14 DAY TRIAL // In Pandora: First Contact gamers do not get to build secret projects or monuments, the kind of buildings that Civilization and Alpha Centauri used to give a player a significant advantage, but the team at Proxy Studios does include a cool new feature called Operations.
They can be quickly built and have a one-time effect on one aspect of the game, either military or civilian.
I initially ignored them because it seemed like their use would only have a very small effect on the game, but the Artificial Intelligence made me care about Operations and how they can be stacked to influence gameplay.
During a game as the Noxium Corporation, I was headed for an economic victory when catastrophe happened.
I had about 10 big solid cities and I was founding more each 5-turn period, and most of my colonies were set to create Wealth in order to corner the global market and win the match.
I had wiped out the Divine Ascension after they said I lived in unnecessary wealth, and the rest of the factions were offering praises and giving me bribes in order to avoid the wrath of the mechs I had on my border.
Then I met the Solar Dynasty, the China equivalent in the game.
They quickly denounced me but I never believed they would be also ready to launch war as fast.
The AI had stacked Operations and, in just one turn, found most of my major cities and then, using a number of Orbital Bombardments and Drop Pods, they destroyed my capital and then captured my three biggest production centers.
I managed to use my considerable wealth to buy the troops to recapture my own cities and then attack the Solar Dynasty core areas, but I never managed to reach the economic victory because the Tonka research won them the game.