Into the Void (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 1.5 stars Poor
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 3.8 (1.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  T. McDonald
• Reviewed on: 04/08/1997
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 02/28/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: Into the Void (PC) Review

There are enough good space conquest games out there to fill a Babbages (Stars, Master of Orion, Emperor of the Fading Suns, Star Control 3, Spaceward Ho!, Deadlock, Star General); Adrenaline and Electric Moo, however, have decided to be unique and create one that is patently derivative, inferior, and confusing.

Well, at least it adds diversity.

Inevitably, when a style or genre heats up, the knock-offs aren't far behind, and that's pretty much all Into the Void is: an overblown attempt to tap a rich vein of player interest. It's flashy and often quite handsome, and some obvious programming talent went into making it look good. But no equivalent design talent went into actually creating the game content, and it is ultimately a flop.

The setup is so familiar it hardly bears repeating: A large universe is yours for the conquest as you explore and colonize planets, research technologies, build ships, fend off five other races, yadda yadda yadda - you know the drill.

Becoming emperor of the universe, by either military or economic conquest, has never been so tedious. ITV is built around the biggest "Huh?" gaming interface this side of Gary Grigsby's Pacific War. Making a good game wasn't enough for the folks at Electric Moo (great company name, by the way); they had to reinvent the wheel. The familiar, easily navigated, and readily understood starmap of similar games is replaced with a large, continuous, sprawling universe. It's quite lovely, and you can zoom in on planets and watch ships fly to their destinations. It's also so large and hard to navigate that it's totally impractical and unusable, leaving planetary management to a baffling set of pop-up interfaces.

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