I played this game for hours at a time and when I saw the clock saying "nappy-time" I still continued back when I was younger. The graphics were truly exhilerating for its time, together with the mixture of alien races and strategic differences.

The gameplay itself was and still is great. Designing and naming your own ships, upgrading them with the newest technology and having the edge over your opponent because of it is simply satisfying. The single-player campaign has a general storyline to which you are advised to adhere, but the game itself allows you to choose your own planets to colonize and develop in your own way. Choose either the scientifically-advanced Solarians, the diplomatically adept Shinari or the militaristic Kra'Hen and attempt to conquer the galaxy in different ways. The campaigns are different enough to each provide a huge load of fun, and even attempting a second campaign with the same race yields satisfying results and different "random" events which lead you into sub-plots. Overall the gameplay is great, the only negative point is that once you have a huge armada you won't be able to see it. The ships will simply be stacked into one single ship; i.e. 4 battleships in 1 battleship onscreen hereby quadrupling your firepower. This has no impact on the game itself, but it is less satisfying than seeing huge amounts of ships exploding. Another point which gives the player a satisfying immersion into the game are the graphics. They're simply great, even now I find them good enough. Back when the game was released I was stunned my 16MB Graphics Card could put THAT on the screen! The colonies look great, and the starmap gives a good feeling of having a real Empire/Commonwealth/Whatever. The only small negative remark is that the buildings and ground units have the same textures for each race, which is a pity. The combat vessels in space each have different shapes and therefore give one a more distinguished feel for each race. I found the sound to be somewhat dissappointing compared to the rest of the game. Still adequate, but not more than that. The music is good enough, but the patterns of "We're listing, Sir" and the Kra'Hen battlecry "Slen'Kla" are still engraved into my brain. Not bad, but could be more diverse, although I have always been critical of lack of inventive audio in any game so far. Overall this game provides countless hours of trying out different approaches to conquering the galaxy via either alliances (hence the name) or true military conquest. The ultimate goal of the quite interesting storyline ends the campaign in a relatively satisfying way, although you'd wish you could do more with that huge economy you've built up and the gargantuan armada you've churned out. Overall a great game, if you like 4X/Space strategy games with a large scope but simple setup and enjoyable empire-building; certainly try this one!