The Vaulters are coming (or coming back) to Endless Space 2, and in doing so they are looking very sharp.

One of the cool things about Amplitude's Endless games is that, despite their vastly different settings, they inhabit a shared fictional universe. A universe that's about to get a lot closer as a faction from Endless Legend makes the jump to Endless Space.

There have been a lot of 4X games set in space lately, from Stellaris to the Master of Orion reboot. Some of them have been good! None, however, have been as good as Endless Space 2.

Endless Space 2's exit from Early Access is a few days away and to gear up for release, developer Amplitude Studios has been putting out videos to highlight the game's 4X core (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate). Today we're looking at the second of those, showing off the varied ways in which different species can spread their influence.

Amplitude are the creators of beautiful (and excellent) strategy games like Endless Legend and Endless Space. Today we're looking at the work of two of their artists.

Endless Space 2 is a promising 4x game that's still in Early Access. I played it a few months ago and liked what I saw, and I'll be dipping back in soon now that the game has its first major update.

I reviewed the original Endless Space back in 2012, and found it a pretty snappy little 4X game, albeit one with a distinct lack of personality. From what I've played so far of Endless Space 2, we won't be suffering through that again.

Remember how there were a few big 4X games coming out this year? We've already had Stellaris early on, and the Master of Orion reboot launched just last month. But there's one title on the horizon that's still in the works. It's Endless Space 2, and it's looking a bit great.

Hayley took the limelight earlier this week and when he returns from self-inflicted baby duties, Mark will join in the fun. But in the interim, let's take a break from the open-world RPGs, the torturous punishment of Dark Souls and venture in the weird world of games in 2016 that I'm excited for.