What makes the gameplay so welcome for me is that it doesn't require the complexity of, say Age of Wonders, with dozens and dozens more of wild combat effects and multipliers. Zephons rts style combat system works very well.
Mentioned in the review is that such a small studio has put out such a polished product. True, helping them in that regard is they seem to have reused and repurposed systems that allow them to move the "system IP" along. Not a bad thing.
Honestly, I've no problem with it. I think they've been smart with it, seen what works, what doesn't, and built the next version of their system. If they make other games with that system in different settings, I'm cool with that too - because its a good system.
Back in the day, we had Alpha Centauri which was basically a reskin of Civilisation 2. Nobody had a problem with either and Alpha Centauri still holds up as one of the best 4X games ever made.
@@owa1985 +1 for the SMAC mention. But yeah, great point & comparison. Used the same building blocks, with lots of changes, tweaks and adjustments that really elevated it past being a reskin
Honestly from AOW4 graphics to this, Zephon is definitely my taste. Also Zephon feels much more tactical and realistic not so superficial and exaggerated or over the top. Game is way more grounded for me personally. This is the Game I would rather spend time, learning about the factions and quest storyline is so intriguing I couldn't stop reading them. I felt the horror, the sufferings and the struggles that some of these leaders and their people go through. Zephon is not just about guns and blowing shit up, love that you can forge alliances and create and influential gain through other leaders and their faction to your side. One of the most inspiring 4X not only just war even though that's the primary focus. But it does everything else with a nice touch. I recommend anyone getting into 4X games and just learning that 4X rope like how I am. Come play. You won't regret it! I pre-beta test it and I loved it.
Funny you should mention AOW - I've been back on AOW after reviewing ZEPHON and I find myself really missing ZEPHON. It's all so focused and streamlined, feels really comfortable to play. Really gets highlighted when you play another 4X right after. You'll have a great time with the faction, I loved their stories and they really have so much personality and lore to them. For the video I did games as Rogue Operative, Practical Romantic & Furtive Tribunal and their stories were all powerful and distinct. Looking forward to playing as the others (though I'll wait till release so I can discover more of the game alongside the community).
Thank you for this review, it was exactly what I was looking for since I have played Gladius for a couple of years and was wondering what the similarities and differences were.
This game looks great, lots of cool factions and mechanics. I just hope we don't get the insane monetisation Gladius had, because that kind of ruined that game for me.
A couple dollars on sale for newly introduced factions with totally unique play styles isnt insane monotization. 4x games are very niche. How else do you expect the devs to make money and continue support?
@@user-cu5wu5dz5x "A couple dollars" he says. Each faction DLC (for factions as fundamental to the Warhammer 40K experience as Chaos, Eldar or Tyranids) cost over 1/3 as much as the core game itself, and even when the game was discounted, the DLCs weren't nearly as much. The "complete edition" when not on sale costs over *$260* in my currency (Australian dollars), and even when it _was_ on sale it still cost more than most full-priced games. Gladius was a stinking rip-off, a half-completed game frequently sold on heavy discount (and one time even given away for free) because it served solely as a vector with which to sell you overpriced DLC.
@@user-cu5wu5dz5x Zephon has a sort of "Support DLC" is brings you nothing, other than that you give Proxy a bit more cash as a sign of support. I like that. It's an honest request of an Indi studio that made a good game. Once I get paid again I may support them.
Looking forward to entering the doomsday desolated world of ZEPHON in a few days. Reminds me a bit of a turn based tactical version of THE FOREVER WINTER. Glad to see they are unbound with their creative prowess to conjure up something totally their own. WARHAMMER 40,000 GLADIUS is one of my top three most played games on STEAM with BATTLETECH by HBS and FALLOUT 4 being the other two most played games with thousands of hours. Thanks for the great video which will keep me hyped up and going til release on Friday. Happy gaming! ☕
@@ginxtv LOL, yes a trend.. a pattern :D Yes its very nice to feel this level of anticipation for a game which hardly happens these days though i still look very much forward to new releases there are some that take it to another level like back in the days of the 1990's and ZEPHON is one of them.
Great review. I played Gladius over 300 hours, but it got boring, so this looks like new food! I had skipped it so far, since it looked TOOO much the same, but now I think it might be interesting. Well done.
The similarities were definitely very eery at first, but once the world kicks in and you notice the improvements, it definitely stands on its own two legs.
Thanks for reviewing this so early. Glad this great game is getting some attention. I’m really enjoying it and the additional diplomacy element of the 4X genre is very welcomed. Great to have voice lines in as standard without the need of a ‘To many voices’ mod. I’m curious if anyone else is a little disappointed with the same ending each match tho? I understand it’s a nice conclusion, but I hope they develop some alternate endings and different end game titans. It will always be difficult to rival the designs of 40K which are so well established and executed. I understand it’s just personal preference, but sea ships with legs looks wrong to me as a concept. I play the board game scythe which has a similar issue for me haha.
I know what you mean about the ending. One thing I'm hoping for is a few variations towards the end. Maybe feeding back into more of those random events, I think a twist at the end every few games could really spice things up. Definitely high up my wishlist for future additions to the game.
Always wanted a CIV like game with an emphasis on combat. Also reminds me of Civ beyond earth (in a good way) the whole (PVE) aspect. Also the Human, Voice, Cyber is somewhat like Harmony, Supremacy, Purity
With AI I usually look at it two ways - the tactics (smaller scale, how they handle themselves in battles) and the strategy (larger play, long term plan). On the tactics side ZEPHON felt really solid, more so than most other 4Xs. Strategy side it is hard to tell after only a few games (which I lost) but they seemed to be playing well (or at least better than me). A better answer will become clear as more people play and get into higher difficulties and such - but my impressions are that the AI is decent, and an improvement over Gladius. It's above average for 4X AI, but unsure yet as to how competent. My current gold standard is Old World - if ZEPHON's AI is on or near that level, then it's a winner.
What @ginxtv said about AI ambushes are not wrong. My army was wiping the dirt against 3 Reavers. The last one retreated into the fog of war and I pushed my army forward into an open field to chase after him. Then from the trees, most of my units took overwatch (free opportunity attacks) from a whole army of Reavers waiting in ambush. Since my units are on open fields, they take full damage, while the Reavers take half damage from my units because of tree cover. Needless to say, I walked straight into a deathtrap.
Glad you enjoyed it - and yeah, a lot of combat might be an understatement. I don't think I went a single turn without shooting, lasering or telekinetically blasting something!
On average the games I had were about 6 hours - though that can be made longer or shorter in game settings - and experience will make the games shorter as you get used to the systems. Though each game is a different map, different enemies, different approach. Despite a game being shorter than most other 4X games, it's very tempting to reroll another world and jump back in.
Honestly I'm just waiting for sale, I'm miffed they didn't do a launch sale, and honestly I'd want to spend about maybe at most a little more than half of what their asking for.
It might be a bit soon to hope for a discount in the Christmas sale (but its a possibility) - though I'd expect something maybe at the start of next year, maybe to coincide with an update
One quick question. Do units have voicelines or is it the silent treatment like with Gladius? Voices really flesh out the games for me when done right and waiting for a mod updates over the literal years is not something I would like to experience again.
The units do have voice lines, and they're all very individual. The sound in that regard was very good. The comment about ambient audio was more about any idle sound - units don't have that, but they have voice lines and combat line for when you give them an order.
Well that was a review, but maybe not what I needed. On the one hand your review was mostly full of its a great game and I like that. I guess I'm hoping this won't be a $100 game but I will no soon :)
I'd be surprised if this has monetisation in line with Gladius. I think a lot of that was down to the publisher / Warhammer IP. They haven't announced price of this yet but I'd expect it to be around the $35 / $40 mark - which I think is very fair. We'll know for sure in a few hours.
"Warhammer 40000: Gladius - Relics Of War" isn't the longest name, "The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king" is
I am on the fence. Love 40k, enjoyed Gladius PvP, didn't enjoy Gladius PvE. I will wait for more feedback from the PvP community and then will make a decision.
Might be worth checking into the Proxy Studios discord after launch - I'm sure there'll be a healthy community of players looking for PvP matches, and can hopefully answer any questions you have.
Thing about this game is there are not a lot of choices, so replayability isn't that great. All of the "factions" aren't that unique and use the same small pool of units as well. I had high hopes but back to AOW4 for me.
I know what you mean, and that was one of the points I made - that it doesn't bring endless choice. Like in AOW, there's a real joy in experimenting, discovering new things, empire building. With ZEPHON I found the enjoyment much more in the micro gameplay, the combat & tactics. Similar to the satisfaction you'd get from an RTS.
I wouldn't say excellent. My main gripe was and why I asked for a refund is that the factions don't seem any different. I think for the longetivity of the game they need to add unqqiue faction units or make them more different.
I think there'll always be contention in symmetric / asymmetric factions. I feel like they tried to find a balance, giving three asymmetric paths - but have them open to all players. But then, that gives the player options, but takes away the 'uniqueness' of a faction. I don't think there's a way to satisfy all player tastes with that, but maybe as you said introducing factions that have unique units or mechanics could bring that variety in. Something I'd expect to see from the game in the future
When will there be a good resource-oriented 4X? Distant Worlds is the only one I know so far. Ara turned out to be an undercooked confused mess. I just want a simplified citybuilder but on a 4X scale.
Ara & Millennia are both very resource driven - but both were pretty undercooked imo. Ara is getting an update this month which looks to address a lot of the problems I had with it - so I'll be keeping an eye on it. My usual go to is Old World - has an interesting handle on resources, and I really love to families / events focus it has (but appreciate it's not for everyone)
@@ginxtv They are also based on that history mix-and-match shenanigans, which aren't my thing really. I'll be surely enjoying ZEPHON for what it is - it's just one other itch I have goes unscratched for way too long now. Old World intrigues me but I haven't had an opportunity to try it yet.
@@qasderfful That's a smart way to approach it. ZEPHON isn't trying to be this multifaceted sprawling 4X - it puts its focus elsewhere. I'm with you in wanted a resource driven 4X, and Ara or Millennia should've been that - but IMO they each tried to do too many thing, and that impacted the game. I'd 100% recommend Old World. Should drop to a decent price for Steam's Winter Sale. The time period is very particular (I personally love it) but it does a lot of things very well. Warfare, the feeling of the world, city management, balancing power between the houses, the event and dynasty system. It really feels like its own thing. The AI is a step above other 4X games too (if that's important to you).
Honestly, it's kind of disturbing just how much it looks like Gladius... I assume the pink plumes were a wire weed substitute. But eventually I'll give it a go and hopefully them making their own world means they will have a less frustrating DLC policy
I'm all for post launch content but Gladius (or most 40k games for that matter) was tiring. Given they're self publishing, I reckon it won't be on Gladius' level. A few meaningful expansions adding new systems would be nice though.
Gladius had a very bad enemy faction AI that basically from the start to the end of the game did nothing but sending unit after unit at you even if there is another enemy faction between itself and you. At any point you can end the game and reveal the map and see a conga-line of units just bee lining towards your position with no planning or reason just bum rushing you. This made the game extremely easy for factions with strong defense like Necrons were a breeze to play but made playing factions like Chaos a tortuous experience. I hope they improved the enemy faction AI
The AI has been improved from Gladius - and the AI will engage with other factions very frequently. The full extent of the AI's abilities will take a while to see, but I'm figuring we'll also see little improvements made by the dev who seems pretty active.
My ultimate issue is that Gladius was an unmitigated piece of shit- a half-baked product frequently sold heavily discounted (or one time even given away) because 3/4 of the game has to be bought seperately as insultingly overpriced DLC. When you have to buy core units as basic as Space Marine Scouts or Necron Immortals, or entire races as fundamental to 40K as Eldar, Chaos or Tyranids, seperately then you might as well be playing a F2P game filled with microtransactions (or given the appalling price tag on the faction DLCs, macrotransactions). Hell, they even locked an achievement behind a ridiculous piece of DLC that did nothing but add a single NPC unit to the map (the Lord of Skulls) just to punish any 100% completionists who didn't want to fork out the several HUNDREDS of dollars they expect you to pay for the whole thing. That one time they gave the base game away for free I refused to even take it, because I was so insulted at how badly they wanted to gouge me. Which is why I've been leery about this game- I simply don't trust Proxy Studios, although admittedly they are self-publishing rather than being published by Slitherine this time, so maybe this one won't go the same way.
I always figured that kind of monetisation was par for the course for a 40K title. What was done with Gladius was the norm for most other games in that IP. I too am hoping that with them self publishing - and with their own IP - they'll take a different approach. I can totally see why you'd be guarded though. The game will still be here a few months of a year from now, and you can always decide for or against at a later date. Don't feel pressured by a review or a hype wave - just go with your gut.
@@ginxtv Yeah, I left Stellaris to cook for a few years before I decided whether or not to buy it- and seeing that the comprehensive version would end up setting me back _over $400_ (and still rising) I'm confident that I made the right decision in skipping it.
No pre-play by streamers is not very smart, and no price up front, or pre-purchase ability with discount is kinda weird now-a-days. if the AI is just Gladius with diff units then it's a loser since I already have Gladius for that. Again would have been nice to watch others play for a couple weeks to know if I was interested or not, but since I did not see them play it recently I now have to hold off purchase decision until I watch others therefore Devs will not be selling it to me at least for that or more time.... Disappointing.
The embargo lifted today so there should be a week or so of streams and videos to help folks make up their mind before launch. They'll most likely be sharing streams and videos in the Proxy Studios discord channel over the next few days.
What makes the gameplay so welcome for me is that it doesn't require the complexity of, say Age of Wonders, with dozens and dozens more of wild combat effects and multipliers. Zephons rts style combat system works very well.
Mentioned in the review is that such a small studio has put out such a polished product. True, helping them in that regard is they seem to have reused and repurposed systems that allow them to move the "system IP" along. Not a bad thing.
Honestly, I've no problem with it. I think they've been smart with it, seen what works, what doesn't, and built the next version of their system. If they make other games with that system in different settings, I'm cool with that too - because its a good system.
Back in the day, we had Alpha Centauri which was basically a reskin of Civilisation 2. Nobody had a problem with either and Alpha Centauri still holds up as one of the best 4X games ever made.
@@owa1985 +1 for the SMAC mention.
But yeah, great point & comparison. Used the same building blocks, with lots of changes, tweaks and adjustments that really elevated it past being a reskin
Honestly from AOW4 graphics to this, Zephon is definitely my taste. Also Zephon feels much more tactical and realistic not so superficial and exaggerated or over the top. Game is way more grounded for me personally. This is the Game I would rather spend time, learning about the factions and quest storyline is so intriguing I couldn't stop reading them. I felt the horror, the sufferings and the struggles that some of these leaders and their people go through. Zephon is not just about guns and blowing shit up, love that you can forge alliances and create and influential gain through other leaders and their faction to your side. One of the most inspiring 4X not only just war even though that's the primary focus. But it does everything else with a nice touch.
I recommend anyone getting into 4X games and just learning that 4X rope like how I am. Come play. You won't regret it!
I pre-beta test it and I loved it.
Funny you should mention AOW - I've been back on AOW after reviewing ZEPHON and I find myself really missing ZEPHON. It's all so focused and streamlined, feels really comfortable to play. Really gets highlighted when you play another 4X right after.
You'll have a great time with the faction, I loved their stories and they really have so much personality and lore to them. For the video I did games as Rogue Operative, Practical Romantic & Furtive Tribunal and their stories were all powerful and distinct. Looking forward to playing as the others (though I'll wait till release so I can discover more of the game alongside the community).
@@ginxtv Thats awesome to hear, hope to hear more reviews or watch a bit of streaming from you hehe :)
Cool animations and situational voices for every unit are something I’ve wished for in AoW for years and Zephon has it. And its awesome.
Thank you for this review, it was exactly what I was looking for since I have played Gladius for a couple of years and was wondering what the similarities and differences were.
This game looks great, lots of cool factions and mechanics. I just hope we don't get the insane monetisation Gladius had, because that kind of ruined that game for me.
I think a lot of that monetisation was driven by the 40K IP - so I'd be surprised if we saw something like that in ZEPHON
A couple dollars on sale for newly introduced factions with totally unique play styles isnt insane monotization. 4x games are very niche. How else do you expect the devs to make money and continue support?
@@user-cu5wu5dz5x "A couple dollars" he says. Each faction DLC (for factions as fundamental to the Warhammer 40K experience as Chaos, Eldar or Tyranids) cost over 1/3 as much as the core game itself, and even when the game was discounted, the DLCs weren't nearly as much. The "complete edition" when not on sale costs over *$260* in my currency (Australian dollars), and even when it _was_ on sale it still cost more than most full-priced games. Gladius was a stinking rip-off, a half-completed game frequently sold on heavy discount (and one time even given away for free) because it served solely as a vector with which to sell you overpriced DLC.
@@user-cu5wu5dz5x Zephon has a sort of "Support DLC" is brings you nothing, other than that you give Proxy a bit more cash as a sign of support. I like that. It's an honest request of an Indi studio that made a good game.
Once I get paid again I may support them.
If this had DLC at the scope and price point that Stellaris has I would be fine with that. Don't buy them if you don't want them.
I'm definetly giving this a shot. I played Gladius for quite some time. but I do like having new worlds to discover and immerse into
Its certainly a very distinct and intriguing world - I hope you have fun with it!
Loved Gladius and I am sure I will enjoy this as well
Looking forward to entering the doomsday desolated world of ZEPHON in a few days. Reminds me a bit of a turn based tactical version of THE FOREVER WINTER. Glad to see they are unbound with their creative prowess to conjure up something totally their own. WARHAMMER 40,000 GLADIUS is one of my top three most played games on STEAM with BATTLETECH by HBS and FALLOUT 4 being the other two most played games with thousands of hours.
Thanks for the great video which will keep me hyped up and going til release on Friday. Happy gaming! ☕
I'm sensing a trend between those games
It definitely sounds like ZEPHON will tick every box for you. Only a few more days left to wait!
@@ginxtv LOL, yes a trend.. a pattern :D
Yes its very nice to feel this level of anticipation for a game which hardly happens these days though i still look very much forward to new releases there are some that take it to another level like back in the days of the 1990's and ZEPHON is one of them.
Phenomenal review! Very good job! Convinced me to get the game and subscribe
Never played Gladius. But as a Stellaris gamer, who doesn't mind an all--out war, this definitely looks fun.
You sold it to me. This will get high on my wishlist!
Very good and balanced review, thank you.
This looks awesome!
Loved Gladius and I will absolutely be picking this up. This game looks outstanding.
Great review. I played Gladius over 300 hours, but it got boring, so this looks like new food! I had skipped it so far, since it looked TOOO much the same, but now I think it might be interesting. Well done.
The similarities were definitely very eery at first, but once the world kicks in and you notice the improvements, it definitely stands on its own two legs.
Thanks for reviewing this so early. Glad this great game is getting some attention. I’m really enjoying it and the additional diplomacy element of the 4X genre is very welcomed. Great to have voice lines in as standard without the need of a ‘To many voices’ mod.
I’m curious if anyone else is a little disappointed with the same ending each match tho? I understand it’s a nice conclusion, but I hope they develop some alternate endings and different end game titans. It will always be difficult to rival the designs of 40K which are so well established and executed. I understand it’s just personal preference, but sea ships with legs looks wrong to me as a concept. I play the board game scythe which has a similar issue for me haha.
I know what you mean about the ending. One thing I'm hoping for is a few variations towards the end. Maybe feeding back into more of those random events, I think a twist at the end every few games could really spice things up. Definitely high up my wishlist for future additions to the game.
I still remember the absolute slog fighting the Anchovies on a war they started. Like I said before, "peace & love my ass"
I loved Gladius. Buying Zephon now.
I was super excited at first thinking it was going to be a game like Gladius 2003 😊
I did not know that game existed until 1 minute ago and now I'm also hoping for a successor to it
I love 4x games but i dont know if ive ever finished a game. This one i probably will. I love the combat.
The 4X curse of a thousand unfinished games. Much less a problem here, which is nice
Always wanted a CIV like game with an emphasis on combat. Also reminds me of Civ beyond earth (in a good way) the whole (PVE) aspect. Also the Human, Voice, Cyber is somewhat like Harmony, Supremacy, Purity
Yes! I was definitely reminded of SMBE a few times when playing (but with a lot more murder and monsters)
try age of wonder planetfall then.
or age of wonder 4 if you prefer fantasy.
I rly hope they improved ai because bad ai was main reason i played gladius so little despite liking gameplay itself
With AI I usually look at it two ways - the tactics (smaller scale, how they handle themselves in battles) and the strategy (larger play, long term plan). On the tactics side ZEPHON felt really solid, more so than most other 4Xs. Strategy side it is hard to tell after only a few games (which I lost) but they seemed to be playing well (or at least better than me).
A better answer will become clear as more people play and get into higher difficulties and such - but my impressions are that the AI is decent, and an improvement over Gladius. It's above average for 4X AI, but unsure yet as to how competent. My current gold standard is Old World - if ZEPHON's AI is on or near that level, then it's a winner.
What @ginxtv said about AI ambushes are not wrong. My army was wiping the dirt against 3 Reavers. The last one retreated into the fog of war and I pushed my army forward into an open field to chase after him. Then from the trees, most of my units took overwatch (free opportunity attacks) from a whole army of Reavers waiting in ambush. Since my units are on open fields, they take full damage, while the Reavers take half damage from my units because of tree cover. Needless to say, I walked straight into a deathtrap.
So this is where all my money on gladius DLC went. I approve.
This was a solid fair review. The best so far for this game.
Seems like A LOT of combat!
Which I love! It's why I play games.
Glad you enjoyed it - and yeah, a lot of combat might be an understatement. I don't think I went a single turn without shooting, lasering or telekinetically blasting something!
reminds me of phoenix point
how long does it take to get through a single campaign? ive never played these kinds of games but im seeing that most only take a few hours to beat?
On average the games I had were about 6 hours - though that can be made longer or shorter in game settings - and experience will make the games shorter as you get used to the systems.
Though each game is a different map, different enemies, different approach. Despite a game being shorter than most other 4X games, it's very tempting to reroll another world and jump back in.
These videos are great, keep it up, guys! :)
Honestly I'm just waiting for sale, I'm miffed they didn't do a launch sale, and honestly I'd want to spend about maybe at most a little more than half of what their asking for.
It might be a bit soon to hope for a discount in the Christmas sale (but its a possibility) - though I'd expect something maybe at the start of next year, maybe to coincide with an update
@@ginxtv 10% is at least the standard steam launch discount, and the lack of it is 100% why I haven't gotten it yet, based on Principal alone.
One quick question. Do units have voicelines or is it the silent treatment like with Gladius? Voices really flesh out the games for me when done right and waiting for a mod updates over the literal years is not something I would like to experience again.
The units do have voice lines, and they're all very individual. The sound in that regard was very good.
The comment about ambient audio was more about any idle sound - units don't have that, but they have voice lines and combat line for when you give them an order.
@@ginxtv Amazing news. Thanks.
@@rubyeyed756 A big addition compared to Gladius. That game was honestly to silent.
Does have campaign mode?
No campaign mode, however each faction has a story and some events over the course of the game that tell you the story of that faction
Well that was a review, but maybe not what I needed. On the one hand your review was mostly full of its a great game and I like that. I guess I'm hoping this won't be a $100 game but I will no soon :)
I'd be surprised if this has monetisation in line with Gladius. I think a lot of that was down to the publisher / Warhammer IP.
They haven't announced price of this yet but I'd expect it to be around the $35 / $40 mark - which I think is very fair. We'll know for sure in a few hours.
Looks good
"Warhammer 40000: Gladius - Relics Of War" isn't the longest name, "The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king" is
Hey, if they brought LOTR:BFME back I'd happily say that ridiculously long name all day long.
I am on the fence. Love 40k, enjoyed Gladius PvP, didn't enjoy Gladius PvE. I will wait for more feedback from the PvP community and then will make a decision.
Might be worth checking into the Proxy Studios discord after launch - I'm sure there'll be a healthy community of players looking for PvP matches, and can hopefully answer any questions you have.
Thing about this game is there are not a lot of choices, so replayability isn't that great. All of the "factions" aren't that unique and use the same small pool of units as well. I had high hopes but back to AOW4 for me.
I know what you mean, and that was one of the points I made - that it doesn't bring endless choice. Like in AOW, there's a real joy in experimenting, discovering new things, empire building. With ZEPHON I found the enjoyment much more in the micro gameplay, the combat & tactics. Similar to the satisfaction you'd get from an RTS.
I wouldn't say excellent.
My main gripe was and why I asked for a refund is that the factions don't seem any different.
I think for the longetivity of the game they need to add unqqiue faction units or make them more different.
I think there'll always be contention in symmetric / asymmetric factions. I feel like they tried to find a balance, giving three asymmetric paths - but have them open to all players. But then, that gives the player options, but takes away the 'uniqueness' of a faction.
I don't think there's a way to satisfy all player tastes with that, but maybe as you said introducing factions that have unique units or mechanics could bring that variety in. Something I'd expect to see from the game in the future
Does it have voice acting this time ? 😅
Yes - units and other leaders have voice lines.
this make me think of Sid meier's Beyond Earth
Looks like how beyond earth should have been
Only true cyberpunk fans will know where the name "Molly Millions" comes from.
I'm so happy someone picked up on that
When will there be a good resource-oriented 4X?
Distant Worlds is the only one I know so far. Ara turned out to be an undercooked confused mess.
I just want a simplified citybuilder but on a 4X scale.
Ara & Millennia are both very resource driven - but both were pretty undercooked imo. Ara is getting an update this month which looks to address a lot of the problems I had with it - so I'll be keeping an eye on it.
My usual go to is Old World - has an interesting handle on resources, and I really love to families / events focus it has (but appreciate it's not for everyone)
@@ginxtv They are also based on that history mix-and-match shenanigans, which aren't my thing really.
I'll be surely enjoying ZEPHON for what it is - it's just one other itch I have goes unscratched for way too long now.
Old World intrigues me but I haven't had an opportunity to try it yet.
@@qasderfful That's a smart way to approach it. ZEPHON isn't trying to be this multifaceted sprawling 4X - it puts its focus elsewhere. I'm with you in wanted a resource driven 4X, and Ara or Millennia should've been that - but IMO they each tried to do too many thing, and that impacted the game.
I'd 100% recommend Old World. Should drop to a decent price for Steam's Winter Sale. The time period is very particular (I personally love it) but it does a lot of things very well. Warfare, the feeling of the world, city management, balancing power between the houses, the event and dynasty system. It really feels like its own thing. The AI is a step above other 4X games too (if that's important to you).
Cool
I'll just stick with Gladius
Honestly, it's kind of disturbing just how much it looks like Gladius... I assume the pink plumes were a wire weed substitute. But eventually I'll give it a go and hopefully them making their own world means they will have a less frustrating DLC policy
I'm all for post launch content but Gladius (or most 40k games for that matter) was tiring.
Given they're self publishing, I reckon it won't be on Gladius' level. A few meaningful expansions adding new systems would be nice though.
Gladius had a very bad enemy faction AI that basically from the start to the end of the game did nothing but sending unit after unit at you even if there is another enemy faction between itself and you.
At any point you can end the game and reveal the map and see a conga-line of units just bee lining towards your position with no planning or reason just bum rushing you.
This made the game extremely easy for factions with strong defense like Necrons were a breeze to play but made playing factions like Chaos a tortuous experience.
I hope they improved the enemy faction AI
The AI has been improved from Gladius - and the AI will engage with other factions very frequently. The full extent of the AI's abilities will take a while to see, but I'm figuring we'll also see little improvements made by the dev who seems pretty active.
Yey
Play live
Looks like same game since Pandora. They need to change it up.
Is this review sponsored?
No, it is not
ew the aliens are gross. they're perfect.
My ultimate issue is that Gladius was an unmitigated piece of shit- a half-baked product frequently sold heavily discounted (or one time even given away) because 3/4 of the game has to be bought seperately as insultingly overpriced DLC. When you have to buy core units as basic as Space Marine Scouts or Necron Immortals, or entire races as fundamental to 40K as Eldar, Chaos or Tyranids, seperately then you might as well be playing a F2P game filled with microtransactions (or given the appalling price tag on the faction DLCs, macrotransactions). Hell, they even locked an achievement behind a ridiculous piece of DLC that did nothing but add a single NPC unit to the map (the Lord of Skulls) just to punish any 100% completionists who didn't want to fork out the several HUNDREDS of dollars they expect you to pay for the whole thing. That one time they gave the base game away for free I refused to even take it, because I was so insulted at how badly they wanted to gouge me. Which is why I've been leery about this game- I simply don't trust Proxy Studios, although admittedly they are self-publishing rather than being published by Slitherine this time, so maybe this one won't go the same way.
I always figured that kind of monetisation was par for the course for a 40K title. What was done with Gladius was the norm for most other games in that IP. I too am hoping that with them self publishing - and with their own IP - they'll take a different approach.
I can totally see why you'd be guarded though. The game will still be here a few months of a year from now, and you can always decide for or against at a later date. Don't feel pressured by a review or a hype wave - just go with your gut.
@@ginxtv Yeah, I left Stellaris to cook for a few years before I decided whether or not to buy it- and seeing that the comprehensive version would end up setting me back _over $400_ (and still rising) I'm confident that I made the right decision in skipping it.
@@ArcaneAzmadi As someone who has bought every single Stellaris expansion, you've just made me question my decision making skills.
just a reskin game
Gfx look terrible...
Looks fine to me
Gladius reskin...
No pre-play by streamers is not very smart, and no price up front, or pre-purchase ability with discount is kinda weird now-a-days. if the AI is just Gladius with diff units then it's a loser since I already have Gladius for that. Again would have been nice to watch others play for a couple weeks to know if I was interested or not, but since I did not see them play it recently I now have to hold off purchase decision until I watch others therefore Devs will not be selling it to me at least for that or more time.... Disappointing.
The embargo lifted today so there should be a week or so of streams and videos to help folks make up their mind before launch. They'll most likely be sharing streams and videos in the Proxy Studios discord channel over the next few days.
It looks very cool