As a huge fan of the 4X genre, I was expecting a lot from this game, especially combined with its expansion pack.

Unfortunately, it falls flat. What cripples the game above all else is the original but ultimately flawed victory condition: every race must acculumate "points" by doing whatever is specific to their race (Warrior races must conquer planets, economically-oriented races must accumulate credits, etc.). The problem lies in the fact that the races are completely unbalanced, and you will find more often than not the same races at the top and bottom of the charts in every game.

Whatever good aspects the game has, and it does have some (real-time controllable combat, a rarity in the 4X genre, various unique races, clean interface, etc.) do not make up for a basically shallow experience of accumulating scores in order to win. There is little as frustrating as being the supreme military and economic power in the game while controlling the 3/4's of the galaxy, only to be beaten at the end of the "turn counter" (yes, games only end after a fixed amount of turns to compare winning scores) by a much weaker enemy who accumulated a huge score because of its races relatively easy scoring process (I'm looking at you, Cryokon Federation).

Buy it if you're a huge fan of the 4X genre and have tried everything else, but keep its flaws in mind if you want to avoid unecessary gaming rage.

Armada was an excellent space 4x. It is well-polished and has a challenging AI. On the other hand, you can pick up more modern (and more attractive) games for around the same price.

A little dated in terms of graphics, but still a solid X4 game. If you enjoy turned based space strategy, this is a solid addition to anyone's collection. If you consider the price, you can add another star to the rating - it's worth the money.

Pretty good. Its nice but every once in a while you find a bug or two. So, you know if your into these games go ahead and get it it's worth it! But if your not this game is not for you. Its a great game!

Having played a lot of 4x games over the years I can say that this game isn't a total train wreck. But it does leave a lot of room for improvement.

While the user interface (UI) makes you feel like you are playing a spreadsheet more than an actual game, the easy to use AI does a fairly competent job of taking care of all the micro-managing of your empire. (unlike a lot of 4x games) The insane map sizes and number of players make this a great game to play if you like long, drawn out 'slugging matches'.

However, the biggest crutch of this game has to got be the combat system. It's horrible. It feels, and plays, like an afterthought. Like the developer didn't care about it much. For this reason alone, a 3 star ranking is generous in my opinion.

Very good solid 4X game, with more emphasis in combat than diplomacy. Plenty of options, with only the lack of option to create your own species as a major minus point. It's worth buying, though it's even better if you also buy the expansion pack. For fans of the classic space 4X games.

If you’re a hardcore fan of Sci-Fi TBS (in the line of Master of Orion 2, Galactic Civilizations 2 or StarTrek: Birth of the Federation) or simply a fan of 4x strategy games in general this is the right game for you to try next. If you’re a fan of strategy games in general you may also like Armada 2526, but the chances are that if you’re not into this type of games probably this is not the right title for you unless you want to start being a fan.

Much like others have mentioned about this game. It isn't the best 4x. Especially when compared to the Masters of Orion 2 & Sword of the Stars games. However it certainly isn't a bad game. Like most 4x you have an ebb & flow of games and this one presents itself much like the aformentioned ones. If you are new to 4x this is an acceptable start. If you're looking for a new 4x, this may fill your desire. If you're looking for a game comparable in quality to Sots or Moo, you probably want to avoid this.

Being a huge 4X fan and having spent a decent portion of my childhood playing the original Armada over and over, I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw a sequel was being made.

Unfortunately, this game sucks. Interface is barely functional, tech trees are unimaginative, the combat system is probably the worst I've ever seen in a 4X game, and the game just looks bad as well. Do not buy this game. Don't even play it for free if someone gifts you a copy.

Anyone who has already already played Master of Orion, or Sword of the Stars, or Space Empires, will find nothing new here. Absolutelly nothing. But if you haven't, this is as good as any game to star getting acquainted to 4X games.

I've played a lot of 4x in my day, and I see I lot of people comparing this to SOTS. I love SOTS, and I love space empires (except 5, blasted kids and their real time combat) and Armada 2526 can't really compare favorably to any of them. It has some interesting mechanics, but overall the game is very bland. Bland, flavorless tech tree which is also surprisingly short. Bland interface. Horrifically bad combat system. It's hard to tell what's going on and player input matters very little. In addition, it's not even pretty. Obviously if I love Space Empires, I don't put all that much emphasis on pretty, but I like to see my new tech toys in action as much as the next 4x gamer. I'm afraid I couldn't recommend this game to anyone, not even lovers of the genre.

I have tried many games in this genre, some were good like Sword of the Stars series and others not so good. But Armada 2526 is a good game and up there closer to SOTS than most in the genre and its similar as well where you have a galexy map to move your fleets, find colonies and fight battles in real time. The latter is one of the more similar traits to SOTS but the graphics and overall battles are no where near as impressive. Still Armada shines in areas such as diverse diplomacy choices and being immersive. Ground combat seperates this game from many if not all present day games in the genre where you can not only attack fleets and planet defenses but ground defenses as well which makes this game worth playing and honestly the battle graphics are not that bad just not up to par with what we've seen lately or in the SOTS series. Give it a try if your a fan of the genre or space empire 4X games in general.

The best thing about this game is the fact you can hotseat it.Not many games these days have a hotseat option which is a must for any turn based strategy game. Sword of the stars claims to be a hotseat game but isn't. Lan and internet games are not Hotseat games..

Being able to have many people play a turn based game off the one pc is and old but good idea and this game excells at it something like upto 60 people could play this game on one pc.. now that would be an epic game lol.. So just for this fact alone its worth buying not to mention some nice graphics.. This game cuts down on the micro management yet it still yields a suprising depth to it. You can set maps to Huge in custom games and the amount of systems is just mind blowing.

Both ground and space combat to partake in and even tho the tech tree seems small there are many diffrent buildings and strategies to use them on certain planets. I would love to see more customisation of ships but im still happy with a more race based set line of ships.

I think this game is perfect for multiplay and specialy hotseat because its not bulked down by a mass amount of micro management but still gives an indepth feeling. All in all i gave it 4 stars because it brings back good old memories of Master of Orion.

The game is a traditional space based strategy game, with a turn based strategic level and a tactical battle level.

The strategic screen is generally quite good, and it is easy to select and send your ships and fleets where you want. You can also tell transports and assault ships to make the same journey several times, which takes the tedium out of moving large amounts of population and troops around. It is easy to get the information you want regards to your ships and colonies, and you can alter the display to show relevant information on mini maps etc easily. My main issue is that you cannot choose the loadout or weapons on your ships. I like choosing what sort of guns and fighters I'm going to put on a ship and this game does not allow you to do that.

The turn based section is unfortunately a different matter. Fighters do not appear to work as far as I can tell - you can tell them what to attack but they do not seem to be able to do any damage. 3 carriers worth of fighters did not seem to even make the smallest kind of orbital defences shields glow. My biological attack ship did not seem to work - not sure why. Could be me but I think was the game. Ships do not take damage, or have armour/structure stats. They glow a different colour (a good idea) when their sheilds take damage, but just pop when they are overloaded (not so good). When you speed up the game time, you have to hold your mouse button down - it is not a turn on/off feature. Irritating.

The battles are nice and quick however, and the interface is easy to use and understand.

All in all 3 out of 5. Buy if you like the genre, but if not go for another 4x space strategy game.

This game is very interesting. Much of the game is similar to both Sword of the Stars and Master of Orion. It is very simple to master and the gameplay is smooth. I personally would have preferred better star map graphics, but it is still not too bad to look at. I love the diverse types of star systems and there are even systems with neutron stars. Each of the races do have a uniqueness to them, but the basics are shared between all of them. The soundtrack is pretty decent and does make the game more fun to play.

Overall, I think it is a game that lovers of strategy games and scifi should get. I have certainly enjoyed it.