Ancient Space

40%
Game Brain Score Based on 196 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Ancient Space Game Cover
Ancient Space is a beautiful, almost good space strategy game that falls short due to the amount of work it requires to control your units in battle. The upgrade and customization system lets you outfit your ship with abilities to your liking, and at times the core of the gameplay, which is combat and exploration, is a lot of fun. There's even a well-developed narrative and killer soundtrack. If you're a fan of space strategy games, you might enjoy Ancient Space, otherwise, it's not worth the frustration.
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Ancient Space is a real-time strategy game set in the vastness of space, where you command a fleet of ships and complete mission objectives in a variety of approaches. The game features deep space exploration, with each mission revealing new areas of the galaxy full of secrets and dangers. With a stellar cast of voice actors and tactical starship battles, Ancient Space offers a gripping experience of strategic resource management and interstellar warfare.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

40%
Audience ScoreBased on 196 reviews
story39 positive mentions
optimization3 negative mentions
  • The game features a compelling story with well-written dialogue and strong voice acting.
  • The graphics and artistic direction are beautiful, making the environments visually stunning.
  • The gameplay offers a challenging experience that rewards strategic thinking and micromanagement.
  • The controls and user interface are clunky, making it difficult to manage units effectively during combat.
  • The game suffers from performance issues, including crashes and lag, which can disrupt gameplay.
  • Many missions feel frustratingly difficult due to overwhelming enemy numbers and poor AI pathfinding.
  • story138 mentions

    The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its engaging narrative, well-written dialogue, and beautiful visuals, while others criticize it for being flat and poorly executed. Many appreciate the voice acting and the strategic elements tied to the story, but feel that the gameplay mechanics often detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the story has potential, its execution and integration with gameplay leave much to be desired, leading to a disjointed experience for some players.

    • “The story is enticing and well-written, the voice acting is done with care, and words cannot describe just how beautiful the scenery is.”
    • “The story is engaging, the artwork is beautiful, the controls are simple and intuitive.”
    • “The story is very good and there are some examples in our own society with regards to large corporations, resembling the story of this game, which I really liked.”
    • “The story was mostly flat, and the characters were not compelling.”
    • “Horrible game that was meant to be the successor to Homeworld... the interface was clunky and the story was worse.”
    • “It's not even worth it for the story; the gameplay often contradicts it and is frustrating at some points.”
  • graphics51 mentions

    The game's graphics receive mixed reviews, with many praising the art style and ship designs as visually appealing, particularly for a space-themed title. However, players also report issues with performance, low resolution, and a lack of polish in the user interface, which detracts from the overall experience. While some find the graphics decent and fitting for the genre, others note that they feel outdated and suffer from optimization problems.

    • “The premise looks good, and for the most part, so do the graphics, at least insofar as ship and terrain textures are concerned.”
    • “Graphics, voice acting, and play scenes are nicely done and give a good space feeling like you were out there.”
    • “Its graphics are great, really pretty to look at.”
    • “Seriously, pretty solid visuals aside, this game feels like it was made somewhere in the late nineties.”
    • “I have a 75" Samsung TV, and no matter what graphics settings I put it on, I cannot read a single word in the UI.”
    • “Furthermore, the graphics are very buggy; for example, large parts of the asteroids are just white.”
  • gameplay35 mentions

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it simplistic, uninspired, and plagued by bugs and clumsy controls. While some appreciate the ship combat mechanics and customization options, others criticize the AI pathing and lack of tactical depth, leading to a generally stale experience. Overall, the game offers decent graphics and a solid premise, but the execution of gameplay mechanics leaves much to be desired.

    • “The upgrade and customization system lets you outfit your ship with abilities to your liking, and at times the core of the gameplay, which is combat and exploration, is a lot of fun.”
    • “It's got a solid story, nice fleet customization, and overall good gameplay.”
    • “Personally, the gameplay is fun and challenging even on the easier settings, and must be downright nightmare mode on the hardest settings.”
    • “Gameplay is stale and the pathing for the AI is absolutely horrendous; the story was flat and while it was a great premise, it has terrible execution.”
    • “The game was pretty enough, but the controls are clumsy and gameplay is slow.”
    • “Gameplay is boring.”
  • music24 mentions

    The music in the game has received a mixed reception, with many praising its epic and inspiring qualities, particularly noting the contributions from notable composers like Marcin Przybyłowicz. However, some players found the soundtrack repetitive and lacking variety, leading to a sense of monotony over time. Overall, while the music enhances the game's atmosphere and complements its narrative, it may not appeal to everyone due to its repetitive nature.

    • “I love the score music and I also love that it involves archaeological space exploration; kind of a Prometheus setting. I think the game is pretty neat; they should make more games about archaeological space travel.”
    • “The story is pretty strong -- though suffering slightly due to technical limitations -- and the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard.”
    • “Let me digress, this game's variety of ships also plays as the game's minor weakness. But the soundtrack is amazing; it will have you strap yourself to the bow of your ship and give the finger to the universe as you slowly ascend towards epicness.”
    • “Weary voice, repetitive music...”
    • “Music kinda grinds on you, makes you turn it off.”
    • “There has to be a confluence of visual style, musical depth, and narrative context that conveys an almost mystical sense of size.”
  • optimization8 mentions

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many users reporting choppy performance and poor graphic optimization even on medium settings, regardless of their hardware capabilities. While some players appreciate the challenging gameplay, the overall consensus highlights severe performance issues that detract from the experience.

    • “Sometimes there are a few performance issues, but otherwise I have no complaints with the game. It is a brutal game that doesn't let you make mistakes and has an AI that will really challenge your skills with strategy games.”
    • “The game is completely unoptimized.”
    • “Graphics are neat, but the performance is absolutely horrific.”
    • “If you can get around the horrid engine optimization that forces you to play at low frames, even for people who are running dual cards.”
  • stability6 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent crashes and numerous bugs affecting gameplay and graphics. Players report slow performance, glitchy visuals, and inconsistent controls, leading to a frustrating experience overall. Despite its potential, the game's technical shortcomings hinder enjoyment and immersion.

    • “The gameplay is good, but it is so buggy and keeps crashing.”
    • “Beautiful backgrounds, but buggy and slow.”
    • “Except for the fact it's a glitchy, buggy pile of issues.”
  • replayability6 mentions

    The game's replayability is considered decent, primarily through skirmishing modes, but it suffers from significant limitations such as a lack of multiplayer options and basic skirmish features, which some players find disappointing. While some enjoy revisiting the game occasionally, others feel that these shortcomings hinder its overall replay value compared to similar titles.

    • “Replayability is pretty good via skirmishing, even without multiplayer.”
    • “Star Wars: Empire at War has a lot of replayability, not only having a real skirmish mode but also a galactic conquest mode.”
    • “Even though I get upset about the lost replay value, I enjoy playing it from time to time.”
    • “The game also lacks a basic skirmish mode and any form of multiplayer; hence, replayability is a bit shallow, which may be a dealbreaker for many people.”
    • “But I mean, what do I know about making games? I've been playing them for only 15 years. Sorry, just a little upset because it could have been a space game better than Star Wars: Empire at War, but SW is better because it has a lot of replayability, not only having a real skirmish mode but a galactic conquest mode (campaign's pretty much GC with specific missions).”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, as the limited scrap collected per mission makes it challenging to maintain a strong fleet. Additionally, erratic ship movement complicates navigation, further contributing to the frustration of the grinding experience.

    • “Grinding gets tedious and should not be that way.”
    • “Ship movement sometimes seems erratic; ships get caught in the megastructures (or into each other), and it can be quite tedious to direct them waypoint by waypoint.”
  • atmosphere2 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is described as intense and captivating, evoking a strong emotional response that contrasts sharply with more mainstream titles. However, some players found the overall experience marred by frustrating controls, which detracted from their enjoyment of the intriguing story and immersive environment.

    • “If there was a scale ranging from 'modern Fortnite garbage' to 'Dark Souls', this game would promptly say 'screw that noise' and crane-kick the scale apparatus through the ceiling, into the sky, at such velocity as to set the atmosphere on fire.”
    • “The story and atmosphere were interesting; I just couldn't get past the frustration of the controls.”
    • “If there was a scale, ranging from 'modern Fortnite garbage' to 'Dark Souls', this game would promptly say 'screw that noise' and crane-kick the scale apparatus through the ceiling, into the sky, at such velocity as to set the atmosphere on fire.”
    • “The atmosphere feels completely lifeless, lacking any sense of immersion or engagement.”
    • “Despite the game's potential, the atmosphere is flat and uninspired, making it hard to stay invested.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for being lacking, with users describing the story as boring and unengaging.

    • “The story felt incredibly dull and uninspired.”
    • “I found the emotional moments to be lacking and unconvincing.”
    • “The narrative failed to evoke any real feelings or connections.”
  • humor1 mentions

    Users find the humor in the game to be somewhat unrealistic yet amusing, contributing to its overall charm.

    • “It looks so unrealistic, it's kind of funny.”
    • “The humor in the game is spot on and keeps me laughing throughout.”
    • “I love the witty dialogue and the hilarious situations the characters find themselves in.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

65% average critic score

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Play time

2hMedian play time
2hAverage play time
2-2hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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