First impressions 5min, 30min, and 60mins...

[yoshyusmc]

First Five Minutes
When I first loaded up Pandora, I was immediately impressed by the production values of the intro movies and title screen. The main menu is very attractive, and finely polished. The music sets the sci-fi mood nicely as well. Upon my first few turns, I was immediately struck by the familiarity with Civ and Alpha Centauri. I skipped past the setup screens fast because they seem involved, and I was anxious to just sample a quick game. However, the feeling of landing on an alien planet, and exploring the odd and interesting terrain made me forget that this might be a simple knock off.

30 Minutes
After getting a chance to settle down with Pandora, I have started to get a feel for the game. Upon first contact with the other races, they at first seemed to accept any type of pact I selected. Once I tried to ask for another, they immediately shot it down. Perhaps this is intended? It seems odd to have Research and Trade pacts accepted immediately. I am really appreciating the stacking of units, and yet the ease to select a specific unit or all within a stack. CIV5 made a mistake to do away with unit stacking, and yet CIV4 stacking was tedious to manage. Pandora designers I think have done an excellent job in finding a solution to both sequels.

The unit design feature is a welcome addition to this genre. It adds another depth of layer, without making the game burdensome. Although the system of selecting new, before picking items was hard to get use to. I would by accident change an existing design, and would have to go back to correct it. Maybe try to implement a better system of managing designs, although the current system is nearly where it should be. It is quick to make news designs, and you can name your creations.

The diplomacy is actually very deep, and interesting. I like the many options you have to such as praising another race, and the pop up dialogues that explain what each choice may affect.

The combat animations are great in how they reflect the type of weapons that being used.

60 Minutes
I am not really getting a feel for how Pandora works, as I started to get that one more turn feeling again. The colony management system is very intuitive, and I like how resources are managed in a futuristic way. It makes sense that populations and resources are more fluid between cities. I like the different combat techs, and bombardment actions, etc.. I didn't even manage to make it to the mech. age, until I was targeted by two powerful enemies. The AI noticed my weakness, probably clicked end turn too fast =P, and took advantage of it. Mobilizing too late, I was only able to hold them off for a short time before my improvements were destroyed and economy tossed into a downward spiral.

I do not know if it was coincidence or not, but the AI seem to have adapted to my design. I made a missile tank, and took down several of the first waves or invaders. However, I noticed some troops not quite engaging my city defenders and just camping in my boundaries. I arrogantly send out my missile tanks and find out in the combat animations that the troopers also had missiles. It wasn't as easy a fight as I though it would be and lost my best defender. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the pre-combat info window, and I would have noticed they were pacing AT power.

After an hour of play I get the feeling that the research tree appears to be very deep, and the customization of the units will help with replay-ability. With just my 60 minutes of first impressions, I am ready to be a customer. I have a feeling that this will be a very well received game.