The Pegasus Expedition Is Colossal And Confusing Sci-Fi Grand Strategy

thegamer.com:

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” So said Oscar Wilde, and the quote also popped up in the corner of my loading screen as I turned on The Pegasus Expedition for the first time. I made a mental note to keep it in mind as I prepared to engage in a galactic war to conquer and colonise an entire universe, but by the end of my time with this 4X strategy game, it was I who was asking forgiveness.

Things started well enough, with the demo catapulting me some 25 turns in. I found myself at the head of an established space colony, spanning multiple systems and around a third of the known galaxy. Half remained unexplored, but my allies secured my borders, and things looked well. That was until I was made aware of a war. The war was over – it wasn’t clear whether you play through it in the full game or it just happens – but despite my forces winning, things hadn’t gone to plan. We’d accidentally killed the opposing Empress instead of capturing her, and many of our own troops had been caught in the planet-leveling blast. Despite the huge hole we’d made in the planet’s crust, I was free to begin colonising it.

Related: Starfield Needs To Make Sci-Fi Games Good Again

I was immediately thrown into making some decisions with my advisors. You know the situation: the pragmatic scientist, the level-headed diplomat, the racist war officer. I was thrown in at the deep end with little context, so I was quite relieved when every option I selected seemed to point me towards the same outcome. If this were a full playthrough, I’d be less impressed.

A few prompts taught me how to settle planets, and I built some research facilities and military bases on various moons. This aspect of the game, the colonisation, is far