this first expansion adds lots of new and shining things to a already great game, you will be addicted to this game almost instantly, even with its hard learning curve.

give it a try, it wont dissapoint you

First expansion of Sword of the Stars. Adds a fifth race known as Zuul. Trading and freighter ships added which help boost your economy. Require Sword fo the Stars installed.

The first expansion for SOTS series, good addition of elements, altough the core of the game is the same: space battles. Do your research and designs well and you will be fine.

Great addition to the series. The ability to increase trade revenue within your empire offers a new stage of complexity for players to think about (or obsess over) and the graphical enhancements provided by the patches makes the game smooth, stimulating and continues in its tradition of providing easy to learn, impossible to master gameplay.

The Zuul however, are not an easy race to get into or intuitively grasp, and their need for maintenance on their Node-Lines, along with their limitations on how many they can have, makes them difficult for anyone who is not a good multi-tasker.

Good game and it added some neat new toys. The new race is fun but has a very steep learning curve do to its unique drive system. I could do with out some of the micromanaging that is required for the new race but all in all it is a pretty solid add-on to the original game.

This first expansion to Sword of the Stars adds the frightening Zuul to the mix of already explosive gameplay. The sight of their ships bearing down on a planet of yours that is not adequately defended will send a chill down you spine, especially when you see the damage they have done to your colony, if they don't destroy it outright. There are more strategic options available, and the fact that the Zuul present a danger to all the races can make for some interesting situations. Playing the Zuul is more difficult than the other races, since they require slaves, rather than creating their own civilian population for their planets, and although their ships are tough, their research rate is such that it will take some time before you reach a level of technology comparable to others. Another factor is that they consume the resources on the planets they inhabit or conquer, which means that at some point in the game you might want to abandon some planets and find new ones to settle. Obviously this can only lead to war, but since all the other races are bent on your destruction, there is no subtlety required in diplomacy. Overall this addition to the SOTS universe is well worth every cent, and all the time spent on it. I must have played at least 30 hours as the Zuul, and about the same amount as their opponents, and it continues to be a rewarding and enjoyable experience.I highly recommend this add-on, together with all the others that have been released.

The first expansion for Sword of the Stars shakes up the gameplay with the addition of the Zuul. If you like to play as the "Evil Empire" then they are for you. Slave and commerce raiding, salvaging techs from defeated foes, and stripping your worlds bare for the quick boost to prodution needed to constantly assault your foes are your greatest strengths. A must have for SotS fans who love to dominate their foes!

Born of Blood is a good expansion for Sword of the Stars, but by now it's better to just get the complete edition which contains two more expansions. Much better deal.

Born of Blood adds a fantastic new race to the already excellent Sword of the Stars. A species of ape-like warriors, with the females of the race being the muscle-bound, super-sized brutes and the males being the much smaller, physically weaker, mental overlords. A fascinating culture if ever there was one.

The ships of the new race are no less interesting. They look cobbled together from other races (and they are), with bonuses to enslavement techniques and offensive power (and penalties to sturdiness in most cases), BoB's species is gifted with aggression -- but they MUST expand. Failure to constantly claw for territory doesn't mean mere stagnation, it means extinction.

A host of smaller features improve SotS to an even greater level, but I'd recommend buying one of the SotS bundles instead of individual expansions. You'll want them all!

I've had the sword of the stars games for a while, and Born of Blood is the first in an essential buy of the expansions for any gamer who owns swords of the stars original. While the original was a good game in it's own right, Born of Blood, A murder of crows and ANY evolve the game into something else, a masterpiece.

Born of Blood takes the formula established in SOTS, and enhances it. The new Zuul are a menace to be feared, and the trade system adds a new layer of late game strategy. Get your trade net up, or you'll fall far behind the pack. Defend your forward sectors, and watch out for raiders. A solid expansion, and certainly worth owning if you do not already.

From Scorpogee, "Born of Blood still has trouble delivering information, though. We still fail to see that when research is complete that nothing prompts us to continue researching a new technology so I’ve missed by a couple of turns having my scientists do anything. Automated combat still doesn’t deliver information like it should.

New visual effects add to the excitement when controlling your battles. I like the fact that you can see the firing weapons a lot easier. Explosions are amazing eye candy now. The Zuul ship designs visually blend well with the other races styles in the game. The Zuul voices are done to be effective with the intent that they contain a menacing quality to the game. "

Excellent 4X title. Gameplay is neat, focusing is on strategy and battles. No more space Sim City, as sometimes big games of MOO2 turned into. Micro-management is limited to ship design and fleet battles (if you want). BoB (and SotS) sport a quite good AI, it reacts to your moves in a sensible manner and even sometimes is able to surprise you.

Before I get into the meat of the review, how many games can you name off where the dev team never spent time in the forums? or never released a patch for a game? or took flagrant bugs and called them "Content"?

I can name a few. Specifically, Fable: The Lost chapters, Rome: Total War, Painkiller... the list goes on. All of them are fantastic games, but the dev team does not give a rats ass about the players.

How would you like a chance to play a great game, and still be able to talk with the Great and Powerful Oz? I talk with the CEO of Kerberos on almost a daily basis over Xfire!

The best way to describe a game is to compare it to games similar to it. So I will compare it with Rome: Total War, and Galactic Civilizations 2.

The game is a 4X game by its very nature. with five races, all of which unique. This already sets it apart from Both RTW and GC2, because there are comparatively few races to play, but all of them are significantly different. (RTW has different factions, but they all move and act, in essence, the same. GC2 has no difference between any of its races.)

The galaxy itself, is fully 3d. Again, set apart from GC2 and RTW. The galaxy comes in several shapes, and new galaxy shapes are released occasionally with content updates.

The Tech tree is dynamic instead of the standard static trees found in most games. You never have the same game twice, because sometimes your scientists are obsessed with ballistics research and find beam weapons to be nothing more then science fiction!

What sets the game apart for me are the random encounters. While not nearly as varied or diverse as GC:2, All of them involve interaction on a very real level, and some of them give you the choice of destroying them... or disabling for your scientists to mull over. Some make you rub your hands together in diabolical glee, others make you scream in terror.

The new communication system is very well implemented as well, allowing you to point out to all your allies a specific world to conquer, scout, defend or destroy during the game.

Excitement! Adventure! Fresh Fruit! All can be yours in Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood!

Having played Born of Blood for a few days now, I must say that I am very happy with it. None of the new systems confuse me, none of the interface or execution is clunky.

I, personally, have fallen in love with some of the new weaponry. Nothing is cooler than seeing an incoming swarm of destroyers against your group of Corrosive Missile fitted cruisers, then having a wall of green clouds light up the space between you and them, and watching their ships burn inside of them! Except maybe the Node Cannon. But you'll have to see that to believe it.

Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood is an expansion in the truest sense of the word. While retaining the gameplay and spirit of the original release, it stretches the boundaries of every aspect in the game. New technologies, new ship sections, new map types, new scenarios, new encounters, new ways to look at and interpret the game world around you, and, of course, the Zuul. If you already own and enjoy Sword of the Stars, there is no question that Born of Blood will improve an already engrossing gaming experience. If you’ve never tried Sword of the Stars, or have been on the fence over it, Born of Blood is definitely a good reason to reconsider.

This is what happens when the Developer listens to the players, Improvements all round, another race, more Techs, and more Complexity. All in all this expansion makes a good game better. The only thing missing now is a story based campaign that takes place over several missions.

I would point out that there has been many problems with installing this (the GG version) with some other copies, but all the solutions are listed on the Forums. As a rule Re-download and run the master Directx installer from Microsoft and patch your SOTS to 1.2.2 before you install the expansion and you should not have any problems.