14 DAY TRIAL // Gemini Wars is the first mainstream game from Camel 101 and they have really tried to do something different with a space-based strategy game where patience and solid plans are more important than huge fleet build-ups or quick reflexes.
The presentation of the game and some of the mechanics are similar to those seen in the classic Homeworld series and in the more recent Sins of a Solar Empire, although the complexity level is somewhat lower and there are less opportunities for unorthodox strategies.
Players need to create mining stations to secure resources, develop new tech via research and then make armies that can trash their enemies in space-based battles.
The scale of the engagements is not impressive, but I’ve appreciated the fact that movement between the various planets and other points of interest is slow and the fights themselves are massive, befitting a true space opera.
The overall story of Gemini Wars is also pretty standard, seeing humanity united once more to fight a powerful new alien threat that at first seems impossible to placate in any way.
The graphics quality for Gemini Wars is also below that of Sins of a Solar Empire, which makes sense given the difference in resources, but the game does not compensate by offering any story elements or a unique gameplay mechanic.
This means that there’s little impulse to drop Sins and focus on Gemini Wars in the long term, but the Camel 101 team can certainly take the ideas present here and polish them for a sequel.
When Gemini Wars was first launched, the game only offered a single-player campaign. But since then, the development team has added, for free, both skirmish and multiplayer modes that offer the same core experience but have the advantage of involving another human being.
Worth a full Softpedia review? No.