Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter PC
Metascore
44 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 7 out of 14
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  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Feb 13, 2012
    79
    Sword of the Stars 2 had one of the worst launches ever. At present condition (January) the code is quite playable, game is sometimes even fun. Kerberos will upgrade the game and it seems to be getting better and better. [Feb 2012]
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  2. GamingTrend
    Dec 19, 2011
    67
    But if you're a person who doesn't want to wait around for patches and who likes a gaming experience you can glide into rather than struggle through, I sadly suggest either giving this one a pass or at least giving it time to get patched up in time for a steep Steam sale.
  3. Da Gameboyz
    Nov 27, 2011
    65
    On the one hand, the bare bones of the game are there, the potential is there, and I wouldn't trust many devs outside of Kerberos to patch this to a decent state. On the other, regardless, it's going to take at least a few months to patch it to a state where it's not just "sort of playable", it's actually enjoyable. But if you feel like helping nurture a game to completion, by all means fork out. Those of you who are more cautious, hang back a few months, it should be cool by then.
  4. Multiplayer.it
    Nov 23, 2011
    60
    Sword of the Stars II is a complete mess but inside the mess there is one hell of a space 4x odissey. Hopefully the guys at Kherberos will complete the game with patches and upgrades and, maybe, with a couple of scenarios.
  5. Strategy Informer
    Nov 15, 2011
    55
    It's just a little bit boring right now. If you want to show Paradox and Kerberos your support, then by all means go buy it, but regardless of whether you pick it up now or not, it'll probably take a couple of months of patches to be the game it was meant to be.
  6. GameStar
    Dec 14, 2011
    51
    Quotation forthcoming.
  7. Everyeye.it
    Nov 11, 2011
    50
    This game was relased prematurely. We hope that constant patching can turn this game into the game it could be, but currently there are too many technical problems to suggest to our readers to buy it.
  8. PC Gamer
    Dec 4, 2011
    43
    A beautiful but baffling space strategy game. Bugs and bewildering menus make for a frustrating and very missable experience.
  9. Absolute Games
    Dec 23, 2011
    35
    Sword of the Stars 2 is what happens when a space opera becomes a hostage of amateurish idealists.
  10. CPUGamer
    Feb 13, 2012
    30
    Bottom line is that on paper, this is an incredibly deep and varied game, but time and again, the reach of the programmers vastly exceeds their grasp. Even months after release, there's so little in this game that's working as intended, that only the most desperate die-hard fan of the genre should even consider this game.
  11. GameSpot
    Dec 14, 2011
    30
    Sword of the Stars II is a hot mess, beleaguered by crash bugs, freezes, a poor user interface, and limited tutorials.
  12. Game Informer
    Nov 8, 2011
    30
    I love the ideas at play here, but the horrific implementation adds complexity and obfuscation with little commensurate gain in strategic depth. I hope Kerberos' constant patching (the week-plus since launch has already seen several updates) will eventually turn this into the game it could be. Right now, it's a mess that everyone should avoid.
  13. IGN
    Nov 21, 2011
    25
    There are many other 4X games on the market that do basically everything SotS2 intended, but better and without the bugs.
  14. Ten Ton Hammer
    Nov 10, 2011
    24
    Sword of the Stars II is fundamentally broken, poorly programmed and a complete mess of a retail game.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.6 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 129 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 91
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 91
  3. Negative: 43 out of 91
  1. mrpepperkitty
    8
    Mrpepperkitty back here almost a year after that fateful release day, and I must say Kerberos has pulled through, defying all the skeptics out there (Myself initially included). Kerberos' efforts are beyond dedicated, and if you don't believe me you can go on their site and browse the thousands of fixes and additions that have been made to the game. Or don't believe that, and buy it. I just bought the game again, and at turn 30 am still going strong. I have to admit the UI is still a little clunky and it might be hard for beginners, but the game and all of its featurey goodness is there now. It has finally begun to capture the magic of the original, and hopefully soon with the stream of updates that has yet to cease, it will surpass its predecessor. I think the worst game of 2011 may soon be one of the best of 2012!… Full Review »
  2. mpxd
    1
    DO NOT BUY until there is a general consensus that game development has been completed.

    As of 2011-11-2, this game is UNFINISHED and UNPLAYAB    LE, due to a large number of factors, including:
    = Instability. Often, the game will crash to desktop with no way to continue playing. Sometimes you can load an autosave and continue; sometimes that's it -- your game is over, and to play more you have to start anew.
    = Missing gameplay features. Parts of the game simply have not been implemented yet.
    = Missing documentation. Which is better: a warehouse or a hangar? Don't know? Well, neither does anyone else. But you should probably build one or else you may or may not lose the game 4 or 80 turns down the line.
    = Bugs, everywhere! Want your ships to fire on the enemy? They'd rather float there for a while instead. Retreat then. Oh, wait, now they're firing. And they refuse to move. Great.

    At this point, you'd be spending 40$ on an early beta build of the game.

    The developers have a record of fixing their games over time. On the other hand, as of this launch, they have a record of taking your money while intentionally misleading you about the goods you buying.

    The verdict? In the game's current state, you can't play it regardless of whether you've bought it or not. So until that's no longer the case (and until the price reflects the quality of the game), don't buy.
    IF, on the other hand, you're willing to send the dev team 40$ in the hope that it will help them survive and finish making the game -- by all means, feel free to do so, and you might even get a finished game in the future. Just don't pretend that 40$ bought you a game, and not a promise and access to the beta.    … Full Review »
  3. Neian
    0
    Very disappointed in this game. Was released on October 28th through Steam, but Paradox changed the release date to the 31st for physical copies and I can see why. The original released version was a Beta, wrong file uploaded to Steam, I understand mistakes happen, so another version was uploaded the following day. Well nothing really changed and the publisher admitted on their forums that they knew the product was bad they were going to release and patch it. Menus are grayed out so they cannot be selected, such as options, no scenarios maps but a tab, the encyclopedia which they tell you to use for information appears to be mostly empty. The manual was a draft copy that the published put on the forums, how do you not have a manual completed for release? The graphics are beautiful but without just clicking around its next to impossible to figure out how anything works. No tutorial, no intro missions, no manual, no encyclopedia. Horrible game, horrible release.… Full Review »
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