The game is the complete opposite of the sci-fi game Homeworld, which was recently remastered in high-definition so that you can fight huge 3D space battles in real time.

The starships can be viewed from a single, isometric view, but they don’t look particularly awesome. You have to hope your armor and shields hold up. Once you are done, the enemy makes moves. You move your ships toward the enemy and fire your weapons, such as torpedoes, lasers, and cannons. You move around on a grid of hexagons, much like you do in old war games or other turn-based titles like XCOM: Enemy Unknown (also by Firaxis). You can maneuver your starship fleet for offense or defense, using asteroid belts and wormholes to outwit your opponent’s fleet. You fly your fleet to a planetary system, then you zoom in on a map of the star system. Those numbers tell you who is strong at a glance. One look at all of the numbers on the galaxy map, and you’ll see that it’s designed for war gamers who love lots of numbers. The map of the galaxy is two-dimensional, and so is the combat map. But we have to remember that this is a strategy game. Having just taken a look at the gorgeous Star Citizen starships, I certainly wish that Firaxis could have put more beauty into the 3D graphics of the game and the images of the starships. The basic appeal is that it makes you feel like you can craft your own starships and use them to create your own interstellar empire in a sprawling galaxy.

But it’s also a stand-alone strategy game that newcomers can play without a huge learning curve.

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