Master of Orion is the first of three games in its series, and the only of the three to currently be free for download. It was one of first strategy games of its time, and many of its features were arguably superior to those of its successors.
Master of Orion allows the user to play as one of several alien races, each with its own special abilities and, in some cases, drawbacks. Examples include the cybernetic Meklar, the super-intelligent Psilon, and lithic Sillicoids. The races are all fairly balanced in the lower difficulty levels, but as the games become more difficult, certain ones will stand out while others fall behind.
Master of Orion is the first of three games in its series, and the only of the three to currently be free for download. It was one of first strategy games of its time, and many of its features were arguably superior to those of its successors.
Master of Orion allows the user to play as one of several alien races, each with its own special abilities and, in some cases, drawbacks. Examples include the cybernetic Meklar, the super-intelligent Psilon, and lithic Sillicoids. The races are all fairly balanced in the lower difficulty levels, but as the games become more difficult, certain ones will stand out while others fall behind. This is due mostly to the computer's habit of drastically increasing its own production, research, and population growth far
beyond what a player's race is capable of.
The game itself features a balance of economic, technological, military, and diplomatic paths that a player can pursue. A player can seek to win the game through military conquest, or by receiving 2/3s of the votes in a galactic council that convenes every 25 game years. With votes based on population and dire consequences in the event of a loss, a player must be sure to ensure their survival through alliances, diplomatic trickery, or by maintaining more than 1/3 of the vote in their own empire.
By simplifying planetary management to as series of sliding bars that can be adjusted for each planet, the game frees up time for its players to actually enjoy playing the game, rather than mindlessly building the same buildings over and over again on hundreds of planets, a task that no galactic emperor would ever micromanage, as many other strategy games have now resorted to. Even Master of Orion's successor games fell into this trap, hurting their replay value.
By combining simple features, a wide array of technology, countless combinations of planets and races, and endless strategies to victory, master of Orion, despite its outdated graphics and the fact that it can only be run on an emulator such as DosBox, still remains one of the greatest strategy games of all time. I myself have been playing it on and off for more than 12 years, and still greatly enjoy it.
