Reviews

• 

  BrianRubin

  Mar 25, 2022

  Might be the best space 4X ever.
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  Leaf / Metalhead33

  Nov 5, 2022

  I played this game a lot in my childhood years, and when I revisit it as an adult in 2022, I have to say: this game aged like fine wine. There is no other way to describe it. The graphics hold up quite well even 23 years after its release, the gameplay is stellar, the soundtrack is full of bangers, and the fact that it was produced by my people (made in Hungary) is just the icing on the cake. Yes, I am biased, and I'm not ashamed of it: this is one of my all-time favourite games, and I can only recommend it to everyone. I wrote a longer review here: https://read.cash/@Metalhead33/imperium-galactica-ii-alliances-35738a7c
• 

  DDaylive

  Jan 20, 2017

  Back in the day the original Imperium Galactica was the best 4x game (Obviously my opinion), Then when Imperium Galactica 2 came out it kind of missed it mark with less story telling and less immersion with the removal of the bridge interface, But added random events, multiple species for you to be and mutiplayer. Even tho it missed it's mark it still satnds to be overall a solid 4X game. The cons I can see now, as I jump back in to this game with limited play, The games interface is lacking and most things are done faster with the F1 to F12 keys this was fine at the time (even more so since the game came with overley to go over your keyboard) but now it's dated and makes it hard to play. Also will like to note for some reason 1-3 keys and spacebar don't seem to work and they are needed for fast on the fly in game speed adjustments for when you need to make an action or strategies since clicking on the icon is painfully slow. I mainly bought this in hopes to see a ture imperial galactica 3 (I will not recognize Nexus: The Jupiter Incident) since imperial galactica is now out of legal limbo with disputes on who owns the rights for this franchise.
• 

  von_krysiak

  Jan 20, 2017

  For all the fans of 4x games: this ia the best classic 4x ever made!!! There are three races, and three separate campaigns - each one with its own back story missions and events. Each race has different strenghts and weaknesses and unique ships/weapons. Game has pretty cool space combat as well as real time planet invasions. If you don't mind dated graphics for sake of haveing amazing playability - look no further !!! 10/10 for bringing this classic back for us! IMPORTANT: Graphic settings are lacking in this port and if you have any issues you have to change them through the ig2.settings.cfg file in the main game directory. You can change resoultion window/full screen modes etc...
• 

  Saracen26

  Jan 20, 2017

  This may be a biased opinion. But IG2 is the greatest Space 4X of all time! In fact, it is my favourite PC game ever developed, and that still holds true to this very day! Do not let the time I've played fool you. Since Release day in 1999, I have clocked well over 1,000+ hours of IG2 game time. Between C&C Tiberian Sun & C&C Red Alert 2, I almost nearly played nothing but this game for hours upon hours at a time, and would marathon the campaigns every weekend. It really is that good! Imperium Galactica 2 was a game well ahead of it's time. I would argue that in 4X terms, it is still very much unrivalled 17 years later. The presentation, mechanics, soundtrack, battles etc, set a bar that hasn't really ever been beaten. As of today IG2 still has the best colony management, the best planetary battles, one of the best diplomacy mechanics, an unrivalled Spy & Espionage system and a ship and ground force customisation that took the 4X genre years to even get close to rivaling. There are exceptions. The Endless Space series, which in terms of presentation, is just gorgeous! Stellaris has probably beaten it in Soundtrack terms, and many 4X games do have a larger scope for their Star Maps these days. But in terms of the overall package, Imperium Galactica 2 still stands the tallest amongst the younger giants of the industry and has aged incredibly well. This is quite simply one game you need to have in your Steam library if you even care about 4X titles!
• 

  Soul of Albion

  Jan 21, 2017

  This may be a biased review due to my love of the game, and I write this as a fan, apologies if I ramble, but I feel I must share that Imperium Galactica II is by far my favourite real time space 4x game I've played, and one of my all time favourite games. The second I saw it on Steam, I bought it, such is my love of this game. Sadly, the original disc version I had suffered terribly from crashes, bugs and compatibility issues with recent operating systems, making it difficult to actually play. To my great surprise, the game has resurfaced and has been remastered here, fixing said issues and looking and playing better than ever. The game itself had a lot to offer back in 1999, including tactical space and ground combat, espionage, diplomacy, empire management, multiplayer and different races, offering huge replayability, with no two games ever the same. There is a campaign mode, in which you can choose one of three races, each have their own advantages and disadvantages, design and unique storyline. There are random events in this mode, such as pirate attacks, asteroid showers, earthquakes, sabotage and rescue missions, and they vary each game, meaning no two games are the same. The three campaign races are: Kra'hen - Ruthless and savage warriors who have the best army and ship/tank production, but with no access to spies or the possibility of diplomacy with other races. Shinari - A race with weaker army capabilities, but superior espionage and diplomatic skills. Solarians - The Human race, who are average in every area except research, which they excel in. There is also a skirmish mode, which lets you play as civilisations not playable in the campaign, with control over different elements of gameplay, such as amount of players, map size, population etc, as well as pre-set missions with varying difficulties. This version has support for more modern screen resolutions and aspect ratios, and features better graphics and game engine than the original. I honestly feel that this game is a true classic, and remastered to be better than ever, thus if you are a fan of this type of game, I feel it is well worth the asking price to experience this gem of the golden gaming era of the late 90's. Credit to steam user von_krysiak for the following technical information he/she included in his/her review, which can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198006086992/recommended/490370/ I felt I'd include his/her technical note to aid to anyone encountering this problem: IMPORTANT TECHNICAL NOTE: Graphic settings are lacking in this port and if you have any issues you have to change them through the ig2.settings.cfg file in the main game directory. Here you can change resolution, window/full screen modes etc.
• 

  Sticky Wicket

  Jan 21, 2017

  Another timeless classic restored and brought back to life!. Just as enjoyable as it always was. A 4x games /space strategy must have! Extensive sandbox style colony building, customisation of ship loadouts, heros and Ship Captains with special skills for your fleets, intractive diplomacy, spying and covert operations. Tactical real time ship to ship combat and ground combat. Excellent fun. You are given a Choice of 3 races, each one with a different emphasis and their own *campaign* with random elements thrown in requiring a different style of play each time and giving great replayability. Imo a lot of current developers could LEARN A LOT from how games like this were put together. Puts Galactic Civilisations III to shame. Recommended +++++++
• 

  TheSpankMan

  Jan 22, 2017

  Fix for language and resolution 1. Find your Imperium Galactica II Steam folder (H:\Program\Steam\steamapps\common\Imperium Galactica II) 2. Open in notepad the ig2 file that is of type "SETTINGS" 3. Change the language based on your preference 4. Change the window dimensions based on your preference 5. Enjoy the game As stated by Mordenknen: I think by default the resolution shows: #window dimensions \\width=1080 \\height=768 You need to remove the \\ as well as change the numbers. So it would look like this: #window dimensions width=1920 height=1080
• 

  Wilor

  Jan 22, 2017

  9/10 This game was my childhood and i had it on a copied disks. All the ideas the game used in 1999 is insane. Thats why it is only a 9, because I dont know how to change the keybindings and some of them doesnt work like on the original and it may have an issue to play with friends just like back then. I spent countless of hours trying the story faction on the hardest difficulty. Its worth the money that offer, the factions are different in any sense.
• 

  Pleb

  Feb 1, 2017

  I have finished the game. In Steam version. There are bugs that I encountered these: -While you are in enemy planet ground battle , if you see a construction state of any Defense Tower, ground units wont listen you and attack it automatically. -Sometimes ordering Fleet to attack to somewhere doesnt work, You need to press Alt or Ctrl , Reason is , It is a move command setbind and stucks randomly Review: This game maybe have not graphics but THE CREATIVITY is the best thing in this game You can play in Ground and in Space [b][u] Lets start a new game.[/u][/b] I prefer to Solarian campaign(story) , Solarians are human-like race, their research capabilities are fast and cheap , And they cant use some superweapons There are 3 difficult in the game Easy , Normal , Hard. DO NOT PLAY ON HARD, after 100 try-hard game. I realised that hard make the all AI sick and somehow manage to last tier ships with last tier weapons in 1-2 hour (in game about 14 year) When you start the game , Make sure you disable the auto-building from planet's own information window, So you can manage it. ---[b][u]Buildings[/u][/b] ---- You can build buildings about in this category with CREDITS and make work by enough POPULATION , and i will tell how the system works in the ending The Colony Hub (Main building , without this building population starts to lose morale)I think one is enough for per planet Food(For expanding population) Houses(Slot for population), Energy*Reactors/Electircity*(Almost every building requires ENERGY) Morale Buildings*bars,stadiums,parks,etc*(Happiness based buildings of people / Speed of growth that effect most ) The most important thing is the morale , If you fail to manage the morale , people would decline giving you taxes and start a rebellion Hospitals(There is a chance of any type of virus or something can be appear if you have less hospitals than what population requires / Plus morale lowers if you have less hospital) Security(Public order / Fire brigades) Trade/Bank(Trade ports ; There are traders in space that can visit to your planets / Bank increases tax) Ground Defense(Ground turrets/towers) Space Defense(Ground-to-Space weaponry that auto fire to enemy spaceships that sieging your planet) Tank factory(Tank factory that build ground units) Spaceship factory(Spaceship factory that build space ships) Tank research facilty(Research for unlocking new tanks/new tank weapon and upgrades) Spaceship research facilty(Research for unlocking new ships, weapons, engines, shields, heavy weapons(different), cloacking techs, radars, etc etc) Civic Research facility(Unlocking new buildings) Spy centres(Spy training centres, Spies can do almost everything in this game from the providing defense against enemy agents in your planets, exploring system, sabotages, sabatoge to enemy fleets, and there are chance that enemy can make your agent double agent) - If you manage to advanced in techs , you can research new buildings that more efficien than first buildings (ADV. Buildings) --[b][u]How the buildings work[/u][/b]---- Buildings work by 2 thing; Manpower/Energy --[b][u]The growth and system[/u][/b]-- I will give you a example from a new colonized planet You have start with a Colony hub (Provides about 3000 pop, 450 power ) colony hubs dont need energy You can see the POPULATION and POWER of the planet at left down corner First i build a FOOD FACTORY it provide to 9000 habitant food Then i build a HOSPITAL it keeps 8000 habitant healthy The next building is a SMALL HOUSE that can be a home to 7000 habitant Speed of the planet's growth depens on morale, less TAX= more morale After House filled , You have now 10000 Pop , and need more Food and Hospital You also need Power/Energy Plants for hospitals and food factory after having over 10000 pop , your planet starts crime activity so make sure you have build POLICE STATIONS that provides security to 15000 people Be warned that there are random events can be appear like earthquakes so you will need for FIREBRIGADES that they can repair your buildings thats all i can explain about system of civillians --[b][u]The Ground Defense / The Units[/u][/b] ---- *PROS/CONS* The ground defense are based by units and towers , towers are really really op, but they require a huge of manpower you can build ground-to-ground defense towers or ground-to-space towers to provide defense( Space defense towers can be destroyed by in space battle while firing to enemy ships) Ground units are based on tanks, there are less unit type in ground battle *PROS* -If enemy havent tanks , and you have tanks in that planet, they cant capture the planet. -Balanced -Customizable , Weapons/Item slots -Type of weaponry Short range and Long range -Type of Items , Range extendors , Repair kits , Airstrikes and more. -There are different tank classes for different item and weaponry *CONS* -Ground battle depends technology-to-win -AI all time spams -Begining tanks are very weak,only a tower defense can beat like 10 of them -If there will be a rebellion , rip tanks ---[b][u]Fleet / Space / Heroes(mercenaries)[/u][/b]----*pros/cons* In space map , you can able to create fleets by making ships The ships in fleet that you divide will be a another fleet automaticly The ship classes are Civillian ships, Fighters , Destroyers(Frigates-Corvettes) , Cruisers , Battleships(Capital ship) The civillian ships are Terraformers that makes bad planets more habitable , Colonizing Ships to start a new colony Fighters are the most evasive little ships that automaticly attack in battle Destroyers , Cruisers and Battleships These ships are the main ships that can be customizable and you can able to give order. You start with destroyer ships and by unlocking more techs you will able to advanced version of that ship class.(Destroyer -> Heavy Destroyer) When you finish Destroyer class tree you will able to make Cruisers, Difference between all classes More Weapon slots/Item slots/Cargo Hold(Tank hold)/And Heavy weaponry slots/Hull Heroes(mercenaries) There are heroes in space that can join to your empire by making payment heroes have bonuses that provide to fleet which in it like damage,resistance about %10-30 They are in the begining powerful but in the late game fragile *PROS* -You are able to set formation when you have enough ship in your fleet. -Giving orders hold fire, attack, move, retreat. -You can always make tactic like , Getting back damaged ships and moving forward strong ones. -The Mechanic of Radar system , More you get away from your territory , less you will see the area where your fleet. Enemy will more likely ambush you when you away from your territory. -Firing is not always accurate , Ships can evade weapon fires. -Late game is rock-scissors-paper , To counter torpedo you need ECM , To counter superweapon you will need computer jammer , To counter cloaking you need stealth radar. -Ship stacking is totally genius system, If enemy have 30 same type ships , in battle 10 ship will fight and per ship will have 3x Damage and 3 Chance Life *CONS* -Destructor ray , when you see/hear this weapon that means you can uninstall the game -Most of Superweapons in game 1 hit to opponent ships that means you need to rush quickly and destroy enemy.(and be sure that your attacking ships have installed Computer Jammer) -Technology = Survive -AI spams in late game Battleships and Fighters ( I saw a Kra'Hen fleet that had 876 battleship 12K fighter have a look my own screenshots ) -------------------- THE SPACE DEFENSE ------------ You can able to build space stations at your planets Stations have huge hull and weapon slots Their hull is so strong that 1 Heavy space station can survive 1 destructor ray shot But enemy Computer jammers more likely to supress them.
• 

  Boxcar Bob

  May 20, 2017

  One of the most addictive games I've ever played. On one level I hate this game because of the amount of hours I've sat glued to it, getting my a[i]s[/i]s kicked over and over again (my actual playtime is higher since I played this before it came on Steam). I'd say if you have problems with losing all sense of time when you play games, and might lose an entire week, then tread carefully with this one. [h1]The good:[/h1] Overall a [i]very[/i] compelling simulation. The game is filled with interesting choices and trade-offs... Do you choose to spend your resources expanding to new planets, or defending the ones you have? Do you spend extra to speed up research, or do you hold off on research to build a bigger fleet of ships? Another choice is taxation, if you set lower taxes you make less money each month, but your population grows faster which allows for more buildings and can pay off later when you turn the taxes back up. There are more choices like that, but it'd be a bit tedious to list them all. Suffice it to say there's a lot to play around with, and you might wonder, while [i]not[/i] playing, whether a certain strategy might work. It's an old game, and the graphics are predictably dated, but you're zoomed out on everything 99% of the time anyway, so you won't really care how simple the models are. The engine update for the Steam version allows the game to run at modern resolutions, I'm running it at 2560x1080 with no problems, which is a hell of a nice change from the original. [h1]The bad:[/h1] [list] [*] The AI - though effective enough to be challenging - is disappointingly stupid. You apparently aren't worth allying with unless your fleet is above a certain strength. Potential allies will ignore the fact that they're at war with another faction and need your help. This limits the kind of teaming up you can do. [*] The path-finding is the worst I've ever seen in any game. eg. Groups of tanks can't move because they're bumping into each other. The game features very narrow streets that can only fit one tank at a time, so obviously this is a nightmare. [*] The only viable tactic is "expand-or-die", which takes a lot of options off the table. [*] Long games where you don't find out how badly you screwed up until about an hour in. Which can get extremely frustrating. [*] The overall campaign is driven by events that are (IMO) weirdly timed, and can completely screw your run. [*] Sometimes the game will randomly crash, other times I can play it all day without crashing once. [*] I've only attempted it a few times, but multi-player seems completely non-functioning (as other reviews also pointed out)... it doesn't factor into my rating, because I don't really care about multiplayer, but be warned. [*] Seemingly not much (if any) activity from the devs these days. [*] Other minor things that don't work, or work badly. [/list] Definitely a cult classic. There are very few games like this.
• 

  Kakashisensei666

  Jun 4, 2017

  I did spent hundreds of hours with this game in the gold old days :) I did had the original hungarian retail wersion ( 4CD, hungarian voice, etc... ) I hope tat I will be able to fix the problem ( running it on win 7 ) ... Whatever... This game is really chalenging if u are not a chicken :D Graphics are dated but the game basically better than a lot of AAA games nowadays..... I recommend firs the Humans.... then shinari (they can use all kind of weapons exluding torpedos ).... last Krahen... (Krahen has no diplomacy... they are the invaders in the galaxy... ) This is not the original one ... The hud.... the controles... all is not the same... much harder to enjoy this game now.... I am lucky cause i have the original discs... :)
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  Bludbonez

  Jun 7, 2017

  I have played many 4x Space games since the mid 1990ies!! This is by far one f the best, if not the BEST of the 4x Genre. Incredibe options. No game is ever alike. Even in Campaign mode. Glad I added this to my collection. This is one title that is a MUST HAVE if you like 4x. Make sure to do the tutorials. Very important. Otherwise you will just punish yourself for thinking "You got This".! ENJOY!!
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  Hastelow

  Sep 17, 2017

  I had played this game long ago, still have the cd's and couldn't ever get it to work with my modrenn pc, so i jumped at the chance to play it agian. there has been no other game like it , that i have found, everything is turned base, but this is realtime no annoying turn button. nothing to say other then this was a great title then and now.
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  BlakesSanctum

  Sep 23, 2017

  You can add about another 300hrs to that total from the early 2000s when I played all 3 campaigns again and again lol. Imperium Galactica 2 Alliances was truly ground breaking for its time as it took the brilliant unique '3 in 1' gameplay (Master of Orion, Sim City and C&C/Dune style gameplays) formula of Imperium Galactica 1 and brought it into the modern 3D world. Being 1999 IG2 was actually one of the first 3D strategy games ever made which was quite an achievement from the small Hungarian studio Digital Reality. I've created a [url=http://blakessanctum.x10.mx/Games/Imperium/]Imperium Galactica Legacy Website[/url] that tributes IG and looks at the most similar games out there if that's of interest to anyone. But nothing really comes close to IG as it truly is a one of kind hybrid series. IG2 improves upon IG1 in many areas. You can play as 3 different races across 3 epic campaigns with literally hours of cinematic videos spread across each story. The FMV cutscenes were very realistic for the time as you can tell Digital Reality had really got into the groove with video making (the dramatic wormhole intro still gives me goosebumps to this day!). The 3D in-game graphics was equally amazing as now the galaxy map, planet surface view and space battle view was truly 3D allowing you to rotate and zoom in any direction. A fully 3D galaxy to conquer is something many modern TBS space games still don't do, and seeing the clouds and sunsets over your planet cities still looks incredible to this day, the space battles were equally impressive especially when in orbit of a planet as the orbiting ships and surface batteries literally battled through the clouds. I loved how you could zoom in on a star and see your planet circling it and if you left clicked on its stats you could zoom into orbit of the planet to view all the space stations above the clouds. Battles also had this seamless cool zooming in from main galaxy effect adding even more to the game's immersion. Ship design and configuration was enhanced plus new Spy management and Trade port screens were added to the game. Ground combat was expanded too with more unit and defence building types. You could even build support tanks to order awesome fighter and orbital bombardment strikes during the battles. Also finally added was a full skirmish and scenario mode allowing fans to play the sandbox galaxy conquering games they couldn't play in IG1. IG2 had become a forgotten classic however Digital Reality in their final years enhanced and rereleased the game on Ipad. Now in 2017 THQ Nordic have taken that IG2 enhanced version and rereleased it on PC Steam, GoG & even mobile phones! This version has updated graphics, supports all modern HD resolutions, and with some nice force applied anti-aliasing & antistrophic filtering the game still looks pretty good after all these years. Even more amazing is that THQ Nordic are still patching the game with new updates and fixes! I strongly suggest you check it out! I made some videos showing off this updated version here: [b][i]Part 1[/i][/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGouCiy95_Y [b][i]Part 2[/i][/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcfRSnE7jHM If anyone is interested in the OpenIG Imperium Galactica 1 HD Remake I've made videos of that too: [b][i]Part 1[/i][/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CZvTDW9bNI [b][i]Part 2[/i][/b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROE_td7mWQY
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  herr_dechse

  Nov 27, 2017

  They even patched it O.o......almost 20 years old and it got a patch.
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  Hajo

  Dec 15, 2017

  Imperium Galactica II Alliances (Short Review) Game Genre: strategy, space, 4X, classic graphic: ++++- (4/5) music: +++++ (5/5) gameplay: +++++ (5/5) tutorial: +++++ (5/5) What i like: Successful adaptation of a classic game in real-time strategy genre. Additional Scenarios included. What i dislike: Multiplayer mode and achievements not available.
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  Merciful One

  Nov 24, 2018

  Not bad but IG 1 was better.
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  High GradeAK47

  Dec 18, 2019

  I see that other people have had issues and some say you cant use a mouse but I can say for certain that my mouse works just fine on windows 10. This version is basically a slightly enhanced version of the original. Very little difference as far as I can tell. Works perfectly fine for me, except multiplayer does not seem to work. All singleplayer campaigns and scenarios work fine. One funny thing is that with modern hardware the 3d models and animations spin seriously fast on the start screen and certain displays in game. Everything gameplay wise is fine.
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  CorsairS

  Mar 24, 2020

  One of the best game made by hungarian developers, and one of the best game from my childhood.