AI War 2: Zenith Onslaught

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Brave Zenith invasions, civil wars, or ally with the Svikari. Arm yourself with elite Cruisers.

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7
Based on
34 reviews
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Developer:
Not specified
Publisher:
Not specified
Release date:
18 May 2021
Genre:
Not specified
Recent Steam reviews:
Positive
All Steam reviews:
Positive (34)
User tags*:Sci-fiIndieStrategySimulationRTS

Media

Game features

Co-op

Description

Brave Zenith invasions, civil wars, or ally with the Svikari. Arm yourself with elite Cruisers. Find new Outguard for hire, defensive structures to build, and maps to explore. You may face new AI types, capture yet more golems, and choose if you wish to encounter the planet-eating Zenith Miners.

The Story

In our normal universe, the Zenith aliens are long dead; only the mindless automatons called Golems are left behind, millennia after the fall of their civilization.
One day, in the middle of our war with the AI, the first of an oncoming horde of Zenith came through from a neighboring part of what scientists can clearly now tell is a multiverse. These are Zenith in their prime, confused as to the (from their point of view) post-apocalyptic state of our universe, and not exactly pleased.

Zenith Onslaught is the second expansion for AI War 2, and was more than a year in the making. We focused on making the galaxy feel rich and complex and changeable in new ways, as well as adding a metric ton of general new content.

Major New Factions

  • The Dark Zenith can be set to invade at some point. They then set up their own economy, allying with the Dark Spire if they are also enabled. These can really make even the AI sweat.
  • The Zenith Architrave, fresh into our universe and desperate to get back to their own galaxy-spanning war. Minor diplomacy may be possible. (Think of these like a vastly more advanced version of the Dyson Spheres in the base game, in that they don't turn the entire galaxy on its head but can be exciting neighbors).
  • The Zenith Miner, which first sends out probes, and later tries to mine entire planets into pieces. Has a special taste for Dyson Spheres. Hack them for fun and profit.

New Ships En Masse

  • 15 new and elite ships, Cruisers, now seed the galaxy that can greatly enhance your fleet. These powerful ships are both extremely powerful in their own right but each possesses a special feature based on their weapon tech. Two of these can only found by stealing Zenith technology.
  • 11 new Outguard to recruit to humanity's side, each with their own unique contribution, from the Trojan Horse that hides in plain sight before releasing its hidden drone army to the Cornucopia that supercharges your metal generation when you need it the most.
  • 7 new defensive structures, such as the reactive dummy that attracts enemy fire and returns a portion back to the sender, and a reworking of the original to grant every weapon tech their own.
  • And many new strikecraft, frigates, and stationkeepers to further expand humanity's arsenal! As well as new variants of the base-game golems!

Other Major Features

  • Nomad Planets make a triumphant return from the original AI War, with options for entire Nomad Galaxies. And yes, you can still become death, destroyer of worlds.
  • Wormhole borers, dangerous tools in the hands of the AI that allow them to tunnel behind your defenses.
  • 10 devious new AI types.
  • 2 new map styles.

Recommended system requirements

minimum*

Requirement 1:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS *:
Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 64bit
Processor:
Dual Core 64bit CPU (2.2+ GHz Dual Core CPU or better)
Memory:
5 GB RAM
Graphics:
NVIDIA GTX 510+, Radeon HD5900+, or Intel HD4000+
Storage:
3 GB available space
Additional Notes:
Disk space requirements are in addition to base game.

recommended*

Requirement 1:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Processor:
Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU
Graphics:
NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB

User reviews

Zweihand
Recommended | 18 May 2021

Massive expansion on par with Expansion 1. While it doesn't introduce a whole new game mode, it introduces a ton of new ships, turrets, mechanics, AI types, and minor factions that radically change how the game is played. One of the key selling feature is the reintroduction of the Zenith race proper within our galaxy. Be ready for some Stellaris Endgame tier crisis x10 level of inter-dimensional invasions and new

Helpful: 12
Ecthelon
Recommended | 18 May 2021

New depth to AI war 2 is always fun and these additions are no different. This DLC is reasonably priced and adds a whole new range of stuff to play around with for many more hours. What's not to like?

Helpful: 16
RedPine
Recommended | 18 May 2021

I haven't played Zenith Onslaught yet*, but I have 300 hours in base game, 100 hours in AI War Classic, and I've followed the dev blogs and pre-release tutorials/showcases of Zenith Onslaught. If you're familiar with how AI War works, each additional faction and game option adds an exponential increase in complexity and therefore difficulty. You're not looking at a +5 or *5 increase in difficulty, it's a ^5 increase

Helpful: 24