The introduction of machine empires has been a much-requested feature since the day Stellaris was first released. Paradox decided to take action, and the result is perhaps the most high-quality DLC for the game to date. You Will be Assimilated. Resistance is Futile.

Overall, as DLC goes, Synthetic Dawn is a great value for the money. You get a whole new species to work with, which isn't too unfamiliar to others already available, but it takes advantage of hive mind-like mechanics. The new traits, technologies and minute gameplay alterations make playing as synthetics unique and interesting, even if you already have more than 1,000 hours clocked.

In the end, Synthetic Dawn adds a good amount of content onto the core Stellaris game for a reasonably small investment. It doesn’t do everything perfectly and could use some mid-campaign meat, but the machine races certainly set themselves apart from their organic counterparts in a grand slew of ways that are fun to interact with and play. As usual in Stellaris, it’s even more fun to craft your custom robotic empire whether you’re looking to make a swarm of interstellar terminators or friendly galactic janitors, each with their own perks, weaknesses, and values. Synthetic Dawn is a beautiful fit to the already lush cosmos of Stellaris and its content will provide plenty of hours of content well worth exploring for the most part.

Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn Story Pack is a good DLC, but only for the Stellaris fans.