Master of Orion

by MicroProse Ltd.

Product Features

• For DOS, or Windows 95/98 in DOS mode.
• Explore the galaxy and defend your empire with your massive star fleet. Balance the unique talents of alien beings with new technologies. A single technology discovery can turn the tables on your enemies!
• Lead one of ten different races, each with unique strategies and abilities.
• Compete against five other alien races.
• Design your ships with powerful new engines, missiles, bombs, shields, lasers and cloaking devices.

Product Details

• ASIN: B0007AD1HC
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,841 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

The original 1993 release from SimTex that spawned two hit sequels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best turn based strategy games ever, September 18, 2010

By 

Brent Butler (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Master of Orion (CD-ROM)

It seems to be a common thought process that sequels to games make the original an outdated product, adding fancy new features that trump the first of the series. In this case, that thinking is false.

The original Master of Orion game was head and shoulders a better game than its successors. Why? Because each game seemed to be a different puzzle. When MOO2 came out, every game was essentially the same strategy: build up tech and big capital ships as early as possible, and run the enemy off the map. Game in, game out, just the same.

In MOO, some games followed a similar formula, but many required some very original strategy creation to win the game. Computer opponents would often build up seemingly unbeatable fleets of tens of thousands of ships. No amount of sheer production could keep up. You had to be able to use some cleverness in putting your technologies together to win these games. I can still remember in detail two MOO games where the atmosphere and solution to those games was completely unique and interesting. How many individual game experiences can you remember from any game from earlier this year, let alone many years ago?

In one of the games, I had the bottom of the map, and the surviving computer race had the top. The middle was a no man's land where neither of us could land a colony without it being immediately obliterated. Our major worlds were out of range of each other without establishing these colonies. The game went on and on in this mode until I found a strategy to slowly whittle down the computer player's massive fleets. Finally I won, but I had to use strategies in both colonization and ship building techniques that I'd never needed or used before in many games of MOO. In another game I had to lure massive fleets to conquer my outlying worlds, then sneak fleets in behind them to cut their supply lines to win. For a war game of this type, that made for a very interesting game. This individual flavor of the game was completely lost in subsequent versions, and never exists in many, many computer war games, which essentially amount repeating one successful overall strategy over and over again. For example, in StarCraft, an extremely popular game and a good one, I could win almost every time by quickly building up a tough defense, waiting until the opponent (human or computer) had spent all their resources trying to crack it, and then finish them off.

MOO was an outstanding game. Its strengths may have been completely accidental, but they certainly made it more interesting than virtually all other games of its type.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, May 1, 2007

By 

Leon Baradat "Homebrewer" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Master of Orion (CD-ROM)

Master of Orion I really set the bar for 4X games. Pick a race (each has its advantages and disadvantages), colonize a section of the galaxy, and fight with your neighbors for more. There's diplomacy, a technology tree, and random events to keep things lively. It really is a game worth spending some time on.

It doesn't run too well on modern Windows operating systems, but does run well in DOSBox, a DOS emulator.

The game is freely downloadable from the Internet, so I'd advise purchasing it here as a desirable option only if you want to round out your collection of MOObilia.

5.0 out of 5 stars Played this game more than any other., October 11, 2009

By 

350ZMO (AL USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Master of Orion (CD-ROM)

I've been playing MOO2 since it first came out. Can still play with DOSBOX on the newest operating systems with full sound and graphics. The sound and graphics are of course out dated but the game itself is wonderfull. This is my stand by. I have played this game more than any other and I still play it. I keep going back to it in between new releases of other games. This is a turn based space conquest strategy game. MOO was good too. MOO3 is a bust. I have tried to play it but have never completed a MOO3 game. Have completed hundreds of MOO2 games. If you like turned based strategy, where you can wait and think between moves you'll like MOO2.