Sins of a Solar Empire, you say? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time. A long time.
Sins of a Solar Empire 2 was unveiled overnight, with a short tonal teaser dropping over at PC Gamer. Observe:
Sins of a Solar Empire was a real-time strategy game from 2008, developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock. A big part of its appeal was its scale — Sins of a Solar Empire blended RTS mechanics with that of 4X Civ-like strategy in a way that made every battle feel impossibly grand. Three expansions followed, with 2012’s standalone Rebellion expac, being the final content drop. The game won itself a small but dedicated fandom, who continue to play it to this day.
The original game featured three playable races, the industrial TEC, the psychic Advent, or the alien Vasari, and games are played out over a 3D map of a solar system. Conquest is the name of the game. Sins made an interesting design move in its day, by completely eschewing a single-player campaign. Though players pit themselves against AI factions in skirmish, the game was very much built around the idea of online and LAN multiplayer. In a market where the RTS format was well established — three or more factions, and intertwining single-player campaign that taught you how to use them, Sins was happy to drop its players in the deep end.
It remains great. You should absolutely still play it. The Ultimate Edition with every last scrap of content is on Steam, though currently at the mighty price of $99.95. GOG is doing it a bit cheaper at $56, so that might be your better bet right now.
There’s no details on when Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will arrive just yet, but the fact that it exists will be enough for long-suffering Sins fans wondering if their favourite RTS would ever get a sequel.
What a moment. Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is real.
As the Unity wills.
Leave a Reply