Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a game on an epic scale in every sense of the word. Both a world-building strategy sim and a turn-based tactical RPG, Planetfall offers a wealth of content to keep players engaged for a long time to come. While some initial commitment is needed to get past the learning curve, playing becomes smooth and intuitive within a couple of hours. Armchair generals with a penchant for lasers, robots and mysterious planets will find plenty to enjoy in this tremendously deep title.

A few minor flaws can't ruin this truly great game. Almost everything in Age of Wonders: Planetfall has been done perfectly. The futuristic world turned out great, the satirical atmosphere is refreshing, and the combination of the best parts of Civilization and XCOM resulted in such an addictive game that the developers should warn about it beforehand.

Despite a collection of minor technical issues, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is one of the best strategy games on any platform this year, console or otherwise, and weaves a compelling tapestry of play within every layer of its design, including tactical battles that are so good, they almost seem out of place in 4X. It may not entirely escape the colonialist trappings of its genre, but it manages to sneak in a thoughtful twist or two as it indulges in a delightfully weird sci-fi reverie.

The science fiction setting puts a compelling new spin on Age of Wonders: Planetfall, with a lengthy single player campaign and half a dozen contrasting factions to see rise from the ashes of the Star Union. There's some niggles I have on console, but this is easy to recommend if you're hankering for a new 4X strategy game.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall successfully brings a 4X title to consoles. The manual combat can slow things down too much and there's a learning curve to tackle, but the controls generally do the trick and there is so much content here for a solo player that you'll lose dozens of hours to it and still have much more to explore.

Planetfall offers a lot of content for fans of strategy gamers, as the amount of customization, options for growth, and routes to victory are staggering when all put together.

Alas, if you’re coming to Age of Wonders: Planetfall for a brand new angle on games you’ve played before, then you’ve come to the wrong place. It’s novel to see several different recognizable mechanics blended into one genre soup. The final product isn’t better than the sum of its parts, though. It makes the 4X a faster game to play, but not a better one, ultimately.