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MoO 1+2 or MoO 3?
Drez
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have too many games as it is, but now that all the MoOs are on GoG I thought I would buy one of them.
I've heard MoO2 is the best but I've also heard people speak fondly of MoO3. I almost definitely won't bother with MoO1 so this is basically a choice between MoO2 or MoO3. The difference in price is irrelevant to my question, I'm just inquiring about the quality and fun of each (as single-player games).
Note: I've never played any of the MoOs.
I'm also considering blowing the entire MoO series off and getting MoM instead. But I did play through MoM at least once entirely when I was a wee biscuit so I'm not sure, I might just go for MoO which is new for me.
Recommendations?
I've heard MoO2 is the best but I've also heard people speak fondly of MoO3. I almost definitely won't bother with MoO1 so this is basically a choice between MoO2 or MoO3. The difference in price is irrelevant to my question, I'm just inquiring about the quality and fun of each (as single-player games).
Note: I've never played any of the MoOs.
I'm also considering blowing the entire MoO series off and getting MoM instead. But I did play through MoM at least once entirely when I was a wee biscuit so I'm not sure, I might just go for MoO which is new for me.
Recommendations?
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Go with 2
MOO3 is mediocrity incarnate.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Get the first two. They're actually fairly unique games and both have their strengths.
Master of Magic is also an unbalanced, buggy mess; but it is the greatest unbalanced, buggy mess ever made.
Is...is there any story? I was under the impression that Master of Orion it was more like Master of Magicc, Ascendancy, or Sins of a Solar Empire - which has scant story - than something like Star Wolves or Space Rangers.
I mean is there a point to playing through the series? Is there an actual story that runs through them?
There was one wanked into MoO3's manual. Which was the best part of the game.
There's no in-game story arc, though there's plenty of fluff. I always found myself creating somewhat of a narrative when trying to strangle the Psilon while still in their cradle. I recommend it because MOO1 and 2 are evolutionary steps, so you will appreciate each one more in sequence, and they are more fun than MOO3. You will have a more informed opinion of MOO3 by playing it last - I recommend getting all 3.
MoO 2 is one of the finest games ever crafted. I hold it up with the likes of X-Com, Civilization, Crusader, X-Wing and Mechwarrior 2 among favourites from my younger years.
MoO 3 is a giant pile of shit disguised as a beaurocracy simulator.
MoO 2 is an awesome game, definately pick it over 3.
MoO 3 was a move in the wrong direction. They complicated everything and allowed you to access too many variables. This basically made you a full time administrator that had little time to actually enjoy the game. In fact, some people call it Administrator of Orion.
After being severely dissapointed by MoO 3, I was somewhat consoled by Space Rangers 2 which is not the same type of game but it fed my desire for space age strategy/diplomacy.
So yeah, get MoO 1+2.
MoO3 was an abomination. The first game was one of the best games to suck your time away back in ye olden days of 486 processors. The second was even better, offering major improvements in basically every area. Then the third one came out and it became clear that Microprose had long since moved into a realm of sub-shovelware style game development.
MoO3 is literally the only game that I have ever returned on the same day that I bought it. I'm actually a little ashamed to admit that it took me 3 hours to realize that I had bought a steaming pile instead of an actual game.
No, that is OK. You had to get past the point that you just assumed it was a learning curve issue. Once you realize that the learning curve ends with an experience that is much like a full time job trying to run excel on a 15-20 year old computer.... you know the game is bad.
Actually, that was a bit harsh. MoO 3 can be fun for a little while but once you get past choosing a race and your first several turns, the fun is pretty much gone.
That could explain it, then. In my defense, it WAS 7 years ago and I was quite rage filled at the time.
I think I enjoyed MoO 3 more than most and I can't recommend it.
Now that I know it's on GoG.com I will be buying it as soon as I get my new computer.
I strongly disagree. In fact, MoO is really fun and a bit easier to get into than MoO2. I am not saying it is better than 2 but it definitely deserves a play-through before starting MoO2. Why not? They come together in a package after-all. The game-play is still there and the graphics only take a short period of time to get acclimated to.
Not everybody agrees with me but that is the nature of having opinions.
Yes, probably my favorite of the genre.
Well if they come in a package, by all means play it. I didn't realize they did, I just saw MoO 2 and my ears perked up.
I just personally wouldn't spend extra money for MoO 1. But if it's a bundle? Go for it.
I agree, MoO isn't something that I'd pick up as a single game but that's more because I'm like a crackhead on payday when it comes to MoO2. I'll probably end up buying the package just because I doubt there's any savings to be had by only going for MoO2.
MoO is probably a little better balanced because of the way the research tree goes - at higher difficulties on MoO2 if you come across the psilon as your first alien species then you can pretty much kiss your ass goodbye unless they're at war with at least 2 other races. In which case you hope that one of those races isn't the silicoid because they're very likely to declare war on you pretty much immediately.
MoO2 is pretty unforgiving when it comes to mistakes and ignorance; MoO1 has a more level learning curve, though it is a less complex game.
Maybe modders have managed to salvage something from that mess but I wouldn't bother with it when MoO 2 is such a fantastic game.
There are no words for how bad Moo3 is. Modders have worked around some of the problems in the game, but even then it's only barely tolerable.
So bad.
The worst part about MoO may be getting it to run on your system. The original should probably run fine in DoSBox (I don't know how GoG packages their games. It may already be in it.)
MoO 2 does not work well in XP. At least the Windows 95 version doesn't. The DOS version actually runs nearly flawlessly straight from XP with no tweaking. The battle scrolling is too fast to be useful, so you have to click the minimap to recenter your main battle map to somewhere useful, and it doesn't like to Alt-Tab.
I'd definitely recommend spending a little time with the original. It's like watching a super old movie. It may not be awesome compared to current gems, but it has great historical worth. And it's still pretty fun anyway.
Hell I still bust out a game of MoO2 every once in a while. That and the original X-COM never leave my game collection.
... no, really, between my experiences and wikipedia, it seems that MoO3 plays itself better than most players ever will.
The day MoO3 was released was the day I lost the ability to love.
Also, since OpenOffice is free, just go with that.
Sure they did. They just called it Galactic Civilizations 2.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I would say if you combine GalCiv 2 and SE:IV/V you get somewhat close-ish.