I have always really enjoyed the Civilization series, dating back to my first encounter with it in Civ 3 and straight through to today. It is the series that has eaten up the most hours of my life as I take my humble nation and gather my resources slowly but surely until I can poke Ghandi with a stick to the point where he declares war on me and I am able to wipe him and his people off the face of the Earth.

That came out really harsh (and possibly insane) but the point is that these games satisfy a certain itch that I have always had. That itch being for global domination.

So when I saw Endless Space, I immediately fell in love with the entire concept. It was Civilization on an interplanetary scale. In fact, I have always thought of it as a continuation of my Civilization games where I cast aside my need for military rule and instead opted for the science victory. When my peaceful, spacefaring people arrived at their destination, they were greeted with a whole host of new alien life forms and cultures to interact with.

We promptly kicked their asses, because I can only hold back the megalomaniac in me for so long.

Now, developer Amplitude Studios have developed something that hits even more of the geek buttons within my psyche. Endless Legend, a 4X game with the user interface and attention to detail of Endless Space and set within a unique fantasy world. So, not only do I have a hoard of military might and technology at my back, it is in a world not unlike those I grew up obsessed with and that I still venture into every time I play Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons.

Different races? Check.

Varied and often impossible terrain? Check.

Opportunity to delve into the legends that populated the land? Checkity Check.

The game is still in very early stages of development and it shows in the current form, but the core of the gameplay and interface remains in what was a very enjoyable experience from Endless Space. Where Legend deviates is in the world map. Gone are the small ships orbiting distant planets with no personality of their own, replaced by the figure of a stalwart hero marching across the unknown territory of this world. Within a few short hours of gameplay, I had encountered a number of foreign nations, wiped out an orc encampment that threatened my borders, subjugated a city of dwarves, and promptly been destroyed by a race of crystalline creatures that took offense to my unprovoked attack on their home.

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun in a very short amount of time.

Legend looks poised to take everything that was right with Space and improve upon it, adding personality to your units and the world where before there had just been… well, the void of space. Taking a look at some of the features the developers are looking to add, this is very likely to be another very fun game that consumes hours upon hours of my life. If the world has anywhere near the kind of depth and life as Thedas from Bioware’s Dragon Age, then there might not be any limit to how much time I might spend in it.

That said, the game is still in Early Access (Steam’s version of open beta), so unless you are willing to pay for a currently incomplete game, you might be better off waiting for the official release. There are some really cool bonuses and perks for being involved in the Early Access, however, so it is give and take, really. The current experience is clearly incomplete, but there is still fun to be had and, you can feedback into what you’d like the game to become when it is released, so if you’re interested there is definitely reason enough to get involved now. All I know is that, once the full game hits Steam, I’ll be disappearing for a few weeks as I march across an otherwise peaceful realm with an army of orcs at my back, laughing maniacally all the while.

Yeah. Maybe I should get that checked.

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