Last year, we had StarDrive, a nice little space 4X game that presented several twists of its own – an interesting trading system, real time playing, a very involving battle system... It was neat and mostly lacked just that fluff padding that many AAA games have. Well, bolt your airlock, because StarDrive 2 has just been announced.
"StarDrive 2 represents the culmination of two decades of love for the 4x genre and five years of work on the StarDrive universe. Here we have taken everything we have learned - our successes, our failures, and our passion - and made a 4x game that we are incredibly proud of," says Daniel DiCicco, CEO of Zero Sum Games. The "5 years of work" thing kind of explains why we're getting a sequel barely a year after the first game.
However, this is going to be more than a once-every-year EA sports title. StarDrive 2 is going to feature, somewhat sadly, a Turn Based strategic layer while battles will happen in real time (probably like Space Empires V). There are promises of a procedurally a generated galaxy, of diplomacy, espionage and trade (all important aspects of the first game) as well as the so necessary inclusion of lore.
And a grizzled Owlock warrior called Rambowl. A-dorable!
"We believe that fans of this genre will rejoice when they get their hands on StarDrive 2. It will bring them back to the golden age of 4x gaming with familiar strategic gameplay while using the full power of the Unity game engine to push AAA visuals. Furthermore, we are doubling down on our commitment to user-generated content with StarDrive 2 by integrating Steam Workshop support directly into the game. We are dedicated to our community and we're excited to start showing off StarDrive 2 to our fans."
Steam Workshop support probably means some fan content that has battlefleets of the gothic kind, at least I hope so.
Judging by the screenshots, the game already looks much nicer than the predecessor, and a lot more interesting to boot! StarDrive 2 is planned for September (yes, this year) release with an SRP of $30 and plans of 33% discount for people who own the first game.
