Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Pollux Gamelabs
System: PC
Minimum Requirements: 1200MHz CPU; 512 MB of RAM; GeForce 4 or similar; Windows XP or Vista
Genre: Sci-fi turn-based strategy
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

I’ve never had dreams of galactic domination; Darth Vader did, and look where that got him. But my inner conqueror started to come to the surface as I played Lost Empire: Immortals, developer Pollux Gamelabs’ new turn-based 4X strategy game, and now I have ships searching the galaxy for planets to colonize, civilizations to subjugate and riches to plunder.

More than 2600 years into the future, a fierce war between two immortal alien races, the Eonians and the Thari, devastates the worlds on which it is fought and cuts off the surviving mortal races from the rest of the galaxy. Two Eonians, Enias and Bythos, try to help the mortals recover from the cataclysm, but without the Thari to fight, the Eonians turn on each other, leaving the innocent victims alone to reconstruct their civilizations. As time passes, the six mortal races (the cyborg Alkiths, the telepathic Megalanians, the aquatic Tritons, the bloodthirsty Horde, energy beings known as the Crystal Spirits, and the Humans) recover from the destruction caused by the war and start venturing back into the galaxy in search of resources for their devastated home worlds. Some of them seek to expand their civilizations to other planets through peaceful, diplomatic means, while others have a more violent agenda, but their return to space travel catches the attention of Enias and Bythos, bringing them once again into conflict with the mortals.

Immortals is a deep, statistic-heavy strategy game in which all four of the Xs (Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate) are well represented, although I found that it was possible to create a formidable and successful galactic empire without firing a single shot in anger. It also doesn’t require a PC with godlike hardware to run; the game’s minimum requirements ensure that it will play smoothly on almost any gaming rig, but there are some added bells and whistles thrown in for gamers with machines that can support them.

Immortals’ main menu, displayed on a sharp, colorful image of a slowly rotating spiral galaxy, allows the player to adjust almost all of the game’s parameters. You can choose to explore one of 16 galaxies, each of which contains up to 5,000 stars. You can even use the Custom Game option to adjust the game’s rules and the default configuration of the maps. Select one of the six available mortal races, a difficulty level and the conditions in which victory can be achieved and you’re ready to get started. You begin with a capital planet, a scout ship and a colony vessel. Using the mouse’s scroll wheel, you can zoom out to see the entire galaxy or zoom in to see specific details about your planets and ships. Along the bottom of the screen is a series of buttons that are used to control your actions in the game, including building and maintaining your fleet, researching new technologies, establishing diplomatic relations with other empires and managing the careers of leader characters, whose specialties grant you bonuses related to their fields of expertise.