Beyond Sol

79%
Game Brain Score Based on 276 reviews
  • gameplay
  • story
  • graphics
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"Beyond Sol" is a blend of action space combat and grand strategy empire building in a procedurally generated open world. Construct a city, gather resources, customize and lead your fleet in battles, and form relations or declare war with other cities. The game features dynamic AI opponents, world layout, and random events for a unique experience each time. * Blend of action space combat and grand strategy empire building * Construct city, gather resources, customize and lead fleet in battles * Dynamic AI opponents, world layout, and random events for unique experience

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

79%
Audience ScoreBased on 276 reviews
gameplay20 positive mentions
story6 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of RTS and top-down arcade spaceship flying, providing a fun and engaging experience.
  • Players enjoy the freedom to explore, build space cities, and engage in combat, making it a relaxing and enjoyable game.
  • The multiplayer aspect enhances the experience, allowing for cooperative play and strategic planning with friends.
  • The game can become grindy and repetitive over time, with some players feeling that it lacks depth and variety in missions.
  • Diplomacy mechanics are poorly implemented, leading to frustrating interactions with AI factions and a lack of meaningful choices.
  • Technical issues such as bugs, performance drops, and a lack of proper tutorials hinder the overall experience.
  • gameplay46 mentions

    Gameplay reviews are mixed, highlighting both addictive mechanics and significant issues. While many players appreciate the complex systems and engaging ship combat reminiscent of titles like Elite Dangerous, others report frustrating glitches and repetitive, grindy elements that detract from the experience. Overall, the game offers solid mechanics and enjoyable features, but improvements are needed to address technical problems and enhance variety.

    • “Nice and chill game with solid mechanics.”
    • “It is a bit rough around the edges, and the graphics do not impress, but the gameplay is amazingly addictive.”
    • “Beyond Sol is a game with wonderful graphics and entertaining gameplay.”
    • “Tl;dr: I went from loving the gameplay to rage quitting due to fatal glitches.”
    • “I have not yet even been able to try out the gameplay; the game 'stops responding' every couple of seconds in the main menu and stays that way for upwards of two minutes. When I finally thought that I'd launched into a singleplayer game, the GUI came up over the main menu and it kept on freezing.”
    • “The gameplay is all repetitive.”
  • story42 mentions

    The game lacks a compelling story, with players noting that the only narrative element is an introductory video. The missions are repetitive and often feel like a grind, leading to a sense of boredom as players engage in similar tasks without any meaningful character development or overarching plot. Many reviewers express that the game would significantly benefit from the inclusion of storylines, characters, and varied missions to enhance engagement.

    • “The early game time is spent on doing missions and flying around with your spacecraft, building up your base and buying and upgrading new buildings that will unlock more spacecraft, weapons, and technologies.”
    • “So once you have your base going and you have secured resources, it all comes down to building and upgrading military bases, buying fleets, and doing missions to give you income bonuses or improve relationships with neighbors.”
    • “There's no story, the enemy factions are easy to defeat and you can just kill them when they're tiny. The fighting is mediocre, and there's not much great about this game other than the satisfaction of destroying cities.”
    • “This game would be 100x better had they thrown in some storylines, characters, or even a quest or two.”
    • “- no storyline other than the intro video.”
  • graphics32 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally described as decent and resource-friendly, with a clean and well-presented UI, though some users find them bland and generic. There are notable performance issues on Windows 7, where graphics may not display correctly, especially in larger cities, leading to significant framerate drops. Overall, while the visuals may not be groundbreaking, they effectively support the game's atmosphere and gameplay mechanics.

    • “The graphics and sound are simple enough to be resource-friendly but solid enough to maintain a good sense of atmosphere and immersion, and the game all-in-all plays as it's supposed to; spaz meets a simplified civ, in space.”
    • “Beyond Sol is a game with wonderful graphics and entertaining gameplay.”
    • “Decent visuals, certainly it's clear enough to me what's going on at any point.”
    • “Once you have a decent sized city with 30+ buildings, your framerate drops right down which is disappointing because the visuals on display don't warrant the frame drop.”
    • “While it can be a little bit bland to witness with plain visuals and fairly standard music and sound effects, this game really shines when it comes to how it plays.”
    • “Visuals and audio are very generic.”
  • grinding26 mentions

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and repetitive, leading to a tedious experience over time. While the multiplayer component can enhance enjoyment, many reviewers note that the grind can overshadow the fun, particularly in terms of resource gathering and repairing diplomatic relations after conflicts. Overall, the game is seen as interesting but suffers from design choices that exacerbate the grind.

    • “While conceptually an interesting game, the primary issue is that it eventually becomes a grindy snoozefest.”
    • “It's really nice, but after several hours it feels to be too grindy.”
    • “Just a brief 10-minute war can easily wreck your entire economy and blow a solid 2 hours of grinding in mere minutes.”
  • replayability12 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it offers a lot of replay value, others criticize the lack of customization options and variety, leading to diminished interest over time. Improved AI and more diverse gameplay elements are suggested as necessary enhancements to boost replayability.

    • “Lots of replayability.”
    • “I'd ask for a better AI to create a more interesting experience and have more replay value.”
    • “Does it have replayability?”
    • “However, I have noticed that there is little replay value as there are very few things you can customize between games.”
    • “That is not enough for giving you replay value, so therefore I have stopped playing it until more variety is introduced.”
  • music12 mentions

    The music in the game is generally described as forgettable and somewhat repetitive, with only a few tracks that blend together over time, leading some players to turn it off after extended play. However, it is noted that the soundtrack effectively contributes to the game's atmosphere, providing a spacey ambiance that enhances the overall experience. While not groundbreaking, the audio is considered acceptable and complements the gameplay.

    • “Visually, the game is ok, audio is nice and the soundtrack is effective, no concerns about the media.”
    • “Soundtrack is nice.”
    • “The music is like 2 or 3 tracks, which all sound like one; which after some hours forces you to turn it off.”
    • “While it can be a little bit bland to witness with plain visuals and fairly standard music and sound effects, this game really shines when it comes to how it plays.”
    • “The accompanying music is spacey and adds to the atmosphere of the game.”
  • emotional8 mentions

    Players express frustration over the emotional impact of border tensions in the game, noting that even previously friendly relationships can quickly deteriorate due to proximity. This mechanic creates a sense of helplessness and emotional strain, as players feel penalized for their territorial expansion despite their efforts to maintain good relations.

    • “The penalty for border tension is absolutely ridiculous; even though you might have been very friendly with them before, they will instantly grow to hate you if even one hex is touching your border.”
    • “Now imagine having multiple hexes touching with their border.”
    • “There is a huge tech tree to explore, and it feels like I am just barely touching it at the moment.”
  • atmosphere6 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is characterized by solid, resource-friendly graphics and sound that enhance immersion, complemented by spacey music that enriches the overall experience. Players find the visual and auditory elements create a pleasant and engaging environment, effectively blending elements of chaos and strategy in a space setting.

    • “The accompanying music is spacey and adds to the atmosphere of the game.”
    • “The general atmosphere of the game is really pleasant visually.”
    • “The graphics and sound are simple enough to be resource-friendly but solid enough to maintain a good sense of atmosphere and immersion.”
  • stability4 mentions

    Players have reported significant stability issues, including fatal glitches that can lead to frustration and even rage quitting. There is uncertainty whether these problems stem from individual hardware specifications or the game's expansive maps being inherently buggy.

    • “I went from loving the gameplay to rage quitting due to fatal glitches.”
    • “I'm not sure if this relates to my rig's specs or if the large and huge maps are just a bit buggy.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted by absurd and unexpected scenarios, such as rival factions suddenly uniting against the player, creating comical and chaotic moments that enhance the overall experience.

    • “You end up in a hilarious situation where the factions that were fighting each other a minute ago all team up on you.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    The game's optimization is criticized, particularly on larger maps, where players may experience significant performance issues that could necessitate restarting their game.

    • “Just don't do it on a huge map or you will end up re-doing your game because of a poorly optimized engine.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

25hMedian play time
19hAverage play time
8-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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