I always keep raving on about how turn-based strategy games are the best thing to happen to gaming. That “one more turn” mentality which keeps you hooked on to the game just like you would be hooked on to a slot machine if you had enough money. Sometimes, however, a game takes it too far. When this happens, the one more turn mentality changes to “Damn, how many more turns?”, and the gameplay tends to drag along. Pax Nova falls into the same trap sometimes. How you ask? Well, let’s find out.
Pax Nova is a turn-based 4X strategy game developed by Grey Wolf Entertainment and published by Iceberg Interactive. It was released on Steam as an Early Access title on the 9th of May, 2019.
Story and Narrative
Like most 4X games, this one doesn’t have an overarching story, but I’m not going to hold that against the game, because for this genre, story focussed gameplay is severely limiting. You generally make your own stories as the game progresses.
The premise of the game is that humans have destroyed themselves through pollution and war, and Earth is uninhabitable. So, people leave Earth to a new planet called Eos. This planet is already inhabited by 2 other races (and countless others that you can create on your own, but I digress), and they directly compete with you throughout the game.
Without any customization, the base game has a large variety of factions to choose from, among these races. Each faction has it’s own signature traits and abilities, which make the game feel fresh on each playthrough.
Gameplay & Mechanics
This is a 4X strategy game, and it feels like a mix of Endless Space and Endless Legend. In fact, the scope of Pax Nova is basically the same as both of those combined. You start off on a planet, colonize it, and move on to a different galaxy, where your previous planet is essentially just providing you with fodder. This is a unique perspective, and is a fresh spin on the classic civilization mechanic.
In your turn, you can either build up your city or assemble an army. Just like the factions, essentially all the units are customizable to your liking. Whether it’s infantry or vehicles, you can mix and match different weapons to give your soldiers that unique feel.
Just like Civ 6 or Endless Legend, your city is supposed to be spread across interconnected districts, each doing their individual thing. Planning the perfect location of each district is part of the charm of such mechanics, and is an enjoyable addition. Also unique to this game is the ability to pass edicts for a bunch of active/passive effects that alter gameplay and increase your connection to your faction. There’s also a “paths” system that feels similar to a mechanic in Endless Legend, but it could be a bit more fleshed out. It feels a bit tacked on.
On the world map, you’ll encounter other civilizations. If you’re not the same faction, you’ll need to learn their language to communicate effectively (except declaring war). This is an interesting concept, one I very much enjoyed. However, diplomacy is a huge letdown. The AI randomly declare war for no rhyme or reason and won’t accept deals even when they’re perfectly balanced. It could use some work.
So I’d mentioned that the game feels a bit of a drag. The reason is, the way the game is paced seems…… a bit off. It’s strange. For most of my playthrough, I was clicking on the end turn button and waiting for something to happen. Building times are ridiculously long. When building times are more than the time it takes for some of the research in this game, something’s wrong. Most of your game is literally spent waiting for something interesting to happen, and this made me bored with the game very quickly. This, however, can be fixed. I hope the devs take care of this because it’s by far the worst aspect of the game at this point.
Combat, however, is VERY satisfying in this game. At least in the basic sense, it works as advertised, and you have all the necessary information to decide whether to fight or retreat. The one point of contention for me, however, is tactics. PLEASE. ADD. FLANKING. The variety in terrain is the perfect set up for adding such tactical mechanics into the game. It’ll make combat a lot fresher and more interesting.
There are a lot more secrets to uncover in this game from ruins to alien nests. They’re rewarding to find, and the radiant quests make it a nice change from the monotony of clicking the end turn button. There’s also a solid “tutorial” that pops up on screen to explain the intricacies of the game
Visuals & Sound
The graphics are a major plus point of the game. It looks and plays gorgeously. The framerate is solid and the buildings and characters models look crisp. It’s a joy to play. The text is slightly blurred at places, which is annoying at times, but nothing that will affect gameplay a lot.
However, the city management screen could have been better. There’s a lot of overlays, and it becomes hard to understand what’s what. It would also be prudent here to mention that city management is barebones, and there isn’t much in the way of organizing it how you want, like in Civ games.
The music in the game is a treat. Pure and simple. From the sound effects of LASER weapons to the soundtrack, they’re all amazing. A win from me.
Final Impressions
Pax Nova is a unique fusion of the Civilization games with the likes of Stellaris, a combination of Endless Legend and Endless Space, and brings a fresh, new recipe to the table. For an early access game, it’s very well polished and plays smoothly. If the few chinks I’ve mentioned are sorted out, it has the potential to be a benchmark galactic 4X game, boldly going where no game has gone before (Yep.). I’d say give it a spin if you can since it’s running at a 10% discount, and can be had for ₹512.
