Rating: 
Summary: So disappointed
Review: I was really looking forward to this when it came out - I'm still a huge fan of MoO2. The third MoO game, however, was a huge letdown. In trying to save the player from having to micromanage, the developers created a horrible AI that never doew what you want. Very frustrating, not worth buying or playing.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the worst game ever?
Review: That is, if you could even call it a game. Micromanagement hell is more like it. Mediocre graphics at best, hours upon hours need to be spent to learn how to navigate the controls, an AI that is mindbogglingly poor and all this on top of the long delays and poor support. I'm amazed it made it out the door. I'm amazed that the people who brought you MOO2 packaged this and sold it with a straight face. I really wanted to like this game, but it simply is no fun at all. You can either let the game play itself by hitting the end of turn button when you get bored of staring at the screen, or you can delve into a what quickly becomes a hell of micro-management. I've read most of the other negative reviews on here, and they all seem spot on. Read on for more details. I can only hope that someone else will save the genre.
Rating:
Summary: bigger is not better...
Review: I am a huge fan of Master of Orion series. The first two games were true gems. So what is truly wrong with the third one? Its simply too anal retentive. The micro-management you have to do with this game is simply overwhelming. The first two games were fun, easy to play and simple to get into. There was enough details to keep the interest but its not overwhelming. It was also entertaining, fun and quite addictive. However, playing MOO 3 seem to be more like work. Its not very fun to play, instead of being addictive, its a type of game where you want to take a break. While the basic concept of MOO3 remains the same as the earlier two games, the game designers didn't improved the game, they just made it harder.
The sad thing is, the overwhelming details that the designers inserted didn't make the game any better. There is no real reward for all these details. The game get really boring really quick. The designers just want you to micromanaged a growing galactic empire. A very tiresome and unexciting chore.
Most fans of MOO series would be deeply disappointed by this game. Its a game that will cater to the very few while droving most away.
Rating:
Summary: Back to moo2
Review: If anything this game got me reHooked on Master of Orion 2. This game just sits there and plays it's self and that makes it boring, very boring. Any chance we can get a Master of Orion 4 that is based on the aspects that made this line of games fun and popular instead of something new?
Rating: 
Summary: Trying to be fair on all aspecs of this title....
Review: Allow me to try and write a review based upon countless hours of play and analyzing the layout and structure. First, this is a 4x, DEEP strategy title. When first starting the game, leaving the help hints on and seriously reading them can help you better understand the workings. The manual; I use only to look up a reference if something is confusing me (a.k.a. what Casus Belle was). If you try to understand the game by reading it cover to cover you won't succeed. It takes TIME to understand how the game manages the A.I - and YES, you WILL be using the A.I. in LOTS of cases. The programmers wanted the gamer to feel like he's the leader/president/emperor of a galactic civilization, not a viceroy of a particular planet or solar system, therefor micro managing is definitely out of the question. Looking back over your systems from time to time to fine tune is what will get you ahead, not working out each detail of each planet each turn. Another part of the game - shipyard construction, can be very confusing if you don't know how each style of ship can be used. The only way to decide is to play, create ships, and see what happens. It's now second nature to me to create fleets and ship types, but it took many hours of understanding before I could finally do it `on the fly'. This review may sound cryptic, but really the only way to understand the game is to dedicate and play, with an open mind and a willingness to use your imagination. I personally believe that the A.I. could have been fine - tuned to balance ship and troop construction (It seems to build too much of a certain type). The game is slow, but consuming. I recommend it for anyone who loves deep strategy and has a willingness to learn. It could have been better though. Try to borrow or rent before you buy ^_^;;
Rating:
Summary: they really screwed this up
Review: i am coming at this from a moo2 perspective. i am a big fan of that game. when i initially purchases moo3 a year or more ago, i sat down and impatiently tried to learn the game. i only spent about an hour or less and i gave up. what was i missing? anyway, i chocked it up to not spending enough time to learn the game. i went back and had fun with moo2. recently, i sat down and spent another 3+ hours trying to learn moo3. i went through all of the guidance dialogs, read all of them.
the main problems are: the game has become too complex. you can automate almost anything, but there are so many things to control that's all you can do ... automate. so you are left with little to control. attempting to control most any aspect of your economy or war effort by hand will most certainly result in a failure, unless you are willing to spend hours per move.
also, there seemed to be some problem with the game AI. without going into details, after playing for a bit i seemed to come to a stalemate. i was hopelessly outgunned against an enemy that blocked my progress into the rest of the galaxy. he would not attack me, no matter what. i tried inciting him in all possible ways. i even tried to surrender to him, and he refused?!?? i threw everything i had at him and he just kept detroying my ships, but never came after me.
also, as the game got more complex, it too longer and longer for the computer to process its moves. it got so it was taking 20+ seconds on a 2ghz machine. annoying to say the least.
Rating:
Summary: Very pretty, but wholy unfair game
Review: Being a MOO fan, I was stoked when Moo2 came out. I bought it, played it, and fell in love with it.
Then Moo 3 comes out. "AWSOME! I'M THERE!" was my thinking. Ohh would I ever be disappointed! The micromanagment that I so enjoyed from Moo2 is gone. The AI builds EVERYTHING now, and it's such a klunky interface (albeit a very pretty one) that it litterally took me TWO DAYS to figure out how to design and build custom ships.
Now add in that the stupid AI always builds things that are not going to help you advance. The game MIGHT have been playable if there was a way to disable the AI. But you cann't. You can override it, but that's it.
Now take into account the fact that the game makers decided to remove what was one of my favorite items, the combats between vast numbers of ships. Which would not have been so bad if they had done it to ALL. But the people who now inhabit the planet Orion (namely the "new orions") can have hundreds of tiny tiny ships (about the size of a single person fighter craft) in combat, while you are limited to 60 ships of any size, and you will soon find it virtually impossible to reach orion!
Then consider how long it now takes to build ships of any decent size. In moo2 it might very well take as many turns to build a powerfull ship on a poor planet. But it would only take like 10 turns on a ultra rich planet with all the upgrades (core waste dump, deep core mines, automated factories, etc...)
And it's hard to get the most out of your planets because now you need to control the type of industrial buildings that get built on the planet, and each planet has multiple regions of various types. Ok, that would work if sufficent information was given about the various types of regions. Sure a fertile area is best for an agricultural building, but what about "hard scrabble"? Only about one in three or four types are intuitive.
Now add in the horrible system with which your relations with other races are managed, and the fact that each parent race has 3-4 "child" races, which means that you could potentiall have multiple "Klackon" or multiple "Psilon" type races in the game.
And finally add a users manual that really doesn't help much. Don't get me wrong. I love a manual with a story. I absolutely ADORE the Homeworld 1 manual beause of the story of the people from Karak. But the manual for Homeworld is only 1/2 story and 1/2 manual. The MOO3 manual is about 90% story. Which again would not be TOO bad if it was Story up front and manual in back or the other way around. But it's not. Moo3's manual is Story + little but of manual + story + little bit of manual, etc... so if you are not absolutely ENTHRALED by the story (which I was not), you wind up not being able to read the manual!
Over all, I have to say that QuickSilver really did a HUGE Dis-service to the game's name sake. My honest recomendation to ANYONE who wants to look into getting this game: SAVE YOUR MONEY! This Game MIGHT be worth GIVING AWAY, but I would not pay $5.00US for it.
Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming yet disappointing and dated
Review: The main problem with this game is that despite the graphical updates and some gameplay tweaks it just feels over 5 years out of date. The amount of micromanagement you can do is astounding. If you are a control freak and like to count grains of sand on a beach, then this is the game for you. For the rest of us mere mortals, the management detail required to really get the most out of this game is just WAY TOO MUCH. The manual is not only worthless, it is a complete waste of time to read it (140 pgs plus) as it tells you absolutely nothing that you can discern just by looking at the various in-game screen interfaces. I don't really need a manual that tells me the Unload All Ordinance button means you unload all of your ordinance (140+ pages of stupid drivel like that). Updates from the previous game include real-time space combat. On the surface this would seem great, however the graphics aren't even as good as an old Asteroids arcade game and the interface is limited to Move, Attack, Stop, and Retreat. What astonished me was the additional levels of complexity added to the strategy aspect of the game. MOO2 had copious, if not excessive, micromanagement tasks. MOO3 has increased the level of micromanagement detail by a factor of 10. For diehard fans of MOO2, this is probably fantastic. However, for the vast majority, it renders the game incomprehensible. Yes, you can opt to switch on the AI and let the computer management the detail stuff but you may soon find yourself just pushing the turn button to watch the computer play itself - where is the fun in that?This game takes what made MOO2 successful and expanded upon that - greatly. Normally this would be a good idea, however in MOO3's case it is so complex, most people new to the game will find it like trying to decipher an encyclopedia written in a foreign language. In fact, I would warn anybody that hasn't played MOO2 to shy away from MOO3 - you are likely getting in over your head. For people who are extremely detail oriented and controlling this may be the game for you. For the rest of us, you are better off getting an old copy of MOO2 and trying it out first. If you don't like it, you certainly aren't going to like MOO3.
Rating:
Summary: A graphically beautiful slog
Review: ...with a wonderful backstory. And boring gameplay. Such a shame.
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