Sins of a Solar Empire II
Battle for galactic dominance in this real-time 4X strategy game with unrivaled scale! You’ll explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate through military force, diplomacy, trade, culture, influence, and other underhanded tactics.
Sins of a Solar Empire II is a space, strategy and 4x game
developed by Stardock Entertainment and Ironclad Games Corporation
and published by Stardock Entertainment.
Released on August 15th 2024 is available only on Windows
in 12 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America and Hungarian.
It has received 6,150 reviews of which 5,313 were positive and 837 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.4 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 39.19€ on Steam and has a 20% discount.
The Steam community has classified Sins of a Solar Empire II into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Sins of a Solar Empire II through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 v1607+ / 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: 4-core Processor (Intel Core i5 5th-generation or AMD Ryzen 2x00 series)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 3D Video Card w/4GB VRAM (Nvidia GeForce 950 / AMD Radeon RX 450)
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 20 GB available space
- Additional Notes: 1920x1080 minimum screen resolution
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
This game fills a nice mix between those 20-30 minutes Starcraft 2 games and those 40+ hours stellaris campaigns. A match lasts roughly 2-3 hours with a big tech tree and fun maps and galaxies that rotate and keep longer games really fresh. The races feel different and have unique mechanics, which is nice. The giant space battles are pure eye-candy. Especially breathtaking were ships flying above each other and throwing the shadow onto the other one. Even after 3 hours with 3000+ ships in battle everything was smooth and there were no lags. The only minor complaints are that the tutorial is not voiced and that the HUD takes some getting used to (I still haven't found the icons for control groups, even though control groups work without issue). But overall it's very easy to control 10+ planets in seconds. There is no late game "*sigh, I don't wanna micromanage all those planets". It's as easy as in the first title and props for the devs for keeping it up! Most 4X games don't make that happen. Also day 1 MOD + LAN support is obviously amazing and kicks those tripple A title in the nuts. I recommend this big time.
Read more
Its SoaSE, but newer. Unlike a lot of sequels there wasn't a 're-imagining' or 'designed for modern audiences' going on here. If you played SoaSE before you will largely drop right in and that's a good thing. Ironclad knew what made the first great and expanded and improved on it. In a world of marketing focus groups, microtransactions, and e-sports chasing, SoaSE2 steps away from the pack. TL:DR if you liked the first you will almost certainly love this one. If you're a newcomer you're in for a treat.
Read more
Summary: It's rough around some edges, but overall I think Sins 2 has a very strong foundation to being a fantastic sequel to the original game. So some context to my history with this franchise. I bought this game back when you bought PC games inside physical stores. Back in 2008, I took my allowance money to the store and bought this game and it was a mesmerizing and beautiful time in my childhood. Several expansions came out which I wasn't able to play because I was too young to have a credit card and there were no physical copies. Several years later in February 2012, I managed to convince my parents to pre-order Rebellion on Stardock's website before it released and paid them back in cash. I remember downloading and playing the beta as the loyalist and rebel factions were released and was astounded with this. It was one of the first multiplayer games I played with my friends along with Minecraft. Anyways, I'll talk about what I see as the pros and cons of the game: Pros: 3D Graphics - Honestly, I was worried about the game requirements being too heavy for my 8 year old laptop, but it still runs pretty darn smooth. It's awe-inspiring to see the evolution in the models and texturing from the advancements between 2008 to now. Music - The music in Sins 1 was fantastic, and it follows it up in sins 2. I will say I wish the main menu music was a little more iconic like in Rebellion, but it's by no means bad. 64-bit Engine - This may seem like a weird pro, but I assure you it's very important. By Rebellion v1.9, the devs set the engine to be large address space aware which got it to a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. Due to age, Sins 1 got more unstable and could crash. The new engine should last for a long, long time. New mechanics - The fact that planets orbit now and create new phase lane connections over time is incredibly cool. The new additions of planet building slots and capital ship item slots adds a neat tactical touch and lets you specialize those. The new exotic resources and species unique economic mechanic (Trade for TEC, Unity for Advent, and Phase Manipulation for Vasari) helps reinforces the differences between each playable faction. Cons: Missing content - Many ships such as the 2nd faction corvettes, anti-structure ships, space mines, diplomatic ships and capital ships are not present from Sins: Rebellion. They may add this in the ship pack DLC, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about getting ships that used to be in the first game in a DLC instead of part of the base game. Lack of QoL - Auto-building space structures is weaker than it was in Sins 1. It used to build in a spread pattern which required enemies to spend time navigating around an orbital well to blow up structures. In sins 2 it builds in a clustered formation and will easily go down since they're all next to each other. This seems to be done to reinforce a new orbital structures mechanic (which itself is actually cool). While it can be useful to rotate all these away from phase lanes, I would still prefer the choice to switch between a clustered and spread auto-build function. Also, just being able to click into auto-build mode is no longer a thing (or at least I couldn't easily find it). Holding ctrl to auto-build is somewhat clunky to me. Settings - The settings are incredibly sparse. There's no way to change 3D model details or particles in case your computer is very old to make it run more smoothly (or want reduced particle effects). There's no ability to adjust resolution other than virtual fullscreen and resizable window which while neat, feels incredibly unconventional and difficult to get exact resolutions in situations that require them (e.g. streamers using OBS that want the game to run windowed at a specific resolution so they can use a standard layout while having screen space for other things). There's also no accessibility options (such as colorblind mode or the ability to turn off skyboxes and other visual elements which may be distracting to some) which feels behind the times and out of touch for a franchise of this size in 2024. To be honest, there's less options than Sins 1 so it's been especially noticeable. UI - By far the weakest part of the game. When it comes to strategy games especially RTS games, the UI design is incredibly important because the design needs to be efficient, clean and not be artistically dull. The good news is it's not artistically dull. The bad news is it's not always efficient or clean. Let me break this down. Take the planet interface in Sins 2. This is a UI widget I would describe as well put together. It has icons so once you've read the tooltip to what the icons mean, you can quickly associate them to what you need to do when you're rapidly trying to build an economy. Ships there, specializations there, slots over there. Bam, bam, bam. Quick and snappy. Good UI design. The research tree is what I would call a very mixed bag for UI design. Sometimes it's clear without using the tooltips to enlarge the picture what it is you're researching (e.g. crystal, shields, ships). Other times it's not clear. A lot of the icons have too much backgrounds in it, some of the art is reused in multiple places (which make it hard to quickly associate it to a specific research, since 1 art = multiple research choices, it's not memorable for it.) The design language is also all over the place. It feel very unfocused and some things have a lot going on in them and other things don't. Compared with Sins 1, where the research art was very clean and immediate at a glance to tell which research was what without expanding a full icon art, this one is quite frankly kind of a mess. Like the laser upgrades were easy to tell because it was a laser that got progressively bigger and changed colors as you went up in tiers. This one has a laser, a different laser, multiple different laser guns, and a laser gun firing a laser all in a prerequisite chain. Especially when it's at icon size, it can be very hard to tell what you're looking at. I won't argue about AI ethics here because there are a million other forums for that, but regardless of it being AI-generated or not, it simply isn't working to make the UI easier to navigate. Ship items and planet buildings art also suffer from this problem. I think simpler and more stylized icons would have sufficed for all of these. Closing: I hope that the devs will try to polish up on some of the rough edges as content is being released. I think this game will truly shine as a sequel once that happens. Looking forward to getting a campaign (something originally planned for sins 1 but cut) and the mysterious fourth faction answering 16 years of questions finally!
Read more
This is what a sequel should be. Everything from the original, on a modern engine for better performance and graphics, plus new features that mesh perfectly. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the original Sins of a Solar Empire, and, if not, here's an opportunity to get into a better version of that game :P.
Read more
If you enjoyed the original, you're going to love the sequel! Sins 1 was showing its age, being 16 years old, and was getting tough to run on modern systems along with missing some QoL from modern games. Sins 2 fixes all of this! The game feels almost identical to Sins 1 but with some serious build and automation improvements. I'm allergic to tedium so I noticed all of these: + Manage ALL planets from ONE screen. No more scrolling around to each planet to build stuff. + Build ships from the FLEET selection. Auto-selects the closest factory, builds the ship, and routes it to the fleet! + Capital ships auto-loot wrecks and artifacts (new to Sins 2). + Research can be queued from the research screen, eliminating the need to build-wait-build-wait. + Building something that requires research or exotic minerals (new to Sins 2) will automatically research the technology or refine the exotic mineral that you need. WOW! + Probably some more stuff I'm missing The tutorial is excellent and walks through all the above items. The graphics are crisp and smooth and run great on my machine. The only downside is the serious lack of graphics options configuration, but I'm confident those will come with time. The core game experience is top notch and extremely polished. Don't hesitate if you enjoyed Sins 1. Runs perfectly on Proton with no tweaks. Skip the launcher with the /nolauncher option.
Read more
Similar games
View all
Dune: Spice Wars
A 4X real-time strategy game from the developers of the critically acclaimed Northgard. Set in Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking Dune universe, you must lead your faction and battle for control and dominance over the harsh desert planet of Arrakis.
Hades' Star
A unique space strategy game where thousands of players participate in one shared galaxy.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity®
In Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity, you are the leader of a civilization embroiled in a galactic war, fighting for the survival of your entire race against relentless foes.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
A ground-based RTS prequel to the classic Homeworld games. Assemble your fleet and lead them to victory on the shifting sands of Kharak in this compelling strategy game for PC from Blackbird Interactive.
AI War: Fleet Command
"You are outgunned. You are massively outnumbered. You must win." These are your orders. Humanity has already fought its war against the machines -- and lost. AI death squads stand watch over every planet and every wormhole, the few remaining human settlements are held captive in orbiting bubbles, and the AIs have turned their...
STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack
Command or corrupt an entire galaxy in the definitive Star Wars strategy collection. It is a time of galactic civil war. Will you take up the reins of the Rebellion, assume control of the Empire, or rule the Star Wars Underworld?
Homeworld Remastered Collection
Experience the epic space strategy games that redefined the RTS genre. Control your fleet and build an armada across more than 30 single-player missions. Choose unit types, fleet formations and flight tactics for each strategic situation.
BattleGroupVR
BattleGroupVR is a first person real-time space strategy where you lead a fleet of powerful warships into battle from the bridge of your own flagship. Assemble your fleet, upgrade your load-outs, train your captains, engage the enemy and secure the sector. Try not to go down with the ship.
Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion
Command a space-faring empire in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, the new stand-alone expansion that combines 4X depth with real-time strategy gameplay.
Anno 2205™
In Anno 2205™, you join humankind‘s next step into the future with the promise to build a better tomorrow. You conquer Earth, establishing rich, bustling cities and grand industrial complexes, but to secure the prosperity of your people, you must travel into space.
Final Theory
Final Theory is a 4X-lite turn-based strategy game where you command fleets of battleships engaged in a galactic civil war. It presents an exciting experience for both veteran players and those new to the genre. It features innovative combat mechanics but also hearkens back to some of the classics.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates
| Steam data | 20 January 2025 00:36 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 17 January 2025 22:41 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:51 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 11:52 |
Online players
1,171
Developer
Stardock Entertainment,
Ironclad Games Corporation
Publisher
Stardock Entertainment
Release
15 Aug 2024
Platforms
By clicking on any of the links on this page and making a purchase,
you may help us earn a commission that supports the maintenance of our services.