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  • Publisher: Atari
  • Release Date: Feb 25, 2003
User Score
4.6 out of 10

Generally unfavorable- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 48
  2. Negative: 27 out of 48

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  1. Jim
    Sep 27, 2003
    6
    Wow, I member when AI was supposed to be your enemy not helping you out with every single action! with the AI who needs me to play at all, ill just watch. NEEDS MORE HUMAN CONTROL!!! moo2 the best so far. good concept though, I think the storyline is more interesting than the game-(unless the computer wants to read it to me)
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. JeffV.
    Dec 30, 2003
    5
    Could have been great, but too many problems. The manual is thick but doesn't have all of the important information and lacks an index; some irritating bugs still haven't been patched; logical problems with gameplay (like, it might take a colony ship 30 turns to reach a planet to colonize, but people can start migrating and will arrive the very next turn).
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. ChristopherP.
    Feb 16, 2007
    5
    What a complete waste of potential. What is good in this game--fun amount of complexity, detailed research tree, 16 races--is nearly completely ruined by problems that can't be ignored. Firstly, the 16 races are a joke, because the stats are not balanced at all. If you add up the stat points for each race, they're not balanced, sometimes to the point of extreme; for example, the Humans and Evons. The Evons are a humanoid race with stats that are vastly better than Humans, so the right way to go would be to customize the Evons, since customizing the Humans would be pointless. It gets worse: The enemy AI in this game is bad, really bad. Even after the newest patch, the AIs will completely randomly declare war on you without any provocation, even if you've boosted your diplomacy stat. The AI also very rarely makes an attack on you even if they do declare war, even on the higher difficulties. I also don't like at all that you have to redesign ships from scrap all manually with every military research you make. Ground combat is sort of cool, with more complexity and vast array of options such as allowing nuclear and chemical warfare, different tactics to make, etc (all of which is actually completely meaningless, because the manual nor the master's notes explains anything about the options you can take). The options "land troops" and "land all troops" when invading a planet make no sense. Even if you click "land troops," a few will invade, but the others just go into your reserves, so you have to make new transports. The emphasis on macromanaging could have been a good idea, and development plans are your friend, so the planetary AI isn't completely braindead. The game shows hints of genius with the vast complexity and emphasis on macromanaging that could work if not for the crippling problems it has. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 24
  2. Negative: 4 out of 24
  1. 20
    MOO3 collapses under the weight of its own ambitious design. We doubt this can be fixed in a patch. Gamers need not apply. Masochists, you're on your own.
  2. Sure, the gameplay is incredibly deep, but I wanted more emphasis on the military aspects of the game. [Apr 2003, p.95]
  3. If only your enemies displayed the same kind of intelligence, the game might be a lot more interesting - but in fact, the enemy AI in MOO3 is terrible, far worse than in the previous game in the series.