Pandora: First Contact

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 53
  3. Negative: 7 out of 53

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  1. Junuxx
    Jul 14, 2014
    5
    Overall, a soulless and bland rehash of Alpha Centauri that won't last nearly as long. I did like the gameplay innovations like a worker only harvesting a single yield type from a tile, and global resource stockpiles; these were surprisingly fun and sensible deviations from the Civ standards and made the game as a whole more interesting. I also liked the initial struggle against nativeOverall, a soulless and bland rehash of Alpha Centauri that won't last nearly as long. I did like the gameplay innovations like a worker only harvesting a single yield type from a tile, and global resource stockpiles; these were surprisingly fun and sensible deviations from the Civ standards and made the game as a whole more interesting. I also liked the initial struggle against native life, but it becomes irrelevant pretty soon, even with the expansion and even on the hardest setting.

    Artwork like the unit models and leader portraits get old really fast. The story is very lame, the leader backgrounds are exaggerated and annoying stereotypes. While this game directly copies the personalities of Alpha Centauri's faction leaders, it changes two non-white leaders to Caucasians (Morgan→Preston and Santiago→Heid), and drops another non-white (Lal). For such a similar game, this change from 3/7 to 5/6 white characters is very obvious, and I can't think of any excuse for this other than blatant racism on the part of the devs.

    Finally, victory was unrewarding and lacking. No end game cinematic, no replay, not even a high score table to make my playthrough memorable. Entertaining for maybe one or two games, but too empty and disappointing to have real replay value.    … Expand
  2. Sjalka
    Jul 11, 2014
    5
    i feel i will be very unfair.

    When i played this game, i "felt" like i was playing a mod of a greater game - and i could not shake the feeling that it was "only" a mod. Now - that does not necessarily mean that a mod is generally less than the parent game, but it does mean that one often has the feeling as if a mod is mostly cosmetic, rarely shaking the foundations of the game it was    i feel i will be very unfair.

    When i played this game, i "felt" like i was playing a mod of a greater game - and i could not shake the feeling that it was "only" a mod. Now - that does not necessarily mean that a mod is generally less than the parent game, but it does mean that one often has the feeling as if a mod is mostly cosmetic, rarely shaking the foundations of the game it was built on.

    And that is my feeling with this game. Even after so many years - Alpha Centauri .... IS clearly the better game in ALL - but graphics compared to Pandora.

    3 points for effort, 2 points for dedication - 5/10 in total from me.    … Expand
  3. Jinzor
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    To all turn-based strategy, 4x lovers (such as myself), I highly recommend this game. It's the best thing out before the release of Sid Meier's: Beyond Earth.

    Anyone who is wondering what this game is like, I'll give you a brief idea on what it is like by saying that it feels like Civilization V with a few major differences, such as: 1. Random tech trees for each faction - you also    To all turn-based strategy, 4x lovers (such as myself), I highly recommend this game. It's the best thing out before the release of Sid Meier's: Beyond Earth.

    Anyone who is wondering what this game is like, I'll give you a brief idea on what it is like by saying that it feels like Civilization V with a few major differences, such as:

    1. Random tech trees for each faction - you also discover new technologies after every era you pass through, to give a sense of wonder of the future

    2. Unit stacks - infinite number of units per tile; like Civilization IV's stacks of death. The game has actually balanced it so that attacking with stacks is less beneficial; bombardments hurt all units within a stack, flanking (putting units next to each other in separate tiles) gives an attack/defensive bonus.

    3. Customisable units - yes, you have a unit workshop and can fit different weapons/bonuses/abilities on them. There are a lot of different chassis to research (e.g. infantry, fast-attack vehicle, tank, watercraft, and more).

    4. Planet wildlife - at the beginning of the game, they are not hostile. However, the wildlife can get more and more aggressive if factions fight against them, or produce a lot of pollution. They may then become the equivalant of barbarians, or even worse (if aggressive enough, they can launch a full-scale invasion on humans, threatening everyone. It could prove to be a good tactic, for militaristic players, to annoy the local wildlife so that peaceful players are threatened with annihilation). There are multiple types of wildlife, ranging from practically harmless little xenomorph drones to gigantic aquatic monstrosities.

    5. City management - it works something like this; morale (happiness) is local, rather than national. Local morale has an affect on local growth, and local growth depends on whether or not you have enough food stockpiled (food pool is national). Growth is also affected by habitual space; if you don't have enough space, migration to other cities (ones which have more habitual space) will occur. Production requires minerals (also stockpiled nationally). If you run out of minerals, production will be hindered but not stopped completely. Science is gathered normally (1 scientist = +1 science). There are buildings, natural resources and tile improvements which produce percentage increases and/or a small increase in that stat. You can also move your citizen's roles (there are four roles; farmer (food resource collector), miner (mineral resource collector), worker (city producer) and scientist (science producer)) around manually, and they will automatically go to the highest yielding tile. There are other factors as well (such as wars, pollution etc), but that's just the gist of it.

    6. Alien invasion - around turn 200 (normal pace), an alien force (size depends on how difficult you set difficulty level/alien aggression level) invades the planet and the world has to rally together to fight them off. It's a nice twist and a breath of fresh air, especially if the local wildlife is almost extinct by that time or if you have been playing a peaceful up until that time.

    In addition, the game's presentation is very nice (introduction video, graphics, artwork, quote voice overs), soundtrack is great, UI is intuitive and smooth, optimisation is smooth as well; never lags or crashes (runs a lot better than Civilization V). The game is, amazingly, roughly 500MB, so it's a very fast download.

    What can I say which is bad about the game? Well, currently, the game has more focus on combat than Civilization. The game still needs, in my opinion, to add more content which aligns the player to a more non-combat style of gameplay (e.g. something similar to culture with wonders). There are multiple victory conditions other than conquest, such as economic and research victories, but it'd be nice to have more. There is also no indication of how far ahead you are when compared with your opponents, until the last few turns before your, or your opponent's, imminent victory, warning the player.

    The good news is that the developers have pledged to add more content to Pandora: First Contact, maybe in the form of expansions, if it proves to be successful. So far I think the game has been successful, hence the Steam release (the game was released months before Steam).

    For people hoping this to be the next Alpha Centauri, I wouldn't get your hopes too high. The game is good, and it is very similar to AC in some respects, but it's not exactly the same (e.g. no mind worms). Judge it for what it is. I played a lot of AC back in the day, and I thoroughly enjoy this game for what it is.

    If you're still not convinced, or somewhat unsure whether or not to pay for the full price of £22 or $36, just wait for the eventual sale. I'd definitely call you a madman for not getting it then.    … Expand
  4. StratagusPrime
    Jun 3, 2014
    7
    It's a great game if you can't deal with SMAC's atrocious GUI and getting hyped for Civ:BE.
    But it also has a great potential to be a GOTY if the game ends up having better production values, better unit distinctions, balance tweaks, and a better narrative.
  5. AndreasN
    Jan 25, 2014
    9
    As a long term strategy fan I've bought the game around Christmas and played it quite extensively over the last weeks. I've to admit the game has really grown on me, not only does it seem very polished, but the devs (a small indie team) also post a lot and keep releasing updates based on player feedback.

    While there are a lot of similarities to Alpha Centauri (one of my all-time    As a long term strategy fan I've bought the game around Christmas and played it quite extensively over the last weeks. I've to admit the game has really grown on me, not only does it seem very polished, but the devs (a small indie team) also post a lot and keep releasing updates based on player feedback.

    While there are a lot of similarities to Alpha Centauri (one of my all-time favorites), it's definitely not a copy since quite a few mechanics work differently (random research tree, operations, global resource pool, etc.). What I miss the most from SMAC are the awesome secret project videos (anyone remember The Ascetic Virtues?) which brought the faction leaders to life and made it truly epic. However, considering this is an indie production I guess it's kinda expected, and at least the Pandora leaders have long background stories and dialogue.

    I also had some pretty cool matches in multi-player against my brother, even on large maps with several AIs the turns go surprisingly fast compared to Civ 5 (not sure what's the reason for that). The AI seems fairly competent compared to other games (it does some flanking/hidden attacks and uses operations), but nothing special. Especially later in the game you can do some really evil things with operations (e.g. drop units and bombard cities), and I remember a funny moment where I was racing against my brother for a Leviathan kill (massive alien unit that provides a combat bonus to all your units when killed) and I snatched it away with a nuke which had recharged just in time.

    Anyway, overall I'd say the game isn't as good as it could have been, but I definitely had a good time and can recommend it to other strategy fans. If the devs keep working on it, it can become one of my favorites.    … Expand
  6. titannet
    Feb 12, 2014
    6
    The game is a remake of Alpha Centauri in all but name. Unfortunately the only thing it does besser are the graphics. As for the rest it holds its ground on the first 100 turns but looses very fast afterwars.

    AI? -> Good at colonizing but completely sucks at warfare Warfare -> Did they even test this? Technologies -> Playing the numbers game of +1, +2, +3 and so on techs with little    The game is a remake of Alpha Centauri in all but name. Unfortunately the only thing it does besser are the graphics. As for the rest it holds its ground on the first 100 turns but looses very fast afterwars.

    AI? -> Good at colonizing but completely sucks at warfare
    Warfare -> Did they even test this?
    Technologies -> Playing the numbers game of +1, +2, +3 and so on techs with little innovation
    The Planet -> After a huge part in Alpha Centauri it only gets a minor role for the first 50 turns in Pandora

    But I also don't want to judge too harshly. Pandora is not a bad game. If they could patch the AI to actually fight wars instead of putting all units into the city closest to the border (seriously!) it could actually become quite good.

    But to match Alpha Centauri? Not by a long shot.    … Expand
  7. Nemund
    Jun 2, 2014
    8
    Enjoyable game, not a 'perfect' game, but still very good, Graphics style is clear. Research ages are nice, good pedia to describe in game things. Resource gathering is smooth, with the ability to harvest more distant resources via builder units, and promotes a good balance between the area's. Alien life is challenging with two stages of alien life, so once the first becomes easy theEnjoyable game, not a 'perfect' game, but still very good, Graphics style is clear. Research ages are nice, good pedia to describe in game things. Resource gathering is smooth, with the ability to harvest more distant resources via builder units, and promotes a good balance between the area's. Alien life is challenging with two stages of alien life, so once the first becomes easy the second will be a challenge again. And all this without even fighting another nation, so if you add that into the mix you have a real struggle on your hands at times. Diplomacy feels like it works well.
    All in all, a very solid game.    … Expand
  8. iseeall
    Dec 14, 2013
    7
    I've only seen the beta version. Still, from the week I spent playing I can say it's a good game but surely nothing comparable to the first Alpha Centauri. From the design point, this game is somewhere between Alpha Centauri, Civ 4 and Civ 5. Plus, it adds a few new features: randomized research tree, shared food and minerals across all cities and slightly more realistic management ofI've only seen the beta version. Still, from the week I spent playing I can say it's a good game but surely nothing comparable to the first Alpha Centauri. From the design point, this game is somewhere between Alpha Centauri, Civ 4 and Civ 5. Plus, it adds a few new features: randomized research tree, shared food and minerals across all cities and slightly more realistic management of citizen. These new additions make for a bit different game but not better than AC. The combat is just about huge stacks of units moving around, and there are no significant terrain bonuses or zones of control. Units have no separate attack/defense values this all came from Civ 4 and that's what I didn't like in Civ 4. I'd still say that the game is interesting to play, but when I played Alpha Centauri again just after this game it instantly stoke me how wide the gap actually is. The graphics are dark and lifeless here: everything is a shade of black, leaders of factions feel anonymous, and the whole 2D GUI looks outdated (yet the 3D graphics are fine, though a bit too dark and lifeless just like everything else). The texts are good but too wordy. The music is dull and too relaxing. The tooltips and helpful messages are nice but I guess it's a standard nowadays. I was expecting that they'd spend a few more months on development and fixes after their beta, but it seems they just rushed it into release, so I'm not sure if any of these issues were fixed (if one can fix them anyway). I'm still happy to see a remake of my favorite game but it seems that it just isn't easy to outdo Brian Reynolds, even after 14 years. AC certainly had its own flaws (like chaotic and unbalanced gameplay after Fusion Power, techno-babble style of sci advances) but this game doesn't seem to fix these problems.… Expand
  9. AdamBennett
    Dec 22, 2013
    3
    Pandora FC has the shallowest gameplay of any 4x TBS game I have ever played, and I have pretty much played them all. Both the tech tree and city development options are the sparsest I have seen in any 4x TBS game, and there is no depth to any of the areas of Pandora FC that you'd normally expect to find depth in 4x TBS games. Yes you can design your own units, but again the variety ofPandora FC has the shallowest gameplay of any 4x TBS game I have ever played, and I have pretty much played them all. Both the tech tree and city development options are the sparsest I have seen in any 4x TBS game, and there is no depth to any of the areas of Pandora FC that you'd normally expect to find depth in 4x TBS games. Yes you can design your own units, but again the variety of building-block options are limited to the extreme.

    For example in the Civ series you can take the decision to invest time and effort into building a wonder in the hope your investment will bring rewards later in the game. There is nothing like that in Pandora FC. NOTHING.

    This is the only 4x TBS game I have played where it is literally pointless thinking ahead as it is just a needless waste of effort. There is nothing to think about because the player simply isn't given any options to think about because the amount of meaningful decisions you can make are pitiful. Plus there are no decisions to take that require any sort of forward planning.

    As another example (there are many I could choose from) at some point the planet's lifeforms start attacking you, but you don't need to amass a sizeable force to deal with this in advance because you are literally given a warning before it happens, and then you simply amass a sizable force in preparation for "the day the plaent attacks you". I mean just how stupid is that? And don't think you need a sizeable force on hand to defend against the other factions because in the dozen games I played they can't offer you non-aggression facts fast enough. I only built a normal number (2) of defenders for each city and apparently I had far and away the most powerful military force on the planet that had the other factions begging for my friendship.

    It's not a total exaggeration to say that Pandora FC is close to being a linear game that has about as much strategic depth as your average platformer.

    If you are a fan of 4x TBS games then please avoid Pandora FC. And if you are a fan of SMAC then please AVOID Pandora FC at all costs. You will get no any enjoyment out of Pandora FC and you will only wish you had played SMAC instead. And as an added bonus you won't be left with the horrible memory of having played Pandora FC that I now have.

    So my advice is to save your money and if you want to play a 4x TBS game then just play one of your favourite 4x TBS games instead, because you will have far more fun by doing that and I know this to be true because this is exactly what I wish I had done instead of buying and playing Pandora FC for 20+ hours, and I only played it that long in a desperate attempt to find something to like abut the game (and to try in vane to get my monies worth before chucking it forever).

    tl;dr Pandora FC is a genuine candidate for the worst 4x TBS game ever. it might look nice and is pretty stable (and that's why I rated it a 3 rather than a 1), but the gameplay is incredibly shallow and simplistic, and gameplay is the single most important part of any TBS game, so if you don't get that right then the whole game suffers as a result (and Pandora FC got it very wrong)

    (comments based on v.1.1.2)    … Expand
  10. Menom
    Feb 6, 2014
    3
    As a general rule, Slitherine & Matrix Games publish some of the finest (usually historically based) strategy games available. Pandora is reminiscent of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (AC) a turn-based strategy game I enjoyed many years ago. I was hopeful that Pandora would be a strong competitor to AC, particularly given that AC was released quite a long time back and the creators of PandoraAs a general rule, Slitherine & Matrix Games publish some of the finest (usually historically based) strategy games available. Pandora is reminiscent of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (AC) a turn-based strategy game I enjoyed many years ago. I was hopeful that Pandora would be a strong competitor to AC, particularly given that AC was released quite a long time back and the creators of Pandora had a solid concept to build from. While Pandora does look much better than AC, much is missing in game depth, documentation is weak and there are issues with game balance. While I see a foundation of a game here, a lot of work will be needed to make Pandora a solid, enjoyable strategy game, much less bring it anywhere close to AC. There is a continuing effort to patch and update Pandora (which I greatly respect), and I hope in time it will be a worthy successor to AC.… Expand
  11. Joshua_Northey
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    This is a very strong game for people who like this genre. It is not flashy, and likely won't win and converts from people who like FPS's or whatever like a Ci might. But for people who like 4X and/or liked Alpha Centauri this is a lovely entry into this space. It is well worth playing a few campaigns to explore the solid mechanics and interesting if familiar story.

    The writing is    This is a very strong game for people who like this genre. It is not flashy, and likely won't win and converts from people who like FPS's or whatever like a Ci might. But for people who like 4X and/or liked Alpha Centauri this is a lovely entry into this space. It is well worth playing a few campaigns to explore the solid mechanics and interesting if familiar story.

    The writing is good, and the graphics while not spectacular are totally sufficient for this genre. A solid B+ IMO, but I am also a stingy grader.    … Expand
  12. rqrose
    Aug 1, 2014
    8
    Pandora Provides everything I've been waiting for in a strategy game and nothing I haven't. And for those who say it's too easy, turn the Aliens to Extreme and the AI to max diff and see if that makes a difference.

    The only complaint I have is that the AI don't seem to have much personality either built into their behavior, their technology, or their landscaping. For example, when I    Pandora Provides everything I've been waiting for in a strategy game and nothing I haven't. And for those who say it's too easy, turn the Aliens to Extreme and the AI to max diff and see if that makes a difference.

    The only complaint I have is that the AI don't seem to have much personality either built into their behavior, their technology, or their landscaping. For example, when I play as the Tree Huggers (Terra) I building nothing but tress across my landscape, but because I get a Min bonus from forests it actually works amazingly. The AI doesn't seem to do that at all.

    A GREAT first attempt at a game for a brand new gaming company, the foundation of their game is really great, they just need to add a lot of flavor to the mix, the aliens are really neat also, although I think we all agree that we would like more variety, maybe get an expansion out with a playable alien race or two? Maybe 10? Anyways, great game. Thank you!    … Expand
  13. ave
    Dec 23, 2017
    6
    Pandora : First Contact was on my wishlist for a long time, and it was a pleasant surprise.

    It took me a while to figure out how the underlying system works (since there is no manual) and test different strategies, with different factions. This systemic exploration was fun and my first military and scientifc victory really felt great. Unfortunately, even if I find the    Pandora : First Contact was on my wishlist for a long time, and it was a pleasant surprise.

    It took me a while to figure out how the underlying system works (since there is no manual) and test different strategies, with different factions. This systemic exploration was fun and my first military and scientifc victory really felt great.

    Unfortunately, even if I find the micro-management of units and cities during the early game is really engaging, past the Messari invasion, most of the progression is mostly "+ something" or "+ %" hitting "End turn" many times because I don't have to move units anymore, cities are on autopilot and everything works as planned.

    So after 100 h I can see this game as a nice 1 to 2h engaging early game trying to beat you own achievement, but not that rewarding during the mid and end game (that's personal). And raising difficulty will just give the IA more potency, but won't make it "smarter" actually.    … Expand
  14. WellWellWell45
    Dec 15, 2017
    3
    I bought this game with such hope and excitement, only to quickly relise that the replay ability is lacking, the tech tree is the most confusing thing i have ever seen and is not helpful at all, and that the game play is weak later on in game.

    If you want a game like this then go buy Sid Meirs Beyond Earth, it is better in every way, encounters are interesting, game play is varied    I bought this game with such hope and excitement, only to quickly relise that the replay ability is lacking, the tech tree is the most confusing thing i have ever seen and is not helpful at all, and that the game play is weak later on in game.

    If you want a game like this then go buy Sid Meirs Beyond Earth, it is better in every way, encounters are interesting, game play is varied throughout and i thoroughly loved that game.

    This game was so unmemorable that when beyond earth came out i completely forgot i had it. I know that a lot of time was put into this game and i hate to just slander it like this but it is just a bad game, and it is definitiy not worth any money.

    Please look at reviews before you buy this game as i regret my purchase.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Jul 22, 2014
    80
    Pandora offers a stiff challenge, and will keep space-faring strategists happy until Civilization: Beyond Earth breaches the event horizon later this year.
    Read full review
  2. GameStar
    Apr 27, 2014
    68
    Inspired by the classic Alpha Centauri, it looks like a modern version at first glance, but lacks the depth and long term motivation.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Feb 13, 2014
    78
    Pandora: First Contact delivers very decent spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri, but it unfortunately falls short on some aspects. It needs more focus on the story, diplomacy and the endgame in general. [Jan 2014]
See all critic reviews »