Fantasy 4X game Endless Legend 2 brings back the Civ rival's iconic warmongers

With the bold changes of Civilization 7 splitting opinion, you might be on the hunt for your next favorite 4X game. Stellaris Biogenesis impresses with some creative origins, but my eyes are now on Endless Legend 2. Set to hit early access this summer, and more than a decade after the original won my heart with its unique and distinctive factions, Amplitude Studios and Hooded Horse continue their reveals with the much-anticipated return of the first game's most defining conquerors, the Necrophage.

With Endless Legend 2, Amplitude is quickly establishing that it understands what made its predecessor so special. Unlike the relative mechanical closeness of the various leaders and nations in games like Civilization, this was a 4X game where every playable group felt completely different. Rather than just a few signature units, the very fundamentals of the game shifted to match. Its successor is so far following in those footsteps.

We've already seen some initial glimpses of what awaits; the Kin of Sheredyn are stranded spacefarers looking to reclaim access to their potent technologies, while The Aspects are a bio-machine hivemind that spread their signature coral across the map in a fashion akin to Starcraft's Zerg. Now, we're taking a look at the Necrophage, a returning semi-insectoid species that held the place as the Endless Legend's ultimate warmongers, unmatched at dominating their rivals in battle to claim supremacy or total elimination victories.

Endless Legend 2's Necrophage have been hibernating underground, but are now emerging across the ocean-strewn world of Saiadha as the waters recede, seeking once again to sate their ever-present hunger. The entire faction revolves around its Queen, and in fact this time they're limited to a single hive city built around her. In order to compensate for this, the Necrophage have the ability to spread a tunnel network across the map to enable rapid movement to other regions, claiming them and bringing resources back to the capital.

Those resources begin with the fruits of the land, but extend to corpses harvested from every defeated army and razed settlement, used to further your economy and upgrade your units. Diplomacy is a non-issue here; minor rivals are merely food to be consumed, and bigger forces will fall under the might of your endless reinforcements and the ability to spawn larvae after victorious battles that can then be evolved to suit your needs.

You have plenty of options. Necrodrones act as flying scouts; Bloodseekers are hyper-mobile and enable your armies to move faster, while Hornets are an airborne combat option. Spitters are your ranged units; Defilers boost their allies' power, while Infestors create fresh troops with every kill they score. Feeders, the melee forces, are split into Slicers, execution specialists capable of healing upon kills, and Behemoths, devastating battering-ram units that can rip through the entire enemy frontline with sheer force.

"Making them a one-city faction was a good way to pull out some of the macro management of a regular economy, making them focus on what was important for players of the warfare playstyle: explore, swarm, kill, and focus on the next target," Amplitude explains. Spot openings to suck the land dry or quickly evolve your larvae without disruption, and you'll be able to overwhelm your opponents in no time. "Finding the balance between an all-in military and the feeding of your capital will be the key to the Necrophage's success."

Endless Legend 2 will be released via Steam Early Access in summer 2025. You can wishlist it now if you want to be notified when it arrives.

If you're looking for something more immediate, here are the best games like Civilization on PC right now. Alternatively, take a look through the best war games for plenty more conflict-centric recommendations.

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