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One of the most fun parts of any sci-fi game, Shrapnel Games took extra steps to make sure that the ship design aspect of Space Empires IV is intriguing. First, you get to choose between different components that every ship possesses: bridge, life support, engines, and so on. Then, you select “extra” components, such as reinforced armor, shields, weapons, etc. Again, its not that this system is new and different from other games, its that Space Empires IV gives you more to choose from, and the components really are balanced with each other, so you spend less time worrying about loopholes and more time trying to design good, effective designs. Yes, some components are better than others, but overall, every piece of equipment has a reasonably common set of circumstances around which it’s a good choice.

Combat:

When a battle between your one of your fleets and an opponent’s start, you can choose between strategic (let the computer auto-resolve combat) or tactical control. If you choose tactical combat, you are thrust into a 2-d screen that looks very much like the one from the Master of Orion games. You can order ships to move, fire weapons, and so on. The tactical combat mode is not a great innovation—there isn’t that much there to do.

However, while the combat engine itself is fairly weak, the tech. and ship design engine around the combat is wonderful. What is interesting in Space Empires IV is that each unique technology, weapon, and system has a real use. Certain weapons are particularly strong against certain targets (plasma is great against planets), and the game is the first turn-based sci-fi game to my knowledge that makes minefields and fighter craft effective weapons during combat. This is wonderful—there is something gratifying (particularly if you are a Babylon 5 or Star Wars fan) about watching a fighter squadron fly in and do battle with a capital ship.

Play Modes:

Space Empires IV supports both single-player and multi-player games, with multi-player designed for email play. The only problem with this is, like all turn-based strategy games, Space Empires IV games tend to be long. This leads to the possible problem of week-long waits between turns. On the other hand, the single-player mode is very solid, with great replay value.

Controls & Interface:

The game takes a few minutes of getting used to. There is a lot you can do, and all the charts, icons, and menus are a little confusing at first. However, within an hour of play, you should be able to quickly figure out how to order things built, what to click on in order to go somewhere, and generally be on your way to taking over the galaxy. Overall, the interface is fairly convenient, but I found that, even after I got the hang of what to do, I still found the sheer amount of options available to be slightly overwhelming.