ENDLESS™ Space 2 - Penumbra Review Summary

Umbral Choir offers fun unique stealth and deep hacking, but poor explanation and problematic faction design, plus DLC that makes things worse, hold it back.

Umbral Choir is fun and unique: Multiple reviews highlight the Umbral Choir as a fun, unique, and well-designed faction that adds variety to the roster. Its parasitic playstyle and distinct mechanics are praised as enjoyable and interesting.

Hacking mechanic is deep and helpful: The hacking mechanic is repeatedly praised for its depth, interesting costs and benefits, and its role in teaching players the Umbral Choir's playstyle. It is considered well-designed, fun, and not complicated to learn.

Stealth and cloaking add strategy: Players appreciate the new stealth and cloaking mechanics, noting they add a new layer of strategy and are excellent additions to the game. Early cloaking is seen as a fresh gameplay element to adapt to.

Hacking enables pacifist sabotage: Hacking is highlighted as a way for pacifist players to harm enemies without declaring war, adding a diplomatic and non-combat strategic option. This is seen as a valuable addition to the game.

Umbral Choir is hard to master: Some reviews note that the Umbral Choir is hard to master but rewarding, requiring more interaction through diplomacy and hacking. This adds depth but may be divisive among players.

Hacking lacks proper explanation: The hacking system is poorly explained, confusing for new players, and lacks sufficient tutorial support. Many players found it unintuitive and required trial-and-error to understand.

Umbral Choir is problematic: The Umbral Choir faction is not fun to play or play against, and it is poorly implemented. The faction's unique mechanics, like cloaking and lack of colonization, are seen as unbalanced and uninteresting.

DLC makes game worse: The DLC is criticized for not playing to the strengths of the base game and adding more unnecessary features than good ones. It is seen as neither fun nor adding depth, and in some cases, it is considered broken.

Hacking is a core mechanic: The DLC introduces a hacking system that allows players to infiltrate enemy systems, steal technology, and sabotage resources. This mechanic is central to the expansion and is used by all factions.

Umbral Choir uses stealth: The Umbral Choir faction is invisible and operates in hiding, using cloaking to avoid detection. This stealth-based approach is a defining characteristic of the faction.

Umbral Choir faction introduced: The expansion adds the Umbral Choir, a new faction that relies heavily on hacking and stealth. This faction is unique in its playstyle, focusing on espionage and covert operations.

Umbral Choir has one system: The Umbral Choir faction starts with only one system and can relocate it across the galaxy. This unique mechanic forces players to adapt to a nomadic playstyle.

Umbral Choir expands via hacking: The Umbral Choir uses hacking to colonize and expand, placing backdoors in enemy capitals and merging minor factions into remote bases. This allows them to grow without traditional colonization.

Crash during assimilation: The game crashes when attempting to assimilate a minor civilization immediately after starting a hack. This is a specific and reproducible bug that disrupts core gameplay.

Do not recommend this DLC: Multiple reviews strongly advise against purchasing or using this expansion, citing dissatisfaction with its content. The consensus is that the DLC fails to deliver value, especially at full price.

Disable DLC after playing: Several players recommend disabling the DLC after experiencing the Umbral Choir faction, suggesting that the hacking mechanic negatively impacts the game. This feedback indicates that the DLC's core feature is not well-received in the long term.

Recommend for stealth fans: A subset of reviewers praises the DLC for its stealth and shadow gameplay, recommending it to players who enjoy sneaky, cooperative play. These players find the unique mechanics engaging and fun.

Umbral Choir is main draw: Many reviewers highlight the Umbral Choir faction as the primary reason to purchase the expansion, praising its unique playstyle. However, they caution that this alone may not justify the cost for all players.

Not for beginners: The DLC is considered too complex for new players, with reviews recommending that newcomers first master the base game. The advanced mechanics and slow pace are better suited for experienced Endless Space 2 players.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

The Penumbra DLC's hacking mechanic is widely reported as tedious, poorly explained, and boring, preventing the game from becoming fun for many players, despite some enjoyment from the Umbral Choir faction and cloaking.

Friction: Poor tutorial for hacking; Unclear odds for hacking and defending; Tedious hacking mechanics; Requires micromanagement; Confusing notifications about hacks; Hacking feels intrusive and annoying.

Stealth Espionage Enthusiast: Avoids direct conflict, uses hacking and stealth, engages in diplomacy and cooperative mind games with friends. Motivation: Enjoyment of a unique, non-combat espionage playstyle that emphasizes hacking, diplomacy, and multiplayer mind games. Stance: buy.

Frustrated Newcomer: Attempts to engage with hacking but fails due to lack of guidance; may give up or disable the DLC. Motivation: Wants to enjoy the game but is blocked by opaque hacking mechanics and poor explanations, leading to frustration. Stance: no buy.

Disappointed Veteran: Plays traditional 4X strategies, likely military or expansion-focused, and finds the Umbral Choir's playstyle unappealing or broken. Motivation: Seeks high-quality content consistent with the base game; disappointed by the DLC's balance and design flaws. Stance: no buy.

Monetization: The user reviews focus on the DLC's price-value, gameplay design, and a technical achievement bug. There is no evidence of microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, real-money gacha, or any post-purchase monetization. All complaints relate to the one-time DLC purchase and its content quality.

Hacking mechanic is controversial: Multiple reviewers criticize the hacking mechanic, with some disabling the DLC entirely to avoid it. They note it is poorly explained, cannot be disabled separately, and lacks opt-out options unlike other 4X games.

Hacking needs rebalancing: Reviewers suggest balance changes for cloaking and hacking, including higher success rates for early hacks, UI alerts, and reduced penalties. They hope the developer rebalances the DLC soon, as they have done in the past.

Comparisons to other 4X games: Reviewers compare the expansion to Stellaris, Master of Orion, and other Endless games, often unfavorably. They note that other TBS games allow opting out of spying mechanics, and the lore is better in Endless Space 2 than in Stellaris.

DLC feels like money grab: Reviewers describe the expansion as an embarrassing money grab, possibly implemented too quickly or on the cheap. They compare it unfavorably to the Awakening expansion and note it is still raw with several issues.

Developer trust and future updates: Reviewers express trust in Amplitude, noting their history of balancing and polishing, and mention a new free expansion that may smooth over issues. They expect the developer to address current problems soon.