So what else does cooperative play offer in Sins? You can trade map locations and ping important events to other players. You can gift or trade metal, crystal and gold as well as utilize trade routes through friendly star systems. But the real joy of the co-op play is coordinating attacks on rivals. There's nothing more exhilarating than watching hundreds of little ship icons jump and converge on one planet only to be greeted by a massive enemy fleet - and a star base. You can even take up roles, having one player concentrate solely on civic and economic upgrades to pump money to the other player(s).
Sins does an excellent job of managing itself while you are away taking care of other business around your space empire. Ships will auto-cast special attacks, maneuver away from danger, and repair fellow ships and structures if they are capable. In some of the larger maps, when you have seven or eight planets, this isn't only nice to have - it's basically necessary.
There were numerous times I found myself in a battle with what seemed like thousands of ships, ranging in size from Capital Ships down to tiny squadron fighters. Planets can be defended by space turrets, and with the Entrenchment expansion - Starbases. These giant structures are actually mobile and take an impressive display of strategy and firepower to bring down. Almost every ship in Sins is upgradable and customizable providing an even deeper experience.
Above and beyond all that's packed with the game there's still a ton of user content including maps, replays, and mods. Sins of a Solar Empire with the Entrenchment Expansion is only the beginning of this game. I firmly believe this game gives JRPGs a run for their money in terms of a time / value ratio.
Sins of a Solar Empire isn't a game for everyone. It's incredibly deep and slow moving nature make it something of burden for some folks. But if you take the time to learn the game, and give a full scenario a shot - I think you'll see Sins is a game like no other out there. Why rule the world, when you can rule the galaxy?
Verdict
Co-Op Score
The Co-Op Experience: Choose from a wide range of scenarios to complete. Each scenario ranges in size and the number of players it supports. Technically you can't drop in, but you can drop out at any time and have the AI take over. Players can work together to conquer enemy AI, utilizing interface tools for communication and collaboration.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.