Solar 2 Review (PC)

That awkward moment when the universe

hurls 40 missiles at you because it's bored.

Solar 2
 

A planet with some astroids floating around it.

So, Solar 2 is based around going from an astroid to a black hole. You start out as an astroid just flying around the 2D universe, and ramming into other astroids to gain mass. Mass is the number that represents your stage of absorbing the universe. Your first astroid is has a mass of 2, and you can go all the way up to 100,000. Eventually you can gain enough mass that you become a planet, and get astroids to orbit you, then "absorbing" them, also gaining you more mass. Eventually, you will get enough mass that life will begin to grow on your planet. This takes about a minute, and then little green spaceships will protect you, and you'll get a shield blocking you from damage. Eventually, you'll absorb enough astroids that you become a star.

An example of a Dual Star system.

As a star, you can get planets to orbit you, and then get astroids to orbit the planets. This becomes a huge multi-task, forcing you to manage your star, your planets, and your astroids, and stop them from ramming into larger objects. For some people this may be a challenging fun task, but for others it can just be frustrating. Eventually, you can get your orbiting planets to absorb the astroids that are orbiting them, thus giving them more mass, then you can absorb that planet with your star. Lost yet? Well, it gets more confusing. If a planet gains enough mass without your star absorbing it, it will turn into a star, thus turning your star system into a multistar system. This gets even more confusing. Eventually, you will make one of your stars absorb enough planets, to the point that their mass goes above 10,000. You then reach the black hole stage. You can absorb anything except a larger black hole. I will admit, it in INCREDIBLY fun to watch everything in the universe be hopelessly sucked toward you. So, everything you absorb gives you even MORE mass, untill you reach the maximum of 100,000, thus making you absorb the universe, then spitting it out in a universal puke known as "The Big Crunch". You then restart the cycle as an astroid.


This may sound like a pointless an unrewarding cycle, but there are these missions for every stage. For example, you could have a mission as an astroid to ram into a planet full of skunks. Or maybe your planet could go to war with another planet? Who knows. These missions are guided by a god-like figure, who seems a bit like a certain female witty android we know from another game series...



A black hole.

So, these missions seem fun for the first few minutes, but eventually they seem very pointless, and infuriating. They might ask you to go to war with another star system without teaching you a thing about combat, or you could accidentally accept one and have your precious astroid hopelessly demolished by a angry mob of space nomads. The missions also have no reward, making the whole game seem very pointless after you finish your first big crunch.

Overall, the game is a very interesting concept. Depending on your ability to multi-task, this game can be an incredibly fun challenge, or just an infuriating game of rage.


Game Rating: 8.5 Fun, depending on your ability to multi-task.
What it costs: $9.99
What it's worth: $5.00