The usual sales that Matrix Games does on the holiday season have just started and will be up until January 14, 2013.
Distant Worlds: Legends is Matrix’s flagship space 4X game, but it’s also quite expensive, since you have to buy the base game and the two available expansions in order to play. So, these once or twice a year sales periods from Matrix are always a good opportunity to get the entire Distant Worlds series at reduced price. Note that these games aren’t available anywhere else but at the Matrix Game’s store.
Return of the Shakturi and Legends, the first and second expansion packs to Distant Worlds, are selling now with a 36% discount (at least the download versions), while the base Distant Worlds game (required to play) is at 35% off.
Distant Worlds: Legends received one of the best scores ever given in SpaceSector.com (9.4/10) and is, no doubt in my mind, the best space strategy 4X gaming experience of recent years, and definitely on my top 3 of all time. However, if you’re going to buy a Distant Worlds game I don’t recommend you buy the base game only. You really need to get the two expansions to get a top quality product, although buying only up to Return of the Shakturi already offers you a good experience.
As announced also today, the third expansion (Distant Worlds: Shadows) will not be released this year (current ETA is Q1 2013). But, in any case, Matrix doesn’t seem inclined to bundle it with the previous expansions, at least not when Shadows releases as it seems. So, if you’re thinking in acquiring Shadows you’re still going to need to have the Legends expansion, and this sale is a good opportunity to get the all thing at a lower price.
If you still have doubts if this may be the perfect 4X game to offer yourself or to others this year check out our Distant Worlds: Legends review.
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Maybe I’m missing something with these games. I just couldn’t get in to them. Meanwhile, Stardrive has me by the proverbial throat and won’t let go. I know the games are rather similar, but SD’s diplomacy is where I feel it beats out DW. Or did I not get in to DW deep enough?
Either way, SD’s diplomacy screens/flavor text are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Really helps to draw me in…
I agree with you on StarDrive’s diplomacy screen. Dan was wise to capture that MoO2’s feel when you interact with the alien races. It’s beautiful and dynamic and really helps with immersion.
great! must spread the word for those who have it not yet.
looking forward to the expansion.
Keep an eye on StarDrive, it´s a really good competitor and the base game is much smoother and better ( and a lot more polished ) than DWs base game.
Anyways, 4x (+a bit rts) fans will and have to buy both : )
Finally, that game never goes on sale and is really expensive. I always wanted to get it but the price tag was to much for my taste, besides 36 % is not that much.
Although after watching more indepth gameplay the game did not appeal to me, it looks to cluttered and complicated to me. The Interface is horrible as far as I can tell.
Distant World’s base game UI was horrible. DW:Legends UI is decent and appropriate for this sort of game, and it gives you all the control you need. The UI is really not a problem anymore. Not the best, but close.
Unless I’m missing something, Matrix’s online store (Plimus) isn’t calculating the sale price: boxed versions of each game totaled over $100 with shipping and tax (DW $36, DW-RS $26, and DW-L $26). However, if that reflects the sale, the price is outrageous. It may be a good game, but at those prices I can’t justify the purchase, particularly with so many other games out there I’ve been flirting with.
Incidentally, I’m very hesitant to use the cheaper digital download option: the download isn’t persistent like Steam and Game Stop, so you lose your purchase if your hard-drive crashes or you buy a new computer.
I’ve got a couple games from smaller publishers that didn’t offer persistent downloads. I just backed the downloads up to a DVD and an external drive. The download only version is reasonable at around $57.00 (in the US).
It looks a lot like Sins of a Solar Empire to me. Does it play similarly to that game?
@AlienJD, in a very simpel explanation: Sins is very much a traditional RTS played on a very large map (multiple planets and such). While Distant Worlds is very much a space 4x game, only instead of being turn based, time passes continuously (real time) which you can increase in speed, decrease in speed and pause, like in the Imperium Galactica series. The real time aspect makes people think it is like Sins but it is not.
Cool. Thanks. I watched a couple let’s plays with people playing for the first time and they approached it more like an RTS. I didn’t finish those let’s plays but I’m guessing their empires did not fair well :).
I loved the Imperium Galactica series and am hoping against hope for a GOG release.
It’s probably more like a Space Europa Universalis game or something than Sins. It’s a hardcore grand strategy game but real-time instead of TB.
Unlike Steam, Matrix doesn’t infect your computer with spyware. Given the data-snooping issues with Steam, I’m happy to pay a little more to ensure my privacy.
And before you claim to have perpetual access to your Steam purchases, I STRONGLY suggest you Google “NeoGAF” and read on his problems with Steam. You could very well lose access to all your Steam purchases for complaining on Steam forums.
My bad – NeoGAF broke the story. The account dispute was with Gimperial, who lost over $1000 of Steam purchases for “unspecified TOS infractions”.
Steam can remove your access to any and all your Steam purchases and they do not seem to feel obliged to give you a reason. Your only recourse, in a dispute of this sort, is to sue them.
With Matrix, no matter what, my purchase will always work. You cannot say that of Steam.
I ask you, which is the “safer” purchase?
I’ve been a Steam subscriber for many years. Originally, I received a Steam key for Half-Life 2 with an AMD processor. I never finished the game. A couple years and a couple processors later, I decided to see if my Steam subscription, and the Half-Life 2 download, was still valid. To my delight I was able to re-download HL2 and complete the game. I subsequently downloaded (and completed) all the HL 2 DLCs.
I’ve downloaded dozens of games from Steam with no problems to date. Obviously, your experience may vary. On the other hand, I have horrible tales to tell about purchases from Digital River, Direct 2 Drive and similar services.
I’ll take my chances with Steam.
Jeff, I remember reading somewhere in the Matrix’s forums (sorry, can’t remember the thread) that Matrix people would support you in case you lose your download build. You are given a serial key when you purchase a game, and I’m positive that you can contact them with that key explaining that you lost your build for whatever reason and they would let you re-download again. This at least is my impression of what would happen in that case, and what you can do about it.
\edit: In fact, now I remember that you have all the links available for all the games you download (and corresponding patches) in your Matrix account. I think you just need to register an account with Matrix and register your games. You can also request serials from there in case you lost them. However, I have press copies, so I’m not sure if this applies to everyone, maybe someone else can confirm this.
Yes, I can confirm this.
If you log in to the account you have a link to your downloads. Sometimes they are not available any more, but a mail to the support fixes that issue.
However, IMHO, there is no need for that! Matrix lets you download the exe file! I just store it on my hard drive, but you could also burn it on CD or whatever. You never need to bother with the account any more, if you do not want to.
I have a folder, where all original setup files and the patches are stored.
Finally, a discount! How much would distant worlds and all the expansions cost with the discount in place?
Return of the Shakturi Download £10.99
Distant Worlds Download £17.99
Distant Worlds – Legends Download £10.68
VAT 20.0%: £7.93
Total: £47.59
download edition
Just had my first win in Distant Worlds where I somehow managed to win without going to war even once! How cool is that? I did it with a lot of diplomatic and covert actions, a few proxy wars, launching a couple of punitive raids, and of course a peace through strength approach by having strong trade, science, and a viable military. You would never be able to get away with that in Civilization. ;o) Distant Worlds really is a gem.