Master of Orion 3 (MOO3) is like the long-awaited reunion of a legendary rock"n"roll band. People can't wait to hear the new material, but it's tough to come back into the spotlight with the same impact, creativity, and style as before. If you try to recapture that old magic again, chances are it isn't going to quite measure up to everyone's expectations. Fans have waited over six years for MOO3 and expectations were through the roof. Now it's finally here, and the reactions are decidedly mixed, judging by the reviews in the media and the nearly 100,000 posts in the official game forums that came within a week after it was released. Being an avid fan myself, I bought the game on the release date and played it non-stop for a month. Having done so, I can definitely say that although MOO3 looks and feels slightly different from the two prequels, it is an excellent game in the true spirit of the space conquest genre.
People that are among the throngs of nearly religious fans of the game know what I"m talking about - the long anticipated third incarnation of probably the greatest turn-based strategy game that first launched 12 years ago. The original title was pretty simple in terms of gameplay, giving only a small amount of planets, technologies, ship designs and diplomacy options. Nevertheless, gaining immense popularity very quickly, it pressed hard on the developers for a sequel. It came relatively soon, further developing and sophisticating the game into what came to be the ultimate turn-based gaming experience for its time both for single and multiplayer. Shortly after that, the developer company, Microprose went out of business and the gaming community was in shock. Fortunately, Quicksilver, a subsidiary of Infogrames, bought the franchise and the long wait for MOO3 began. .
In an interview for FragLand.net when asked what the most difficult part in creating the game was, Bill Fisher, CEO of Quicksilver Software, answers: "The biggest challenge was controlling the scope of the game.