14 DAY TRIAL // Stardock Entertainment and Ironclad are announcing that they have released Entrenchment, the first mini expansion for the RTS Sins of a Solar Empire. You can get it through the Impulse digital delivery system from Stardock for the low price of 9.95 dollars.
As the name implies, Entrenchment is based on the idea of giving players more defensive options and limiting the raiding tactics that come to dominate many of the games of Sins of a Solar Empire played. The main addition is starbases, massive structures that can hold up big enemy fleets, and there are also other defensive structures and improvements to the technology tree of the game. Of course, the graphics of Sins of a Solar Empire also received an upgrade to make the game better looking than at launch, in 2008.
Brad Wardell, the president and the Chief Executive Officer of Stardock, stated that “We’re excited to release the first follow up to 2008’s strategy game of the year. After careful planning and implementation, we’re confident that Entrenchment brings the concept of updates and expansions to a new echelon for PC gaming as well as create an even more thrilling Sins of a Solar Empire experience.”
Ironclad, the developer working on Sins of a Solar Empire, promised gamers that more of the micro expansions would be launched over the course of 2009. The next one, which is already in the creative pipeline, is set to enhance the diplomacy and piracy options featured in the game. At the moment, there's no clear release window for it.
If there's one disappointment related to Entrenchment is that it took so long to get it out to players. The mini expansion was set to arrive in the last months of 2008, but Stardock worried that gamers might overlook it given the hectic release schedule of the period. The content was kept in beta until now, with the developers improving it based on the feedback coming from the dedicated community of players formed around Sins of a Solar Empire.