Shadow Empire is an immersive and rather complex turn-based wargame with a unique mix of military focus, 4X elements, procedural generation and role-playing features.
Very Positive
1,720 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
Uses genAI
I don't play games that use generative AI....
Love the game, more hours played than steam has tracked. The original art was part of the appeal. If a human was paid to update the art then so be it, it would just take away from the original charm but add a level of professionalism, developers choice. I just cannot support a game that utilizes generative AI, but I do very much appreciate the transparency about its use. Sorry dev.
Pirated game before but now bought on Steam.
It's very interesting Strategy game with interesting design, but very bad interface. Most of the game you can learn without guides or official manual but it needs some time to learn mechanics. There a lot of happening in a game and game wont tell you about this. This needs to be adressed.
Economy and supply mechanics made very well. Armies and battles interface should be redesigned to have more available info about unit or what happening in a battle. Unit design and modelling looks fun to me. I like it. Very irritating construction menu, it's just bad and in need of redesign.
Also a big problem is an AI and anti-player BIAS. Minors and Independents will ♥♥♥♥ your life but will not touch other Majors and in many games i had Majors who expanded so big that they outteched me meanwhile 2 minors and 1 independents just try to encircle and cut supply everywhere while other majors freely captures their territory on "nothing ever happens front'. They did not wanted to contact me or made a peace via event or "propose a peace" card... idk maybe my skill issue but i found this in many new games i made just to test it.
Research is RNG??? In my game right now military research just skipped automatic rifles. I'm researching more advanced techs but cant discover a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ automatic rifle meanwhile my enemies got advanced gauss. Even funnier situations where i kill those guys with gauss but didnt get a glimpse of discovering a tech. How in a world i can research a rocket but cant invent a rifle????. My boys with literal CARABINES fight enemies with adv. gauss... SKILL ISSUE.
AI generated GFX are bad. I understand that it cuts some expences but it doesnt even fit to original GFX design. It would be good to redirect those funds in other things. Thx for option to disable those.
I bought this game when it first came out, bought the first DLC, etc. I really liked everything the dev was doing.
it has been years since I played and loaded it up again to see all the changes. its so disappointing to see the garbage AI art used now instead of the weirdly charming janky art that the game had before. The AI art just looks ♥♥♥♥♥♥, the faces all look very similar, a weird bright sheen to everything.
I really don't know what else to say but the Ai art sucks. For a great game like this to just reduce some of the few moments that aren't dealing with logistics or moving units around a map to some soulless AI generated "art" is just very disappointing.
An in depth logistics system makes this a different sort of 4X game. This game requires patience and a willingness to read the manual and engage with the community in order to grasp some of the key mechanisms. Reading the reports from your leaders is critical to troubleshooting why things may not be working the way you would expect. Once you gain an understanding of the key systems of this game, you will find yourself thinking about what you want to achieve next time you get a chance to play.
This is a unique experience and special strategy game. Yes, it's hard...and yes it is worth it.
Hurmph
The game is great. The strategic depth and the sheer number of decisions can keep you hooked for hours. The AI art is a plus.
Been playing Shadow Empire on and off and I am really enjoying it so far. The setup grabbed me pretty quick. You’re basically in charge of a small struggling nation, on some wrecked planet, trying to build it back up. It sounds grim and it very much is, but that’s kind of the appeal.
I like that you start with almost nothing and just have to figure it out from there. The planet can be wildly different each time, which keeps things interesting. An airless moon or a jungle filled green gem with ehm… interesting encounters. It’s a joy to explore.
What surprised me most is how involved everything feels. It’s not just moving units and calling it a day. You’re dealing with leaders, internal politics, supply lines, all that stuff. It leans into the hardcore strategy side, but the 4X and RPG bits give it more character than I expected.
The AI art is actually pretty decent. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about that going in, but it works. It’s definitely better than the kind of placeholder stuff or programmer art you sometimes see in games like this. It really fits the overall vibe very well. For me it is a big improvement over the original art. (Edit: For those that want the original art, there is a toggle in the options to turn the new AI art on or off)
Anyway, it’s one of those games I like to play when I’ve got some time and a cup of tea next to me. I haven’t gone super deep yet, but I will definitely come back to this. Probably when the Republica DLC drops.
was looking forward to fully committing to learning with the new dlc, but now they added ai slop. I don't care if there's a toggle.
Complex and deep, good gameplay
I preferred the old janky sprites over the newer AI slop sprites. They are painfully obvious.
The AI IS the Shadow Empire, you dunces
Iam writing a positive review for two reasons, with the first reason being the game is very good. So much work went into making a game like this, the depth and mechanics all working together. My dream now is that they add the ability to conquer more than one planet in a game. The second reason, which is also the main reason for writing this reviews is, I was surpised to see mixed reviews recently, after seeing the complaints i thought, thats not fair to the developer.
We live in an AI world now, don't penalize game developers for using the tools that are out there. Game developers already have a hard time earning a living playing the games we love, if they can make more games and earn a profit doing so then let them. For games we like we might spend 40 hours or more playing it. Paying $40 thats $1/hour of entertainment.
The developer doesnt make $40 per sale, there is revenue sharing and other expensives. Bad reviews for a good game like this is not fair and hurts their ability to sell more games. I know there is push back with AI, but AI is not going anywhere and we cant blame industries like game develoipers for using it. Using AI for games doesnt take away from all the hard work and many hours making it. This is just my opinion, but hopefully some people reading this will change theirs.
It's a great game. The crowd complaining about the AI generated art have clearly never worked in a development environment in their life. It's a game developed by a very small team of people in an extraordinarily niche genre. They have finite time and resources. They likely don't have the resources to create hundreds or thousands of custom in-game portraits and sprites or couldn't find an artist willing to work within their budget to create them. Relax, people. The world isn't going to explode because an indie development team used AI.
$40 dollars for your game and you can't hire artists or put the effort into learning yourself? Go ahead and play your part in destroying our planet cause you're too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lazy to do anything other than hit a generate button.
Edit for Dev response: Yeah, five years of a charming and unique artstyle, why unleash the slop machine now? Zero monetary cost to us but the Earth itself pays for it when devs like you take the lazy route.
I absolutely love this game so am sad I feel the need to weigh in with a negative review because of the ai art. The pre ai art is absolutly fine and charming and if there is need for an update of it please pay an artist for their work instead of stealing through ai. will gladly change review back to positive if ai slop gets removed.
Dev decided to start using AI generated art, that's gonna be a no from me.
Deep, immersive 4xSci-Fi game. Very very good.
Great game, huge depth, really interesting systems .
Getting badly dinged in reviews due to AI use for some GFX, but I like what the game does there also - and if you are not 'trending' against it, it adds some atmosphere to the game.
I like the new art style personally, and happy devs used AI for it, and concentrate on the game systems.. This is clearly a labour of love.
I will abandon this one. Mostly, because it is not playable on Linux without a massive amount of tinkering. It was never sold or promised that it would run smoothly on Linux but it is a major point for me, so I cannot play it. Why do I give it a negative rating? Well it implemented AI slop and I don't appreciate that in any of my games.
An immensely deep game that clearly has a lot of passion behind it. All of its components and systems work together to create a truly challenging yet rewarding 4X experience, with a level of charm that really stood out in the genre.
However, the shift toward genuinely awful Gen-AI art is a baffling decision. It somehow manages to look both generic and distracting at the same time. While the game was never a visual masterpiece, it at least had a distinct charm before. At no point did I ever find myself thinking, “this would be better if the visuals were shinier and more polished.”
Now, there’s no consistent visual identity—just an overwhelming layer of glossy, AI-generated garbage. I’ve also found it noticeably harder to pick out the stratagems I want, since many of them now look nearly identical.
It’s also hard to see who this change is for. This is a deep 4X wargame—players are here for the complexity and replayability, not because it looks “pretty.”
I was looking forward to the new DLC, as it seemed to fix the biggest gap i felt whilst playing. However, as long as there’s such a heavy lean on AI-generated content, I can’t see myself continuing to support the game.
Doesn't do a good job teaching the game at the larger scale. It takes a lot of time to get a sense of why you should do X. You can learn the finer mechanics, but learning the 'why' of it is the hang-up. There's no feedback to let a new player know where they stand relative to peers or game phase, what their priority is and why, or what are effectively the phases of the game, and what you want to move toward or think forward toward. It's a tough challenge shared among a lot of large scale strategy games, but always needs addressing nonetheless. Else, a newer player can feel rudderless, like they're spinning some wheels but don't know what for.
Also, early art had some charm to it, new art is distractingly bad and aggravating. It can be turned off, but the dev isn't pursuing a cohesive, evocative, or original style. The immersion is permanently damaged as a result.
Imagine you’re a small developer using AI-generated images as placeholders just to keep your project moving forward, and suddenly a swarm of Redditors shows up to downvote your game.
Do I personally care for AI art? Not really. Do I think it’s worth downvote bombing someone’s work over? No.
That said, charging $40 for a product that relies on AI-generated images? I don’t think that’s justified either.
Unnecessary turn to use AI pictures. Not only did it ruin endearing retro-like art that was before, I will not support someone who openly supports and use gen AI.
Edit regarding developer answer:
Giving the option to switch between AI and "old" art is not the point. I love the game itself, and the money I already spent on it, is well spent. So I do appriciate the option if I decide to return to it, but the use of art is still here, and from what I undertsand, you intend on continuing using it. Ergo, I cannot in my good conscience neither spend more money on it, or recommend it to other people.
This is THE best game of it's kind. It is a 4X game and it is a true wargame. It can be played as an "up from nothing" start, with the dark and the unknown all around- very 4X and far more thrilling than any other. It can also be played as a wargame where you start out somewhat established, knowing the shape of the world you are in and where your competitors are to be found on the map- very much a wargame and far more thrilling than any other. Yes Grognards, I said this wargame is thrilling. I've been playing wargames since 1971. I own hundreds of them. I have a deep understanding of game design and what constitutes a good game. My first computer game was in the 90s. I've played every version of Civ (including the off brands) up through Civ 5. I've played numerous of the space Civs. I've played many, many matrix wargames. Now you should listen to me and pay close attention to the following few sentences because I am in a position to know what I am talking about. I far prefer old school table top hex and counter wargames to computer games. That was until I started playing this game. It is the ONLY computer game I know of where multiplayer play isn't necessarily dummed-down by the fact that the game was originally designed to be played solo against an AI. And as any experienced computer gamer knows, game AIs are stupid. They are stupid stupid stupid. Its just a matter of time before the illusion of intelligence is gone and you discover that all along you have just been playing against yourself. That is true even for Shadow Empire, BUT, it takes far more work to get to this point. I've put in over one thousand hours playing solo and I am still enjoying the game immensely. Most importantly, the game is not marred by being designed to be played solo. It plays even better when played against a real intelligence- another human. I played this multiplayer several times against players from my local gamers group when it first came out, and now I am starting to play other players online from across the world.
This game is not for the faint of heart, its not for the joystick jockeys. This is a thinking mans game. It has a steep learning curve and some dedication will be required to truly get the most out of the game. I strongly suggest the youtube tutorials and "let's plays" by Strategos. He has mastered the game and explains things quite well. But even without this, you will enjoy the game. It has far more depth than any other computer game today. You must do the math, or at least be aware of it, but you don't need to be a number cruncher to play well like with Hearts of Iron, or Gary Grigbey's War in the Pacific.
This game has had great support. The designer is brilliant and he has diligently addressed numerous issues since it came out and it has long been running smoothly. Further, he has expanded the game over time. Many features have been added just through updates. This game has been a labor of love by one of the best game designers alive today. For myself, I place him up there with Dean Essig and Richard Berg rest their souls.
Recently, there have been some negative reviews mostly made by people who don't really have much time in playing the game. The source of the negativity is mostly over AI generated art. Many of these reviewers are coming from a place of fear and anger and their position seems to me a little extreme. I too am very concerned about the effect AI will have on our economies and the unrest this may cause. Heck, I even worry about a potential disaster because both our military and China's military have decided they need to be the first to implement AI based warfare. I'm a little less worried about HAL locking us out of the ship but only a little less. But this isn't that. Over the coming decade or two a lot of people are gonna lose their jobs to AI. And it is quite possible that some artist is losing an opportunity due to the AI art being used on the game.
But two other things are also true.
First, no one is going to be able to stop the development of AI. The Genie is out of the bottle. Let me repeat, THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE. Here in the US we are too divided, and now, I fear too corrupt. But this is a huge societal, scientific change that will also bring good with it too. Lives are gonna be lost and lives are gonna be saved. Its gonna be both sad and inspiring. Like all struggle its gonna be both boring and exhilarating. Worst of all it appears as if we live in a time of little men. Then again, that is always the way the world appears at my age. We have, so far, managed not to nuke ourselves to death. Take heart, perhaps we will rise to occasion and make a brighter future once again as our fathers did after WW2.
Second, Vic is basically a one man shop. He has done the majority of the work on this brilliant game. I am sure the margin does not exist to give this game the art it deserves. Vic is not a greedy industrialist, he is more like a faithful artisan in love with his creation. I think he deserves better treatment more leeway. And treat yourself better too, don't be so cynical that you miss out on the incredible experience this game provides. Be a true heart and face the world as it is and as it becomes. But have a little fun and wonder as you go. Play Shadow Empire!
I enjoy the game. The use of AI is meh, it can be turned off. I do prefer the older/"uglier" art designs as they had a character of their own. I never played this game because of it's amazing artwork, I played it because of the intense complex nature of it. If this was something like CIV made by huge corporations using AI instead of hiring I would be against it, but seeing this game's development since the beginning done by 1? or just a few, I don't think its that large of an issue. Unfortunately, every generation grows up and has new things that come out and they don't like it. This is the case of every human that has existed and ours is AI. It will used in everything from the day of it's inception, and a lot people will have to accept it. This is how new technologies work, despite your opinions about it.
Using AI-Generated Artwork and Graphics instead of hiring artists.
Dude literally says "I could have hired human artists" in his reasoning.
garbage
One of the best strategy games I’ve ever played. Shadow Empire is incredibly complex, brutally challenging, and unbelievably entertaining all at once.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such a perfect mix of classic wargame and deep 4X strategy. You get the grand-scale empire-building - exploring and colonizing procedurally generated planets with wildly different ecologies, managing a full economy, politics, and your own council of governors and commanders - but it’s all wrapped in serious, hex-based wargame mechanics. Designing your own units, wrestling with realistic logistics and supply lines… it’s all there, and it just works beautifully.
Every campaign feels completely fresh because no two planets are ever the same. The learning curve is steep (this is definitely not a beginner-friendly game), but once everything clicks, you’ll lose lots of hours. The satisfaction of turning a struggling little regime into a planetary superpower, or pulling off a flawless encirclement after weeks of careful planning, is unmatched.
If you love crunchy strategy games that reward brains over reflexes, Shadow Empire is an absolute must-play. Highly recommended for any fan of 4X titles, wargames, or anyone who wants something truly unique in the genre. 10/10, easily one of my all-time favorites.
I think switching over to AI art was a big mistake by the developer. Especially since the AI generated art isn't very good. However, you can turn it off. The core game itself is a deep and difficulty strategy game, and worth getting on that basis.
The creator's self-serving justification for using AI "art" forces a response.
Did I pay you for this? Yes, I did.
Did you pay the creators whose art was stolen to train the LLM? No, you did not.
I WILL NOT SUPPORT THEFT.
After having this sit in my library for a while I as very excited to really get into a game with this kind of depth and complexity. Started reading the manual and watched some older playthroughs before opening the game and seeing the AI art used in the game, and now I have zero desire to give the game any attention.
The company literally said before that AI art was purely used in ways the consumer WOULDN'T see. Im sorry, but with an artstyle thats already somewhat ass, AI trying to recreate it just makes it worse. Its a decent game i guess, just needs actual artists
Retroactively added a ton of AI artwork to the game, which is unfortunate especially since the original art they had made the game feel unique and engaging
ai slop is being used ruining a great game
edit: hey man im not offended by seeing ai art, im mad that you used it in the first place when you didnt need to use it. you could of just not used ai art but you still did.
Unique 4x ruined by AI slop.
Game's amazing. Shame about the new AI art which kind of ruins the vibe though.
complete refuge social justice ♥♥♥♥ show make over.
I only played the game to make a fascist nation,
The old game was ok, the update is a leftwing jewish social justice ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ update.
It pretty much hardcode force you to play leftwing politcs and there is nothing you can do about it.
In short no, Its a bigger social justice downgrade than Heart of Iron which I sought to avoid.
It was a good game and now its just a game from for Black Cucking Social justice tards
The game seems great but the use of AI-art disturbs me. I am new to this specific game, and picked it up on a whim as I wanted a roguelike/warfront/society sim and this fit the categories really well. I have been playing it a bit for the last three days and it has been a blast learning the new systems. I actually and honestly really liked the original artstyle the game had pre-AI patch, it had that fantastic crunchy old school asthetic to it, and it had so much more soul than the new lifeless generic art that has been included since the latest patch.
I can not in good concience give the game a negative review, as I believe the sum of its parts overshadow the blemishes (systems, 4x strategy, frontline organization), but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE concider creating, hireing or using freeware art for the in game artstyle instead of the horrible AI made ones. There are so much free art assets out there online and while AI-gen saves some time there surely has to be a way to find and unse other low budget options.
Great game, but please consider. Oh, and the in-game art select between AI and old interface does not remove the largest arguments/issues concerning modern image generation.
Game's baller
haven't played much, but it's genuinely enjoyable.
Note: I want to put in a positive review to counteract the knee-jerk review bombing based on the dev's decision to use AI-assisted art. If you want a real opinion on the game - look at how many people are saying "great game" even though they are criticizing the AI art.
For me, this is one of the best Sci-Fi Wargames ever made. I would go so far as to say it is one of the best wargames made period. As a player of Emperor of the Fading Suns way back in the day, this has very similar vibes (although confined to a single planet). You research tech, set up cities, build infrastructure, manage unit composition, and even design your individual troop types.
The planet generation is amazing. You can end up with some bizarre worlds, each having their own particular needs and strategies. I have spent hours alone in the planet generator just seeing what comes up. Do you want to play Dune? Roll up a desert world and add alien life (it might be a sandworm). Do you want to fight on a volcanic world and rely on massive lava-based power plants to run your economy? Sure. What about a barren young moon with almost no fuel sources - well you better be ready for a protracted infantry war and finding alternative power.
If I was told I could only play 5 games for the rest of my life, I would likely have this one in that list. Don't let my steam hours fool you - I used to run this through the Matrix installer before I switched over to Steam.
As to AI art - I'm ambivalent. The art never worried me in this game. But this is a labor of love by Vic and he is a small developer, using the tools he can. Disagree - that is fine - he has options to turn the AI art off and switch back to the old style.
gud, get dlcs too
This is a great 4x game if you like your game mechanics deep. I have zero issue with AI art (especially with smaller studios who work with limited budgets), which seems to be driving a recent spate of bad reviews.
Love this game. Hate AI art.
I've enjoyed the passion and eccentricity of this game, which makes the decision to go out of the way to replace the endearingly bad art that is so emblematic of the game with incoherent and indistinguishable AI-slop so surprising and hard to understand.
This game has long been on my to-do list of games to dive back into when I have proper time to focus on it, but I'm taking it off that list now. If I had known this is the path the game's development would take I would not of bought it back in 2022.
yes.
Extremely engaging game
good.
I quite liked the game, but the dev insists on using generative AI to make art assets. He then edits the output before it appears in the game, but 1. it still doesn't look great, 2. editing it doesn't do much to address the objections people have to the use of gen ai, and 3. if it's going to look bad anyway, i'd rather have the human-made ugliness than the plastic sheen left behind by the art stealing machine. Anyway, there are frankly better alternatives that don't rely on stolen art to thrive.
Not a fan of all the new AI art stuff
I love the Ai content. More please.
Please forgive the contrarian in me.
Replaced the a lot of the art with AI. Hopefully the devs changes their mind and returns to the old art. I don't play map game to look at the art on the cards the working art was perfectly serviceable.
Love the game, will no longer be supporting it after the addition of AI content. I'd rather have no art than AI art.
The developer has chosen to embrace AI art for new content. Blacklisted and I had the game removed from my account.
Do you have autism?
Do you enjoy numbers going up?
Do you enjoy having no idea what you are doing for the first 400 hrs?
Well boys, buy this game.
I'm over 400 hrs in and i still have no clue what i am doing.
My credits are always going negative.
my people are always unhappy, and my leaders revolt every other turn.
8/10 i will get exiled to the desert soon.
Edit: On further playing, there is one major gripe i have with this game. its not resource efficient. The game only uses 3% of what my cpu is capable of, and the turns take forever. in mid to late game its like 30-40 mins for the turn to end. it is ridiculous.
One of the most hardcore, detail sci strategy game i have ever played
Absolutely love it, just need to be in the right mood for it
Probably the best game I played since 2000.
Wonderful job Vic !
And a game which can be replayed forever.
Just a minor point : please, give us real ships !
全攻略
开局设置：地图选normal就行，small太小了，large太大了。
星球建议新人选siwa 买了海洋dlc就选gaia。
history class 必选spread out ，这样子主要ai势力起码不会在你旁边
开局设置 建议双城开，起步会快非常多，fog of war 至少选know the map 或者 partial 不至于俩眼一抹黑。
tech level 建议 选择 tech level 4 ，因为 level 3 全是很基础的设施比如说学校医院 双翼小飞机啥的，此外这个开局会送一级的工厂和一个金属矿，不然全靠研究要等10回合才会好。四级才是开始。 difficulty 建议选初始，开局送个矿。organisation 选一个开，因为开局大部分委员会没啥用，而且如果人员跟你的倾向不符合后面调整非常非常麻烦。
星球位置主要关注气温，区间在25度最好，太热太冷粮食产量都会下降。倾转交越大，春夏的区别就越明显。
地理来说，生成了之后可以按下esc看下地形怎么样，不喜欢就重来
生态圈，看右边描述就行了，选个正常点的，如果气候太烂，组件部队就需要环境保护服，需要额外花钱。如果开了海洋dlc，很重要的一点是生态圈年纪要久一点，这样子海港才可以捞鱼，听说时间越久出油的比例也就越多。
最后的是大灾变前星系发展，同样，殖民时间越久，人口就越多，服务业比例越高，城市废墟就越多，农业影响的是ai小政权的数量。
开局倾向选择：强烈建议选择 gov+heart+democracy的组合，或者高阶一点的commerc+mind+meritocracy(精英）组合。
第一个新的组织，必选经济委员会。后面根据需要call 秘书要新的委员会
经济委员会：勘探矿产、研究民生科技、抽经济卡
军事研究委员会：研究新的军事科技（并不是装备）
model design 装备委员会：根据已经解锁的科技研究新装备
staff 参谋部 ：根据军事科技研究部队编制
secret service 情报局：抽间谍卡 操控派系 劝退自己家的废物领导 抽破坏卡
外交部： 抽和平卡，抽和小型ai政权的和平 附庸 外交吞并卡
interior council 内务部：生成关税、税收卡。 抽领袖卡（HR），生成内部稳定卡，
Applied science 应用科学：其实就是给建筑啥的加buff
airforce research ：空军研究
开局打野，看周边小ai怎么样，如果有道路连接在10格子左右就打，打架最重要的是包围，包围攻击加成非常高，类似刚4，如果周边就全是山就算了。出外交部，改善关系收附庸国吃。
民兵：民兵战斗力大概是正规军的面板的3/5，不可以改变编制，不需要玩家给粮食油和弹药自动补员，但是需要物流点。前期如果没选带部队开局，两城的民兵也可以横扫ai了。
建设：如果有金属矿有限金属矿，金属矿完了就是一级工业，IP（工业点）也可以由人口产出，3级城大概是60点，所以开局2城大概四回合建好。
开局记得卖物资，粮食卖完，稀有金属也全卖完，全买工业设备。
扩张到3-4城，就可以蹲家里面种田了，再远的地方，没有铁路也没有补给。
经济部门先把总预算给到80-90，全力搞民生科技发现，roll到重要科技了，比如说医院警察局大学再给经济部门负责人打电话改研究预算，这游戏研究需要先发现再研究。（一定要注意ai类型，有个G开头的ai家里有机器人，前期缺乏硬攻击打不过）
军事部门也要搞起来，同步的staff 参谋部啥的，解锁部队编制，以及model 装备设计。
炮兵设计，前期有限88mm炮，火力和机动性始终，后面可以改编制了再用重型火炮加卡车。
步兵设计，步兵进攻性很弱，但是蹲坑有战壕加成，配合机枪啥的很强，也缺乏软攻，需要研究RPG部队提高一点硬攻击，不要指望步兵进攻，打打ai还可以，步兵另外的优势可以爬山，轮子车爬不了山。履带效率很低，补给也很少。
侦察车：前期非常强的部队软攻软防很高，属于indepent部队，前期有前强烈建议造一点，探图包围都很好用。
指挥部，正规军团都有自己的指挥部，好像叫SHQ？ 一个SHQ可以有7个编制+额外编入两个indepent部队，前期造一个步兵军团加两个侦察车部队就行了。
民营经济：给区域总督打电话，3级城给回合给30，以此类推，有钱了ai自己会造各种建筑，物美价廉不需要自己给钱和给粮食维护。
粮食生产：温度再20-30度区间，高或者低都会降低产量，部队和国营工厂都需要给薪水和粮食，所以造完工厂第二个就是造国营农场。
建造优先：1官僚办公室 2 学校 3 医院 4 最高指挥部 5 广播站（需要科技） 6 军营。
物流逻辑：这游戏是很蠢的广播式扩散，不是钢铁雄心那种需要多少拿多少，所以岔路要少造，如果造了，选trafic 逻辑规划，限制物流点进出。 火车逻辑：要一方有火车站，另一边有rial head火车站才会启用，如果没有只有10%生效。 物流ap， 土路公路大概在10格子开始使用完免费ap，后面每一格子都会增加物流点衰减，公路在14格左右，铁路在30格子。
领导安排，不换思想就换人，教育起来之后抽高属性的领袖还是很容易的，而且多发点工资，领袖会自己在城市消费提高能力，偏好永远是最相关的属性，如果跟你的政见不符，好感度低了效率下降非常高不如属性一般的，各种事件判定也会加难度，跟这个部门相关的政治点都要多花，任人唯亲永远第一。
战斗力转化：科技发现-科技研究-装备设计-编制发现-编制设计-装备生产-批量列装。到了后期都是用机械化步兵运输+坦克+自走火炮+飞机侦察火力支援。跟钢铁雄心4很相似，打仗差不多也是那个思路。
very steep learning curve.
complex mechanics will low documentation. (i used chat GPT to explain mechanics)
For those that dont mind a punishing strategy game, this one is fun.
Jogo muito bom, recomendo bastante para quem gosta de jogos estilo elisyum
bien complexe, bien inhospitalier, incroyable.
My brain has melted but it was worth it. Will continue to melt brain.
I would really like to love this game. The crunch is there, the imagination is there, I can live with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ (and now ♥♥♥♥♥♥ *and* awkward due to amateurish AI use) art. But the UI is just too incredibly bad.
You can't give units orders for more than one turn. Important information for decisions is never given to you. One example: Linear research. These aren't ever really done, they just keep going. But the game never tells you what researches are linear when prompting you what you want to research.
It's stuff like this and it can't be overlooked because it's *all* stuff like this, every single UI interaction is incredibly painful.
I also hate the stratagem system. You pay to generate cards you then pay to use and then fail anyways because the difficulty for many is stupidly high (diplomacy is a scam).
Thinking about playing this game makes me happy. Actually playing it is like pulling teeth, unfortunately.
Una perla che merita di essere studiato.
Cela faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas ressenti le "1 more turn". Le 4x dans sa plus pure essence.
Wish i could find other games like this, but i cant, so i'll play this.
Buy on sale, but 40$+ is kinda insane still. Maybe one day
This game is what most 4x want to be-- a game that actually makes you feel like you're running some kind of empire; managing your staff, planning research and production, all while fighting wars and scooping up minor regimes.
The world generation options are incredible and the game has extremely high replay value because each run feels quite different.
The research system is exactly what I want in other games-- it splits research into distinct pathways and groups, and you choose the allocation of your bureaucracy across them, without having to fiddle with 'research this tech or that', the research paths work on their own.
The combat is good, pretty easy to understand, and gives you a lot of options.
The supply system is a bit hard to understand at first, but once you realize how to get trucks and trains going it's mostly a matter of checking up on your infrastructure from time to time as you build out instead of being tedious.
My only complaints about the game come down to UX decisions, and the lack of polish. Well and the fact that this is basically a WWII ground combat engine being stretched pretty thin for the Sci Fi setting.
Some might find the leader management tedious but I find it to be the missing link for most 4x games.
TL;DR
THE GOOD
- You feel like you are running an actual empire, not just playing a game
- Combat and logistics are excellent
- The world feels quite logical and alive
- Tons of replay value
THE BAD
- UX is terrible, and confusing, and not explained well
- Multiplayer uses an extremely antiquated system instead of host/client
- Kinda ugly in some respects
- Not all text was translated into english correctly
MAYBE GOOD/MAYBE BAD
- Games can be LONG on the normal map size+
------------------------
This game ported to a more modern engine with a proper UX design and networking multiplayer would be nirvana for me personally.
Overall, I recommend it just because it brings so many good ideas to the genre, and that outweighs some of the negatives of the engine.
This game....
Is the anti-version of the idea of "one more turn". I have never spent more hours on the same turn, wondering if I have made the best possible choice with every decision/turn that proceeds forward of that moment. Do you play a 100 turns in and afterwards ask yourself would I now do these 100 turns over again knowing what I know now? As uncommon as that might play, this is the kind of game that will embellish that end.
This game has a bunch of other gamish mechanic's that you may have enjoyed. Did you like Civ 3? Did you like CK 2? Did you like vicky 1 & 2? How about Pride of Nations? This game without any measure of imitation nabbed some of the best mechainics out these other titles and created its own lore.
The dev should be supported when comparables fail to compare. If the game gets better if Naval units get added, great, if it ruins it, then no. This engine is interesting and I hope the dev continues development of content.vn
I just won my first game on my 3rd or 4th try. I'm not saying that to get applauded, I played it on easy settings seasonned by embarrassing saves scumming. I say that because I just bought the game last week and, for me, to win a game this long (126 rounds - at least 60 hours) in less than a week means that the game is excellent.
In fact, when I saw it on a surprisong good call by the youtube algorithm, I was at the beginning of a week long vacation where gaming all day was already the plan.
But enough about me, what about the game.
First, it's this heroin-like addiction of just one more turn. The more your Regime grows and your troops become ever so badass, the more you crave to press that damned "end your turn" button.
You have exploration, war, tons of techs and units, I mean... you can ride in the desert with your bikers wielding lasr rifles! There are cards with various powers, diplomacy, city building, BOMBERS, logistic and so many other cool things. It's neverending.
Are there things that could be better?
For sure, mostly QOL stuff, AI being a bit stupid sometime (as all games), an incredibly steep learning curve which means it is highly satisfying when you finally get it, but it's all minor.
For me, this game is the closest I've been to the fun I had as a kid, playing with plastic toy soldiers in the backyard.
Все забывал написать отзыв т.к. это игра в которую я слишком залип и буду залипать еще долго.
Наверно одна из лучших пошаговых 4Х стратегий на текущий момент с удивительной глубиной всего - начиная от распределения ролей советников заканчивая государственной и частной экономикой, а также созданием моделей вооружения и логистикой.
Создание планеты элементарное в плане взаимодействия, но комплексное в плане параметров и может сгенерировать крайне разные игровые ситуации. В играх где "угол наклона оси планеты" и "солнечная радиация" - это всего лишь нарративный флаф, то тут это все - работает и влияет на множество параметров. Вплоть до ВЛИЯНИЯ ПЛОТНОСТИ АТМОСФЕРЫ НА ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ СТРЕЛКОВОГО ОРУЖИЯ и работы пропеллерных двигателей авиации. Серьезно - тут вот настолько все переплетено (и да, угол наклона и радиация тоже влияют).
В купе с тем что играть можно как на безжизненных лунах, заснеженных арктических мирах, лавовых мирах смерти или же джунглях и (в длц) океанических мирах - огромное разнообразие развития событий по ходу партии. В одной игре вы будете спокойно красить карту и развиваться, в другой - столкнетесь с соседями с ходу, а в третьей - внезапно начнете брать под свое крыло миноров в попытке защититься от разросшегося роя арахнидов. Ну или огребете от морской фауны которая внезапно решила что она теперь не такая уж и морская и в целом не против походить по суше.
Главная проблема игры - отсутствие вменяемого обучения. Все что есть - мануал на 400 страниц в папке с игрой как в старые добрые или рандомы на ютубе. Из-за этого порог вхождения ОЧЕНЬ сильно растет, но если свое время инвестировать, то удовольствие получите колоссальное.
Это как если бы у цивы и хойки был ребенок, а крестным у него был Дерек Смарт.
Криво, мутно, очень интересно.
Amazingly deep strategy game. Every turn has important information to engage with and every map can be unique from the amazing planet gen engine. Must play.
extremely complex and I've had to restart a few times but I'm having fun with the learning process, definitely seems like the type of game I could sink lots of hours into.
Algo complexo de entender, recomendo ver alguns tutoriais no Youtube, mas após o investimento inicial é altamente viciante para quem gosta de estratégia por turnos, com grande ênfase na táctica, logística e gestão de recursos materiais e humanos.
Para quem está habituado a Hearts of Iron IV e tem gosto pela gestão das unidades, tecnologia, vantagens e desvantagens tácticas, é certamente diferente e mais avançado mas extremamente gratificante. No entanto isto é só a parte principal, tendo por trás toda uma gestão de cidades, redes de abastecimento e relações sociopolíticas com os vários líderes que se vai recrutando.
A parte visual não é a mais apelativa, e talvez não seja o melhor cartão de boas vindas, mas esconde um jogo excelente que recomendo vivamente nem que seja para experimentar.
As a decades-long 4X nut, I absolutely can't get enough of this game. The strategic depth is unlike anything ever made. I've heard many players claim this is the best 4X game ever made - and they are absolutely right! From resource management, to population control, to combat logistics - this one has it all and does it best. Steep learning curve, but once you get a handle on it, this one will get a handle on you. If you're a 4X fan and don't have Shadow Empire in your library, your library is incomplete.
Are you kidding me? How else to LARP distant future post-apocalyptic societal reset planetary conquest?
I SAID LARP not like actually being in the 4th or 5th reset... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is this timeline?
IF WE CAN GET OVER THE CLUNKY HIGH LEARNING CURVE UI, WE'RE GOOD.
Well at the bare beginning you can 'design' your planet by rolling its features. You can as easily make a lush jungle moon hydroid as you could make a barren rock. Or finding a middle ground; a desert steppe planet with scarce resources you have to fight everyone over. There are loads of mutators and no planet is ever the same.
The map is an hexagonal grid and movement is turn-based AP system. Each hex is approx 200km wide and map size = planet size. You get to roll for this and more such as atmosphere and biosphere. After generating a planet you get to populate it and promptly apocalypse them.
Now we create our post-apocalyptic warlord regime, pick your leading ideologies:
democracy - meritocracy - autocracy
commerce - government - enforcement
heart - mind - fist
If you do not pick the right ones, you WILL endure the pain of managing and keeping those scores stable within your rule, all while fighting your political parties who will inevitably try to concentrate power through demands and leader hoarding so as to bring 'stability' or ideology stagnation.
You also get to wage WAR, which is the main focus of this game. War for planetary conquest. Hurrah.
Depending on which 'ministries' or 'directorates' you've founded your government gains different capabilities through these organizations, such as Internal Affairs, Economic Council, Military Research, Model Design and a load of others. All of these and more have one but one purpose only and that is to sustain the war machine YEAAAAAAAHH DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA, we humans are space orcs after all...
Let's say you've founded the Model Design council: It will allow you to discover, research and design new units. It's such a simple, brilliant mechanic, but it is one of the things that make this game stand out. Making your own units enables you to specialize each model or make them great generalists or whatever. There are tons of technologies that open up different armaments and loadouts. You can also make a model as cheap or expensive as you'd like. You can design counters to other units.
So, for example: Lets design a new light tank
First we pick a caliber (25mm - 40mm - 60mm)
Then it's armor's thickness (5mm - 25mm - 50 mm)
Finally it's engine size and type (light, med, heavy, double heavy, etc / diesel, electric, nuclear, etc)
We have to make sure the engine can carry it's weight or you'll get an AP movement penalty.
Then our Model Council Director gets to actually develop it, throughout the following turns they will make a series of RNG rolls to determine the vehicle stats. This process is affected by their skills (technician, inventor, improvisation) and might result in an excellent model or a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ one.
You can economize and make a 25mm gun, 5mm armor, light diesel engine tank that cost 45 metal and 30 industrial points and nail the rolls and get a super effective anti-infantry light tank. Your director could also fumble the rolls of a 60mm gun, 50mm armor, heavy diesel engine and end up with a useless -50% AP movement metal hunk of junk that is 2.5x times the effort and resources to manufacture.
The important thing is to keep ahead of the tech curve, since your enemies will also do this and try to develop counters for your units, so it's a constant R&D battle over who's the top dog carrying a big stick.
Then we have logistics. Oh the logistics in this game... I recommend anyone new playing this gem to PLEASE PLEASE start out with midcore logistics initial mutator. Or you will NOT like the game.
Hardcore (standard) logistics is at least a couple more minutes each turn to manage traffic signs, which is in itself a complex and in-depth mechanic. The purpose of logistics in this game is to transport resources, personnel and possibly units along your logistics network. You can build roads, upgrade them, truck stations and also railroads. If you can't supply an hex, you can't field violence ergo no sovereign rights over the land; you will eventually lose it. So we carry stuff around in trucks for our troops, industry and people. You can also cut off the enemy's supply too.
[spoiler]SECRET SERVICE COUNCIL TIP: You can shadily kill your own leaders if they step out of line.[/spoiler]
These are just examples of how things usually work in this game. It is one of those games you have to literally read a 500 page manual. I did and I don't regret it a single bit. It is also one of those games that evolves slowly but deliberately, since it's been X years since release and how many DLCs does it have? Just a single one with another one in the oven. The graphics are late 90s overtime worker sneakily playing MS farming simulator / SimTower on his boss' work comp which had 1280 resolution (a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ for the era). You can mod it and the forums are full of lovely and colorful characters and it's the definition of small but passionate group of friendly fans. I think they all ride motorcycles too lmao
All in all 9.5/10 will nostalgia autism minmax design airplanes again and again forever
Het ultieme strategiespel: oorlogsvoering, politiek, economie... diep, enorme leercurve, maar geeft super veel voldoening als je het onder de knie hebt. Maar kom niet voor de graphics.... al zijn die met mods een stuk beter te krijgen.
This is a great game. Every game is different. It is very challenging.
Intrygująca gra. Nie wiem jaka część komplikacji wynika z tego, że gra jest faktycznie trudna a jaka z tego, że jest dość słabe UI (wielu na to narzeka i mają rację) ale niezależnie od tego jest sporo zabawy w odkrywanie tajników. Na pewno gra nie idzie prostą linią większych wydawców gdzie mechaniki wg mnie zaczynają się do siebie zbytnio upodabniać. Stawiałbym ją obok Distant Worlds, czy też Terra Invicta - tak mi jakoś pasuje jakby były to gry wraz z Shadow Empire z jednej kolekcji :). Krótko mówiąc - warto zagrać.
Po 113 godzinach: Świetne. Bardzo fajnie na losowanej planecie - nic człowiek nie wie i trzeba sobie radzić. Wylosowało mi arktyczną planetę z bardzo małą ilością podstawowych surowców i jest zabawa o przetrwanie. Dobre jest to, że komputerowi gracze też mają problemy z brakiem surowców więc to całkiem ładnie się balansuje. Po tylu godzinach tym bardziej polecam :).
This game is very complex and poorly explained. I have no problem with complexity alone, but this one is also not very intuitive. You will need to read the whole rulebook to start to have an idea what to do. The rulebook is over 400 pages. Then you'll need to look up player guides to understand the details because despite the length of the rulebook almost nothing is explained sufficiently. You'll then run into guides that are more than 20 pages long for a single feature that start off with "if you're not already intimately familiar with these 5 other features, go do that first".
On top of that, the UX is very poorly done. As a simple example, you can't even pan the map by clicking and dragging with the mouse. I can't imagine having ever played a game before, then designing a game with a UX this bad.
I like the concept, but the execution is severely lacking.
the game is too lame, to boring, too laborious to learn, too confusing, too overwhelming for its own good.
this is one of those games where it becomes your job to learn and you have to sink in like 30-40 hours just to have fun at the 50 hour mark......
i love matrix games for their distant world series, but this game is just too much...
tried seeing tutorials, tried playing multiple times, but this is a real downgrade compared to distant worlds.
I did not know that this game included or was going to include Gen AI art when I bought it. If I did, I would have skipped it. Gen AI LLMs are trained on stolen art without giving compensation or credit to the original artists, which is indefensible when included in a commercial product.
If this doesn't bother you, the game itself is easily the most complex and deep strategy games I have ever played. $40 is a bit steep (considering the dev saved a lot on artist fees), but this thing has a ton of value if you can snatch it for 50% off.
I have a lot of other good things to say about my experience with this title, but I'm hungry now so bye.
Would rather play this than HOI4
I'm not exactly sure how to praise an addiction. This is not a game, it's a safe space for freaks like me to feel alive.
I think about policy changes when I wake up and optimal troop movement before sleep takes me.
I think about how immersive the planet generation is, the struggle to paint the map and engulf everything in your colors.
The AI is possibly the best I ever encountered. It knows how to flank, it ruins your carefully laid plans. It takes advantage of carelessness. I love it.
It's a story generator. Every time you click 'start new game' your get another epic tale.
It may appear intimidating (I avoided it for so long because of it) but once you learn a few systems, everything else falls into place. Its difficulty comes mainly from the learning curve, not gameplay.
Now, the UI looks like it's stuck in the 90's, the portraits are hilarious and it is missing some QOL features like having a 'select next unit' button, but nothing can detract from the complete joy Shadow Empire brings me.
PS: What I wouldn't give to have friends that are as deeply interested as me for these kinds of games...
If this game was made in 1997 it would be considered one of the best ever made.
It's by far the best 4X game I've ever played. The game is indeed a bit difficult to start playing, but it's not as hard as people say. I recommend watching the DasTactic tutorial and some let's play videos, and you'll be ready to play for the first time.
To play, you don't need to delve too deeply into the mechanics the first time and play on easy mode. As you get the hang of it, you'll learn about other mechanics, and the game will truly open up to all its complexity.
And that's where the game shines. It has several interconnected mechanics that form a complete game. It has that "just one more turn" effect that hooks you and you don't even notice the time passing.
I recommend the game even at full price and am looking forward to the new DLC which promises to improve the game even further.
+1
I just spent close to 2 hours re-rolling planet. GIVE US MORE CONTROLL OVER PLANET GENERATION!
Very atmospheric to start with,
1000 layers of complexity
I dont care about AI art, it looks good and works.
Great game
I really wish I could recommend this to others but I just can't. After many hours, and plenty of research and failed games, I have learned how to play and found myself enjoying the game. The game scratches a real itch for me and allows you to rebuild your own nation from the ruins of a Galactic apocalypse on a random planet. It's very detailed to a fault and there's a big learning curve. The game is not user friendly at all, the UI is horrible, the reports you have to sift through can be overwhelming, and the game can be a real slog to get through. The DLC adds water planets but no naval units. Beyond moving formations on the map, your actions in the economy, diplomacy, espionage, management, etc. are determined by a literal deck of cards you have. You get cards by allocating resources to certain administrative departments. Based on how you manage your budget, you will get certain cards. Not only are important actions limited by what cards you may or may not have, but you are also limited by RNG, your incompetent leaders, and many deeper systems and points that you don't have direct control of. The game can be incredibly fun at times but also excruciatingly slow and frustrating. I honestly hope the developer keeps updating and improving their game with DLC and updates; and I will support the developer by buying their DLC. However, even though I have enjoyed my time playing, I just can't recommend this game to others.
Also everyone is whining about the solo dev using AI art. The art has no impact on gameplay and crying about it is dumb.
Behind the functional graphics hides one of the deepest 4X games in the genre.
Private and public investments, logistic simulation, leader characters with personalities, different parties in the government, every planet and its history is different, combat on a wargame level and much more.
The specialist gem in the genre.
What a bunch of luddites, I have to show my support.
1. I generally think the new AI portrait is better than the old clunky ones.
2. And since this is a game with Docile (or not) AI, that I don't think using AI generated content is unfitting, theme-wise at least.
3. We are not playing a game that set its time at medieval, it's a post apocalypse in the far future. Everyone might just taking advantage of whatever they can get their hands on, you can't blame Vic for that.
Is it janky as hell? Yes
Does the UI need a rework or possibly an exorcism? Also yes.
Is is amazingly satisfying to play, presenting a complex and immersive challenge not quite like any other strategy game I've ever played? Heck yes.
Do I recommend it? Yes.
Added pervasive AI-generated visuals post-release.
Complex, but enjoyable. Definitely a lot to take in at the beginning, but if you are willing to watch some of the many videos online covering how to play, it definitely eases the challenge.
It is a pretty good game if you like these kind of super autistic 4x games. I surely do. It lacks however a lot in quality of life(like cycling through your units), and I hope, instead of adding more features, the dev focused that first. Most of the angry reviews are just the anti AI crowd. A unimportant critique in my opinion, I think the ai art works fine in a game which never was about the visuals in the first place. It is more Ideology than a balanced view of the game itself
EDIT: Since the developer responded to this review I just wanted to clarify that this is a work of satire and I only wanted to poke fun at all the people that took issue with a purely superficial and aesthetic aspect of a deep rich strategy experience.
Just like everyone else I feel that the AI art ruins the experience. I mean looking at something that was rendered by a ARTIFICAL MIND!!! it takes away from the depth and game mechanics, how can I focus when I'm staring at some pictures NOT MADE BY HUMANS!!! its just too much. There is a unique and deep strategy game here, but non human made pictures ruin EVERYTHING. You have been warned.
This game used to be a charming but rough experience that felt like a different era of games brought back to life. Since then generative ai 'art' keeps getting crammed in and it really ruins what made it feel special and unique.
