'Make Space Great Again' From Today As Paradox Interactive's Stellaris Launches
Perhaps one of the freshest breathes of air in the 4X genre is arriving today as Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studios release their Stellaris grand strategy.
Taking their brand of real-time grand strategy and back-stabbing politics to space has long been a dream of the in-house Paradox Development Studio and Stellaris is their whole new IP universe (literally) to do just that. It's a space 4X but it's not your usual affair when thinking of the genre. There are absolutely no turn-based moments - it's all real-time.
Right off the bat we get to customise what our empire taking to the stars looks like, how they think and their general attitude to the dirty aliens you'll certainly be coming across. This already is a big divergence from most other 4X titles, but it gets better as managing the empire is just one area of focus.
A big thing for Stellaris is the science of discovery, investigation and exploitation of new phenomenon and species. Whole event chains are sprinkled throughout the galaxy of our choosing and they trigger quest-like story moments that can lead to some serious outcomes - there's no guarantee you'll like what you find.
There's even different types of FTL travel available so different empires can jump to new star systems through their preferred method. It's another way to keep things interesting and always challenge a particular strategy.
Music can make or break a game, movie or TV show. To that end Paradox and now in-house composer Andreas Waldetoft has put together perhaps one of the greatest sci-fi audio buffets for the ears to ever grace a strategy video game. It's a mix of orchestral with some B-movie synth from the 80s.
Battles take place in space and with ground invasions but both aren't directly influenced by the player. Instead you build your doom stacks and unleash them on your foes, and all the tech you've equipped them with and the fleet composition does the rest. It's the first time Paradox has taken such a visual approach with their combat in a grand strategy.
Add in Fallen Empires, late game crisis events that could see a huge invasion from dark space or an AI rebellion, include a dash of Federations and vassals and you've got yourself some Stellaris.
Today Paradox Interactive is running a live stream from 12.00 CEST to mark the launch of Stellaris, with the game itself launching through Steam at 18.00 CEST. The first official Steam Workshop item available for subscription is, of course, The Blorg Commonality.
