for the fact that the ships mostly stand around. The planets also look beautiful, with bouts of life in them. Some have sizeable airport-like sub-orbit stations with a lot of traffic going through them.

The UI is frustrating at times. It is not inherently bad, but you have to look all over the place to gather information, which is weird, to say the least. A lot of the options are hidden away under tabs, and even more frustratingly, some require you to close them before you can move to another tab.

The music of Sins of a Solar Empire II doesn't stand out much, but it gets the job, which is honestly all it needs to do. The voice lines are annoying, so you'll often find yourself turning them off. The sound of all the weapons does more than enough to make up for this, though.

Sins of a Solar Empire II essentially wants you to shoot first and ask questions later. It's like Call of Duty of space shooters. You turn off your mind and play, something an RTS player might find scandalous. It's an RTS game that lacks many strategic elements common in the genre. It's a 4X game that waters down all of its 4X aspects, and as such, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Sins of a Solar Empire II, Review, Gameplay, Screenshots, Space, Strategy

The gameplay loop is simple, and the game runs quite well while being incredibly stunning. The game also does well with its automation. Your scouts start exploring immediately, and your new ships can be immediately assigned to fleets. The automation is excellent since you have a lot to do and work with.

Overall, Sins of a Solar Empire II is a simplified Stellaris, and it is damn good at what it does right. With its many, many flaws, it still remains a fun experience. If you liked the original Sins of a Solar Empire, you'll love this game. And if you're looking for an entry point for space RTS games and are too daunted by Stellaris, this is for you as well.

Sins of a Solar Empire II

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