Stellaris: Galaxy Command
- June 29, 2020
- GameBear Tech
- 6h median play time
Stellaris: Galaxy Command is a strategy MMO that lets you explore a vast sci-fi universe and build your own space empire. The game boasts fantastic gameplay, awesome visuals, and a vast universe to explore. However, players should be aware of the grinding, numerous ads, and occasional bugs that can detract from the overall experience.
Reviews
- The game has great graphics and a fun community, making it enjoyable to play.
- It offers a lot of building elements and exploration opportunities, keeping players engaged.
- The mobile version is a good port of the original Stellaris, providing a familiar experience.
- The game is heavily pay-to-win, making it difficult for free-to-play players to progress.
- The user interface is complex and can be confusing, especially for new players.
- There are frequent bugs and connectivity issues, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.
- graphics62 mentions
- 68 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics of the game receive a mixed reception from users. Many praise the visuals as beautiful and well-designed, particularly highlighting the detail in space battles and environments, while others criticize issues such as small text and icons that hinder usability on mobile devices. Some users also note a lack of realism and mention concerns about artwork theft, which detracts from their overall experience.
“The large army and numbers of ships along with the high graphics of the bases and ship battles made the original Stellaris enjoyable and realistic, almost addictively engaging.”
“Beautiful graphics and great sound effects, a lot type slow in the beginning but once you get into it it's very fun.”
“The graphics in this game are not very realistic and poorly designed base structure and ships are disappointing.”
“The graphics are so small it's practically an incoherent jumble of splotched colors.”
“The graphics on this game are horrible.”
- gameplay60 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its complexity and lack of clear tutorials, which can make it difficult to grasp the mechanics. While some appreciate the realistic feel and depth, others criticize the repetitive nature and pay-to-win elements, leading to a sense of frustration and a time-sink experience. Overall, the game offers enjoyable moments but suffers from poor explanations and a lack of strategic depth, making it less satisfying for those seeking a rich gameplay experience.
“The gameplay is nice, realistic feel to the game and fun to play.”
“Great graphics, gameplay pretty good.”
“Awesome smooth fast addictive gameplay; an hour soon turns into 3. I strongly recommend.”
“The gameplay could be explained better.”
“Feedback is minimal, making improvements like researching new tech or upgrading buildings doesn't feel like it changes gameplay at all.”
“Despite overwhelmingly complex resources and upgrade mechanics, there seems to be very limited anything - just a time sink.”
- story30 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story has been widely criticized for being dull, poorly written, and lacking depth, with many players feeling it fails to engage them or provide a meaningful narrative experience. Users noted that the missions feel repetitive and hand-holding, often resembling a standard mobile city builder rather than an immersive space exploration game. While some appreciated the graphics and occasional interesting quests, the overall consensus is that the story is a significant weakness, detracting from the gameplay experience.
“Stellaris, however, has a range of depth from story to gameplay in a mobile game I haven't yet seen.”
“Game is awesome, a lot of functions and variety and good storyline and background; I want the devs to make the background even better.”
“Amazing graphics, good interactive storyline.”
“Where there was no sound at all and I couldn't skip lots of boring story text about something I didn't care to know about.”
“The game was written by someone that doesn't speak English, which makes reading any part of the story pointless.”
“It lacks story and main character development; I cannot actually dive into planets, and it would be nice to have human troops and see the interiors of buildings.”
- monetization27 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 19 % neutral mentions
- 70 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game has been widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with players expressing frustration over the reliance on microtransactions and time-saving purchases that detract from gameplay. Many users feel that the game is overly grindy and offers limited rewards without spending money, leading to a perception of it being a generic mobile title rather than a worthy adaptation of the original franchise. Overall, the monetization strategy has left players dissatisfied, wishing for a one-time payment option instead.
“Very nice and in-app purchases are not forced on me yet, but I believe progression is going to get slower and slower, which is a bad thing about mobile games. You can enjoy this game for 2 weeks, but then it will be too slow and grindy, making you consider spending on subscription services and fake money.”
“Waiting times and aggressive microtransactions made me want to buy the big brother instead of playing this.”
“Monetization and infinite upgrades, with not a lot of quality gameplay.”
“Tactics and upgrades are nearly useless at the rate you get them, which is the entire point of this system of the game - microtransactions to add up to big money for the developer.”
“I'd have been happy to pay $20 once for a lighter game with no timers, but this is just another free-to-play with ludicrous microtransactions and turn timers.”
“Let's be real here for a moment; it serves its purpose of giving you something to click while you take a dump, but beyond that, it's just a shameless cash grab.”
- grinding15 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unfulfilling, often leading to frustration due to slow progression and repetitive tasks. Many reviews highlight a lack of meaningful rewards and a sense of stagnation, particularly in the later stages, with some expressing concerns about the game's longevity and potential pay-to-win elements. While there are moments of enjoyment, the grind often overshadows the fun, prompting some players to seek alternatives.
“Just feels incredibly grindy, with little feeling of reward or progression.”
“Boring, tedious with no goal for progression or ways to play together with your alliance.”
“Months of grinding and building just went poof like that with no explanation.”
- stability13 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent crashes, glitches, and a lack of support for issues encountered. Many players find the game to be a "buggy mess," particularly on Android, where disconnects and mission glitches are common. Overall, the game's stability issues detract significantly from the experience, overshadowing its enjoyable elements.
“Extremely frustrating, will crash at extremely inconvenient times, extremely buggy, which surprises me because the ship models are all flat so you'd think they'd have no problem rendering the rest of the screen.”
“Game is not stable on Android; it repeatedly has disconnects and glitches during research and alliance missions.”
“This game is a buggy, pay-to-win mess.”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed feedback, with many praising its quality and the retention of the original soundtrack, while others express frustration over the inability to turn it off. Overall, it is highlighted as a standout feature, contributing positively to the gaming experience.
“At least the music is good.”
“Not like the actual game from the desktop, but I love that they kept most of the art and the soundtrack.”
“The best graphics and music ever.”
“Kinda disappointed... edit: extra star for music and ship building...”
“Can't shut off the stupid music!!!!!!!”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization allows players to customize ships for either mobility or durability, but this can lead to irreversible damage to previous optimizations. Additionally, users report performance issues on lower-end devices.
“It has issues on lower performance phones.”
“This results in irreversible damage to any optimizations you may have achieved.”
“But it has issues on lower performance phones.”
“Fit ships for preferred performance—mobility versus durability.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the emotional aspect of the game, citing a lack of engaging sound and tedious story elements that fail to capture their interest. The tutorial is also criticized for being uninteresting and not effectively drawing players into the experience.
“There was no sound at all, and I couldn't skip a lot of boring story text about something I didn't care to know about.”
“The emotional moments felt forced and didn't resonate with me at all.”
“I found the character interactions to be shallow, making it hard to connect with their emotional struggles.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express a desire for enhanced replayability, highlighting the importance of save options and the potential for multiple matches to increase the game's fun factor.
“I was hoping this could be a fun game with saves and replay value in the form of multiple matches.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its deep lore and engaging stories, successfully elevating it above typical mobile builders. Reviewers commend the impressive graphics and overall design, noting that it captures the essence of Stellaris effectively. However, some players express a desire for more strategic features, such as fleet orders, to enhance gameplay.
“The atmosphere is amazing; it does Stellaris proud with its deep lore and incredible stories.”
“This game has truly captured the essence of a mobile builder, and the atmosphere is a standout feature.”
“Overall, the graphics are excellent, and the atmosphere immerses you in a well-designed world.”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game suffers from insufficient story and main character development, leaving players wanting more depth. Additionally, there are limitations in exploration and interaction, such as the inability to dive into planets or fully engage with environments like buildings.
“It lacks story and main character development.”
“I can't actually dive into planets, and the ability to have human troops would be nice.”
“If I could go inside the buildings and see the interiors, that would enhance the experience.”