50
Roxio vs.
Nero
Find out how the
two leaders in media
creation compare.Contents
(^38)
Geek Quiz
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18
Build Your
Own $1,500 PC
My Name
Is Will and
I Have an
X Problem
Ed Word
Please send feedback and
something wrapped in bacon
to [email protected].
O
ver the years, I’ve made some startling
confessions in this column—the words “I
love OS X” earned me a few hate letters. But now
it’s time to brace yourself for my most startling
confession yet: I’m addicted to 4X games, the
classic turn-based universe-domination titles
in which you eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and
eXterminate. This genre was last popular sometime
around (gulp) 1993.
When I’m picking out a title at my local game
shop, I don’t beeline for the 4X section, pining for
better days. In fact, if you were to place a copy of
Call of Duty and the latest empire builder side by
side, I’d reach for the shooter because I know it
will be more fun. But if you somehow tempt, coax,
or coerce me into playing a good 4X game—from
Master of Orion to Galactic Civilization—I’m in big
trouble. This is when I start showing all the signs
of addiction. A quick one-hour game invariably
turns into a marathon session. I build my meager
empire, one solar system at a time, subsuming alien
cultures weaker than mine—using overwhelming
force if necessary. A negotiation here, a small-
scale war there, and pretty soon it’s 4 a.m., and I’m
wondering who drank all the Red Bull.
And that’s when I decide I’m going to take just
one more turn. Or maybe two.
Then it snowballs even further. I zombie through
days at work and spend sleepless nights plotting my
next move against the almighty Prophet Zarquon,
who runs a three-planet hegemony that’s the next
stop for the United Federation of Will’s Flotilla of
Love, Happiness, and an Array of Interplanetary
Railguns On the Off Chance that Love and
Happiness Don’t Get the Job Done.
So that’s my addiction, and it’s particularly
topical thanks to a new game called Sins of a Solar
Empire, which is going to do for the 4X genre what
Dune 2 and C&C did for strategy games. By ditching
turn-based gameplay for a real-time design, Sins
retains the compelling depth and complexity of
the 4X genre while removing the things that irked
me, like waiting for your opponent to plan his turn.
In return, you get glorious space battles in which
tactics, politics, and economy all matter. In short, it’s
a game that I sit down to play and don’t look away
from for at least four hours.
Sins is by no means perfect. It’s essentially
multiplayer only, with no campaign to gradually
introduce you to very complex gameplay. While this is
a problem, the fundamental game design is so brilliant
that strategy fans shouldn’t overlook Sins. Trust me,
you won’t be disappointed.