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The gameplay mechanics in 'SoaSE' strike a healthy balance that not only promotes simplicity but also allows total control over your fleet at any one time. Even if you are overseeing proceedings for three different galaxies at the same time! The game flows along at a steady pace to allow you time to plan out your moves yet proceedings never become dull. Decisions are always having to be made – be it which planet to colonise or attack next, or which current installations will you have to sacrifice in order to have the scant resources available to expand. In order to help manage things on such a scale the user interface would have to be something special. Luckily, it is.

When you start using the 'SoaSE' toolbars you wonder why game developers hadn't come up with an interface like this before now. On the left of the screen you have an overview of all of your current ships and structures that can be managed from one area giving you a detailed overview of their status and at the same time allow you to jump to any unit with a mere click of the mouse. The toolbar at the base of the screen gives you an overview of any currently selected unit plus any actions said unit can carry out including forming squads, building further ships and/or structures or simply attacking hostile units. The toolbar at the top of the screen is used to notify you of your accumulated resources and current research status. As you can see from the screenshot that shows these toolbars on screen they are never intrusive and still allow you to view the proceedings unhindered. Most of the game can be played via the left-click of the mouse, but RTS purists will still have their familiar keyboard shortcuts to use if they so wish.

There are plenty of options to expand your influence without bloodshed for the more peaceful players amongst you and this comes in the form of the Imperial research options. By investing in your planets' economies you can accelerate their growth, increase their monetary output and resistance to outside influence and also stop them becoming dissatisfied with the way your are running things and overthrowing the government! This has the knock on effect of widening your sphere of influence to neighbouring sectors making it easier for you to influence alliances or take over occupied space. You will still need military might to secure new outposts, but your Imperial influence will certainly help to sway things in your favour

The single play mode against the computer seems to serve as practice for what could be one of the most tactical multiplayer modes in the RTS genre. In the single player mode you are having to constantly manage your resources, forge alliances and defend your own interests against the computer. Now imagine having to do this against a living, breathing opponent. Exciting prospect, don't you think? Unfortunately, I was unable to fully test what the game's multiplayer options had to offer, but if it is anything like the experience in single-player mode then there will be a lot of fun to be had. Just put aside a whole afternoon before you challenge anyone to a game or you may never actually finish a whole match. Unless of course you play me and manage to beat me without much effort...

Visually 'SoaSE' is a feast for the eyes. At the closest possible angle you are able to see just how much detail has gone into each of the ship's models and animations. Pull back slightly and you are easily able to view whole fleets of ships (which is impressive enough on its own), but put these ships into a battle and the graphics on show are just jaw dropping. Pull the view back even more and you are presented with an ad-hoc star map showing the current system's planets and strategic points. The transition from the midst of a heated battle to the solar system overview is not only almost instantaneous, it is also fluid without any stuttering. Essential when you are having to manage on a galactic scale.

'Sins of a Solar Empire' already has user created maps, mods and development kit available on its website so support for the game is strong from the outset and the future looks very bright indeed. There is no question that the game can easily incorporate several expansions and such expansions should be expected if the game does as well as it should. An absolute must for both strategy junkies and well worth a look for gamers that would never normally consider RTS games.