Nova Empire: Space Wars MMO Reviews

by Crashlander

This game has excellent graphics. However, opportunities for advancement is extremely limited. Chances of creating your own alliance is almost non-existent since 1) either all the star systems are occupied or 2) in the off chance that you do find an unoccupied star and build an alliance, there is no chance your alliance will survive and not be attacked by far stronger ones who’s been playing a while. Other games limit attacks to players roughly at the same level so there’s a fighting chance. In Nova, an mega alliance 10 times the strength of your alliance and players 100times stronger freely attack newbies. Where is the fun, challenge or fairness in that?

That gives the strong players and the strong alliances incredible arrogance to send threatening hate mail because they know they can send 1 cruiser and basically kill your whole fleet.

This makes the game extremely limited in scope. It encourages a bullying culture. There’s no opportunity to grow. Once you’re over the superb graphics, the unequal balance of strength between players/alliances makes this game a big yawn. I’m deleting

by Joffs69

To anyone considering this game: don’t start playing now unless you can handle serious disappointment after committing a lot of time and money. The game is fun and addictive and in terms of game play it’s rewarding, but the reality is that the developers are super-greedy in terms of in-app purchase costs and do not invest money back into hardware. It takes months and months to build up your fleet in preparation for the major events that form the basis of the game, and then you lose everything in seconds thanks to server crashes, bugs, glitches and completely bizarre stuff. Do not expect fair compensation either - the devs just don’t care to say the least. To put it into perspective, you can lose a single fleet comprising hundreds or dozens of ships that takes weeks or months of collecting resources in just seconds and you might be compensated with an item which can’t even complete the building of 1 ship. Great game ruined by greed and a “can’t care” attitude - and unfortunately people are quitting daily thanks to these major issues in game play and support.

by Eszette

I started playing and joined an alliance. The graphics and play style were really fun. My alliance was full of active players who worked together and had a positive experience building our alliance and making friends. Then a whale started another alliance, and convinced toxic players to join. These players spent big cash to out develop everyone else on the server, and their play style involved constantly smashing other alliances and mercilessly farming any players that were not in their alliance. We could do nothing to avoid or stop them.

So we decided to jump to another server for a new start. We abandoned our old accounts and started over, building a new alliance, even spending some cash to get back to where we had been. And then an alliance with the same MO came after us, only this time they liked to harass us with words in addition to their actions. That was the final straw. Most of our alliance members quit playing, myself included.

It’s sad, the game is really fun aside from the OP toxic players who completely ruin it. Maybe if a system to prevent this kind of harassment were in place I might consider playing again, but the whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth.

by Careless6256

I downloaded but honestly never even played this game. The reason being after reading some of the reviews from other people. Who described the game as something I would probably enjoy enough to give it a more than one star. It was the negative comments from other players that mentioned how it’s unfair because developers are favoring Chinese players who also had been cheating and what not. Along with the racial profanity and unbalanced servers that made it unenjoyable even if u did spend money. They described this game as leaving you feeling like u just threw your money away because of the lack of reward or whatever. It was all of the negative comments that I absolutely could relate to from when playing some other games in the AppStore, made me feel like this isn’t really worth my time or money(I mean besides taking to write this review). Having done so, I hope the developers get the message that if they ignore even a few of their patrons, it can effect them in a way like this. Wanna say thanks to everyone for participating in the reviews here(even 4 and 5 star ratings) it really gave the message that even a good game isn’t worth the frustration of dealing with afterwards.

by Tzotzcoatl

The same thing happened to me and other players. I am glad that _balefire_ spoke up and reviewed, I was going to update but then I remembered why I stopped playing for a month after dedicating gameplay every day for at least 2hrs! I kept being attacked and verbally harassed by these mega clans. For example, on one of the attacks they attacked me for 4days straight and as soon as I was able to rebuild the same clan attacked again, and sent other mega clans to attack me. So I thought since I’m not strong enough and don’t have enough money to upgrade I will move to another more peaceful galaxy. The games system doesn’t allow that. Only once in the games life time. So I kept moving systems and they kept following me. I did a report and they did not answer until a week later after the attacks where done, and they said that my best option would be to report them and I did just that and still no changes. So I message the clan and they said that I was “in there way.” How can that be if they’re the ones following me? So in conclusion I will try the new update and see what has changed since then. Thanks _balefire_

by _Balefire_

When I started playing this game I was extremely impressed by the graphics and simplicity of the game play. As time went on however I created my own alliance, recruited members and that’s when this game changed. Other lager and infinitely stronger clans began consistently attacking us and sending threatening messages to me and my members. There is no system in place that prevents harassment from other players. Just when my station gets rebuilt after an attack and I regain some strength to begin playing the game, someone else comes in and resets me. These mega groups will attack you for no reason regardless if your just trying to peacefully explore or gather resources, destroy pirates etc. They control massive areas and restrict passage through there systems. It’s almost impossible to actually play this game as it’s intended, unless you spend vast sums of money or join one of these mega clans if they let you. If your looking for a frustrating and toxic experience then play this game. It’s very disappointing because this game has so much potential. If the developers read this, please implement a check and balance system that allow small alliances to grow and develop without being constantly bullied. I am all for competition but there needs to be something that keeps the community in check especially when it comes to communication that is filled with profanity and hostile threats. Other games do this.

by HS058

I downloaded this game a while ago and have played through multiple servers. I enjoyed it at first but a fatal flaw has arose that needs to be looked at, several if you think about it. If you join a new system to late already there’s some alliances that have been established and have come up with the idea of “galaxy domination” these alliances demolish other players consistently and ruin the game. They force players to play by their rules and not how the game was intended. I would not complain without a solution however. If you want to fix this I suggest removing the alliance controlled space function and randomly scattering everybody. They should still be able to move together if they wish however they will not be able to actively control systems and dictate just who gets to really play the game. Also something else that needs to be looked at are the people who actively post that they are trying to hack another’s account. This a more recent thing that I have seen and also needs to be addressed.

by Lunanoctus

Honestly the game for the most part seems fair enough. But there is a lot they don’t tell or teach. The “major” guilds are very toxic and threaten players to submit to their alliance or be constantly attacked. The “safe zones” where you start out can be taken over making you an easily meal for these toxic guilds. Also even in safe zones if you fight the npc pirate fleets they will take advantage of this and use it as an opening to destroying anything you have worked to earn. Having built up enough power to defeat elite pirates to help get better upgrades means nothing when they can use that opportunity to destroy your your 10k fleet power with over 6 fleets over 300k power each. And the harassment from the toxic guilds does not go away unless you give in and join them.
There is also no safe guards to prevent constant player harassment or abuse of your base. They can constantly attack until you have no more materials or ships left to do anything and must rely on either spending real money for protection from constant harassment. And once all you materials are gone you’ll need to wait for free supplies which are small and pitiful or spend more money.

by Rosoven

Pros: Nova is a good game in its community, There’s a lot to go down with cooperation, planning, warring, and strategy in general. The aspect of building ships with many different resources and dominating your opponents through these aspects is something touched upon in a unique way by Gamebear. The graphics are good, and the unique pvp events add a level of fun to the game that’s worth experiencing.

Cons: In gameplay, there’s quite a lot of glitches and bugs that can cost you many ships and much effort. The lag commonly caused by galaxy wars sometimes has players lose entire fleets from not being able to retreat. On top of that, many essential items to getting better ships and admirals are locked behind a large paywall. Over time, this game has gotten way too pay to win. If you do not spend a lot, and I mean A LOT of money, there’s simply no way to compete with large spenders. Just one year ago, it was that spending was an option to get cool stuff quicker. Now spending is a necessity to getting cool stuff in time. If you are a nonspender, by the time you get the cool stuff that was released, you will still be way behind the people who spent money to get that cool stuff.

TLDR, Great in graphics, strategy, and community, terrible in its lag, bugs, and pay to win organization.

by Killer_Bots

I joined b/c of all the fun my friends were having. The only down side is that b/c they’re in a different Galaxy, I cannot switch galaxies/servers. Which is the only reason I downloaded this game in the 1st place. Game is challenging at times, but if you can’t have battles with friends or join their alliance it is pretty waste of time. And (time) is one thing that this games takes a lot of time to accomplish. I heard that just to build a level 6 station takes 6 actual months to build unless your part of an alliance. And if someone in the alliance doesn’t like you you can get booted or kicked out for no apparent reasons. One minute you’re part of an alliance the next minute you’re on your own getting attacked by the same alliance you once were part of. Crazy game play. Just jumping to safe zones are almost impossible when the Galaxy you’re in is completely full and then there’s no place to go for safe harbor. So you can build your station back up and replenish your resources and ships.

by ConchRadioDiscord

Overall the game I would have to say is good, but it fails in some areas where it desperately needs to succeed whilst having a Stellaris esc feel. First of all, the galaxies in game feel so small and you can scroll out the map until it’s almost pitch black. Second of all, the game has issues with alliances such as dismantling the HQ and a need for trading plus allying between alliances. Issues as well with bigger factions being able to take down smaller ones instantly as soon as they form. The lack of an ability to have different accounts for each separate Galaxy while making sense kind ruins it a little. Overall if these issues plus the amount of loading errors, translation issues, and some smaller things like the AI and the tutorial need fixing. Things this game needs are stuff like Faction enemies attacking your fleets and such which would give a feeling as if they were actual enemies, like say if they had space stations which you could destroy. Small things like this would make the game feel so much more unique overall.

by Blahchickaahola

Graphics are incredible and the mapping of the solar system is insane, but it needs more planets and more mining. Gameplay is slow enough to lose interest in it. It needs more levels to building, higher space stations than lvl6. If they could go up to 24-30 lvls and deeper customization of ships or space stations would make the game more popular. I dropped money on the stater pack which helped improve the gameplay but it could use a system of trading with other players. Improving the profile selection of players, alliance members, trading with players, friend list, better messaging system. ALSO THE SCANS STOP THE PACE OF THE GAME. There is very little action that goes on. It needs pirates to attack players, more often. Scans keep stories or missions apart if you run out of them and it shouldn’t be limited. If anything have space travel take more time. 1min->5min. The game lacks action but the concept is extraordinary. I hope to see what they have in the future.

by Sheldrix

I was genuinely pleasantly surprised at how detailed this game is. Most mobile games can’t hold my attention for more than five minutes, but this one has managed to keep me around for a week so far. It can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, and it feels overly simplistic as well (not enough features). I get the impression it’s still in beta, however, so I’m expecting the devs to add a lot more features in the future. For example, there are so many features that could be added to expand on how alliances work and can be organized/managed. Something I think the devs have done right is how easy it is to save up premium currency by earning it through achievements without making it unnecessary to actually buy it. I would also appreciate if the devs updated their progress on the game more often if that’s possible. Overall, I really enjoy this game and believe it will easily be worth five stars once it’s more polished.

by 458Socom

So far I like it. One of the best things is very few glitches. Good maps. Lots of items and decent amount of bonuses you can get each day. Some packs are decently priced. But not necessary to grow. I know some complain about how long some building upgrades take. But overall actually shorter then most other games of this type.
Also like that as long as you stay in your alliance territory. You don’t have to stay shielded all the time.
But on that. At least in my server. For a war game its awful peaceful. Last time my alliance declared war on another. We were actually told by our leadership not to attack any of the enemy bases. Just defensive structures.
And before the kraken event when you can get the ability to build advanced ships. All the alliances peacefully decide who will get to use it instead of fighting for the privilege.

by Eatleads

I played over the years all kind of games, found this one from a friend who invited me, the graphics are awesome and I did not encounter any major bugs even with my internet not been the best out there, I give it a 5 stars because its entertaining, have good in game chat system, to progress you need tips from other player so joining a alliance he's a must, also tones of useful item you get when you do daily and achievements, you do not need to spend money, it just take longer to develop, you can still be a force in the galaxy but must team up, alliance that grows best as most activities and communication between members and allies. I wish that the galaxy would be more vast it seem a bit small, my take on it is that you should be able to discover new world where no other went before!

by 87moisturizer

A good game indeed. Though I will admit it was hard to understand the game since it didn’t had much for a tutorial. I really like how Nova plays with us a server. How we prep up for wars with other servers (which a lot in standard galaxies don’t know.) how nova throws events, and how we make a choice as a server to fight for it, or to establish some sort of event alliance (very handy and very very functional) aside that, the gameplay itself is good, from fleet battles, to the first time ever kraken and simulation. Fun to watch. there are many good things about the game but there are always downsides. For starters, how fleets can be permanently destroyed. Yes, it’s tough when it happens. I lost a lot of fleet power due to it, but I’ve been able to rebuild given time. Not many know they should have reserve ships in case their main fleet falls, or some backup ships. Defense ships are also an option. Another thing is the pay to win thing. I personally don’t see it as pay to win. Yeah, pay to win exists in most game. But you don’t have to pay in nova to do much. Growth is much slower, but us as players must be patient. Overall, good game. Hope the game updates frequently in the future as it is a good game I prefer playing hands down.

by GreatGameJudge

The game looks amazing! It’s fun, easy to play, and can soak you up for hours, and hours! I play in a alliance that is pretty powerful for our server. We don’t like to abuse our power and help nurture lesser alliances, this way we get more people playing and being online, and we get the plus of some new allies. It’s slightly realistic which is a cool part. I love the chat, I read some comments complaining about it but that’s certain servers. Some servers have very nice chats that are pleasant to be in. Most alliances sometimes have chat rules which do not allow you to use racism and anything insulting to ethnicity, culture, and sexual orientation. This is mostly to keep people from targeting them because of harassment. And the strictest alliance I know which does enforce these rules, happens to be able to wipe any other alliance. The prices are inflated a lot, as well as build time. I see when these are mentioned developers don't commonly respond, but this is their game and can do as they like with it. Got to put food on the table some how. But please do consider lowering building times for the sake of your players sanity. And possibly increasing the amount people can help and or lowering the price of speed ups. But as I said earlier this is a great game and is worth playing. Goodnight. Good morning, good evening, to who ever has read this comment!

by Mikerikedyroo

This is a good game. I just started playing a few days ago and I'm hooked. But there are some things about the game that could use some tweaking. For instance when i started playing immersed me well. the tutorial was thorough and subtle. But after a bit i started to noticed how alienated i was as a new player. I was alone I couldn’t find help right away from bigger players and my resources ran thin. My ships where sunk because i attacked something that wasn’t well described. It was a small moon that just said attack with a resource number next to it. Now Im stuck with no ships and a wait to accumulate small minerals slowly through my trading post. I wish that some aspects of the game where more detailed and that it focused more on the beginning player. I mean in the sense of accumulating resources and protection. It is hard to get places when you cant sustain a fleet long or go on resource run because all the pirates in your sector are 20k strength above your fleet.

by Springpig2011

I think it’s about time I can write a review, so here goes. This game just really surprised me. There are so few games like this out there, but this one has so many more features and more just keep on coming! All the details in alliances, control over fleets, very well balanced resources(currency), and a very well made completely customizable system from building stations to designing warships. It is very easy to save currency and also very easy to develop your empire (no better word for it). This is literally the game I have been trying to find for a long time now. There is only one slight thing I noticed. When I wanted to use my beginner jump I left my alliance but I couldn’t jump into that alliances sector,(Because I was stupid since it doesn’t let you do that). The problem was it didn’t let me back into the alliance even though it was an open/no-restriction alliance. But seriously, absolutely incredible.
((Please fix, I like playing with my friends))

-A Seriously Impressed Gamer

by JJ Stalin

If you are looking for a game that has depth and active developers then this is the game for you. One of the best strategy games on NovaEmpire Store that isn’t just another clone and the best sci-fi game hands down. Unique features.

However be warned that it is lacking a little in the polish department and could use some tender love and care but I have zero doubts that the developers will work on that.

Edit: Specifically the ship editing and creation area. I have no idea what the different weapons or defenses do and their differences. I can’t find the information readily available. The fact you can create ships is alone more than making up for this fact though and the number of features that this game has is mind boggling in the best ways. Mostly the difficulty in finding information on some features is where it lacks polish in my opinion such as the differences between pirates and elites. There are so many features that it can sometimes be hard to know what some of them do or find the information readily available.