Pax Imperia 2 Preview - Coming Soon Magazine!

by

graphic line

Although I have never played with Pax Imperia on the Macintosh, I know that this game was a tremendous space strategy game of probably the same quality as the well known Master of Orion from MicroProse on the PC. Changeling Software, the company that released Pax Imperia, had plans to design a PC version ,but I'm afraid it never came out because we never got it in our hands, which made me quite frustrated in a way.

However, as my good friends at Blizzard Entertainment listened carefully around them, they heard my prayers and finally decided to make a sequel for the Macintosh and to reward PC owners of their patience with a Windows 95 compatible version. This is great news! Check below for what awaits you in Pax Imperia 2.

Like Warcraft II, Pax Imperia 2 features admirable rendered SVGA graphics all throughout the game with 3D cinematic sequences, hundreds of planetary textures, dozens of information screens, etc... The advisory feature provides you with vital information to manage your empire so that you can allocate ressources between your colonies with a maximum efficacity.

Pax Imperia 2 as mentionned above, is a space strategy game which means you will have to find the right balance between military conquests and colonization. The technology will be definitively a determining factor in your choice of strategy as you can favour military technology by developing new weapons and new ships or instead, choose to increase production with engineering techniques for an economic superiority. The final product will feature over 1,000 different technologies in several domains which lets you presume of the huge possibilities of the game.

Once more, the multi-player will be the key of success for the game with an unbelievable possible number of 16 players at the same time on a network. In addition, the game supports modem and direct links with the same "spawning" technology used in Warcraft II.

Recently, Blizzard Entertainment announced a shareware version of Pax Imperia 2 to be available in early October for the Macintosh and the Windows 95 platforms on CD-ROM. This version will give you an idea of what the final release will contain but some features will not be included or only partially in the shareware version. For example, the multi-player support will be resumed to a two player mode through modem, direct link or network. The number of technologies will be also restricted and options to customize the game will not be available.

These options only included in the final release allows you to play in real time or to choose a turn-based play, and also to change the universe's size. Moreover, a variable world generator coupled with random starting positions will maximize the replay value so that one game is never the same.

To resume in a words my feelings about Pax Imperia 2, I would say it is the kind of game that I would give anything to reduce the 6 months between today and its release date to zero so that I could run to the nearest computer shop to buy it!! Fortunately, the shareware version available in October for a price under $10 should make my wait a lot more comfortable. You can order the shareware version directly from Blizzard Entertainment by calling NOW the following FREE number 1-800-953-SNOW.
Tell them you saw it in the Coming Soon Magazine on the Internet!

I would like to thank two people without whom this coverage would not have been possible: Emily Roberts and Susan Wooley from Blizzard Entertainment.