[Video Game Review] Endless Space 2: Penumbra

in #videogames5 years ago

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Endless Space 2: Penumbra is the latest expansion/DLC for what is on balance a decent space-4X strategy game. In it, Amplitude has brought a new exotic faction and an entirely new mechanic available for all the species (though the newcomers, the Umbral Choir are inherently better at it). Hacking is the name of the game for the UC but if you think of it as a new layer of espionage mechanics, you won’t be far wrong.


I love the Endless Universe. I am perfectly comfortable saying that. The hybrid of science fiction and fantasy across multiple games has never really been done as well, nor to the extremes which Amplitude push it. As such, it was an amazing opportunity to get to write the review of the latest expansion for ES2.

As a freelance games journalist, you don't typically get to pick all of the games that you review. In fact, it's probably better for the field as a whole that you don't. It's all too easy to only put yourself in for game franchises and game styles that you really like, so everything you put on the page starts to come across as homogenous, the same boring pablum of superlatives in one article as every other.

I'm sure you can think of entire publications which have fallen to that kind of insidious rot. No one who is interested in stories about video games (or any other field in which a layman can be and often is as conversant as the "experts") hasn't been exposed to what's essentially just bad journalism. Stories that all look alike. Writers that all look alike. No tension, no actual discussion, none of that.

So you have to try and push out of your comfort zone whenever you can and whenever your editor will let you. Some people just make their bones getting known for one kind of thing. And that's okay – for them.

For the audience, if there is no editorial voice that has shades of conflict and shades of drama other than the never-ending and oppressive outrage machine, then the whole site starts feeling like a song made up of one note.

The writer has to be willing to say truthful, critical things about that which they love most and do so in a way which doesn't cause the part of the audience who also loves those things to tune them out. That can be a bit of a delicate bit of maneuvering.

Hopefully I bring a bit of that across.

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This game sounds very interesting. I’m tempted because I have a fondness for space games that stems from a very old game named Fragile Allegiance.

But currently, my Love is Path of Exile. I’m way too comfortable saying that. Like spending too much of my own money on a free game. But I want to support them. I hope you find the time to review this game too. I’d love to hear your opinion. Also, @mattclarke plans to have a PoE hardcore race early March. So if ARPG is your style, you should look into it. :)

Appreciated your thoughts on holger’s post, and I enjoy your style of writing.

I've played a bit of Path of Exile, though I was probably ruined for good in the action RPG field from original exposure to Diablo and Diablo II; very little can compete with that experience, unfortunately. When I get that particular itch, these days I end up playing Torchlight 2 because I really like the visuals and the action style is very flexible.

For my MMO experience, I've accidentally been sucked into Elite: Dangerous for the last month or so, and really been enjoying it. You can have a fine solo experience, get involved with groups/squadrons and socialize, or just play with a handful of friends, the last being my preferred style, if I'm not going it alone. Playing "pretty pretty dress up" with spaceships is apparently perfectly okay with me.

If I'm going for a fantasy MMO, Guild Wars 2 has been my go to for over six years now. I got seriously burned out on World of Warcraft, played an absolute pile of the original GW, and have been pretty happy with GW2 and its more active MMO combat.

I'm so swamped with games right now, it's not even funny. I still need to play Astroneer now that it's left early access and had a 1.0 release, and I have no idea when that's going to happen. Plus anything else that comes down the pipe my editor wants me to write about.

Yes, it's a terrible life.

Thank you for your appreciation and I hope that I can keep cranking out stuff that at least amuses you.

There’s just too many games for any one person, let alone having to write about it. I only do so to keep dialogue on the game with friends. It keeps me wanting to play, and it’s just more enjoyable being able to focus on one system’s mechanics. I’m sorry PoE didn’t grab you, but I’ve had many people compare PoE with Diablo and they definitely think PoE is the more advanced game, so maybe you didn’t give it enough of a shot. :)

Although, I was immediately intrigued as soon as I logged on. It’s an amazing offering for free.

So I only vaguely remember better Diablo, I don’t think it was as complicated as PoE. But I’m a PoE fan, so my opinion will be skewed. ;)

I’ll certainly look out for more of your gaming posts.

I really need to get back into writing about tabletop gaming and wargaming from theory to examples, it's just that when someone offered to pay me real money somewhere in there to write about strategy games, those got bumped to the priority list.

Look back through the things I've done if you're curious. There are some interesting things in there, here and again.

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