Each empire you encounter has its personality type. Peaceful Traders make good allies; Fanatical Purifiers, less sothose not familiar with Paradox’s
historical titles, will spend their
first few runs stumbling in the dark.
Learning the game’s ins and outs
requires patience, experimentation,
and even a bit of online research – but
the reward is worth it.
Unsound control
This is complicated further, though,
by this version’s consolified control
scheme. Making Stellaris’ maze of
nested menus easily navigable with
a gamepad was always going to be a
near-impossible task, and while we
suspect the developers have done
as well here as they could have in
the circumstances, it’s inevitably
somewhat fiddly and awkward.
We do find ourselves getting more
and more adept with the controls
over time, but even a few hours in
we’re still stumbling over particular
commands, and despite being over
200-hour veterans of the PC release,
we’ve more than once overlooked
important notifications and events
due to the cluttered interface.
It’s disappointing, too, how far this
console version lags behind its PC
older brother. In terms of patches, it’s
nearly two years out of date. For some
games that might not be a big deal,
but one of Stellaris’ greatest strengths
is how transformative its frequent
free updates have been over time.
Those two years have seen systems
as fundamental as warfare, trade and
planet management totally overhauled
for the better. Console Edition is still
a fantastic game, but it’s a second-
class citizen to the PC version, and
it looks like it always will be. That
extends to the DLC, too – as it stands,
console players have access to only a
fraction of the game’s massive library
of expansions.
Of course, that need only matter if
you’ve got the choice. If you have a
deep love of strategy, simulation andscience fiction, but not the cash to
shell out for a beefy PC, rejoice – one
of the best games in the genre is now
available for your gaming hardware
of choice. As long as you’ve got the
patience for its tricky controls, you’ll
find literally hundreds of hours of
time-eating adventure in Stellaris:
Console Edition. Just try not to look up
what you’re missing out on. QSTRANGE
NEW WORLDS
At time of writing,
three expansions are
available on Xbox.
Leviathans adds
boss-like
mega-creatures to
the universe,
including a
space-faring dragon
as large as a star;
Plantoids’ bundle of
cosmetic features
allow you to add
sentient plant people
to your games; and
Utopia contains a raft
of new ways to
advance your empire,
from mega-structures
to space habitats,
plus the ability to play
as a Hive Mind.“Stories unfold
from the
game’s many
interlocking
systems”
FAR LEFT There’s
a huge level of
detail – you can
even custom-
design your
spaceships.
RIGHT Diplomacy
is a vital part
of the game,
from trade deals
to declarations
of war.OXM VERDICT
An engrossing mix
of sci-fi strategy
and simulation- but this is a
lesser version.
8
LEFT This is
your usual view- zoomed way
out, so you can
get the big
picture.
More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 081REVIEW