One of the best space-real-time-strategy-games ever created.
It has an interesting story, beautiful explosion-graphics and a high replayability.
Multiplayer is pure fun and very challenging.
The HUD isn't the best, but also not the worst. Just buy the cheap bundle and try it out!

If you are playing on windows 7, THERE WILL BE game crashing bugs. BUT there is a solution!

Download Hgm_Soundfix here:
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/haegemonia-legions-of-iron-sound-system-fix

-> Go to steam/steamapps/common/Haegemonia Legends of Iron, backup your hgm.exe and
paste in the hgm.exe you downloaded

-> Put compatibility for windows xp service pack 3 and administrator rights. (Rightclick on the new hgm.exe)

Download Haegemonia v1.10 [GERMAN] No-CD/Fixed Image from here: http://www.gamecopyworld.com/games/pc_haegemonia.shtml

For the next step, you need the program daemon tools. You can download it here :
http://www.chip.de/downloads/c1_downloads_auswahl_37592209.html?t=1399294859&v=3600&s=cc2dfe68dc013a85111c74a3bbbc71fd

-> Extract the files you downloaded and mount the Iso in daemon tools.

Then just start the game, it works perfectly fine!
P.s. Maybe the game asks for a key, just search one online, they are easy to find.

I love this game. I have loved it ever since it came out in 2002. Yes it's an older game. Yes it has bugs. But these can be worked around with a simple amount of research (like the sound error that some people get). And no it does not have widescreen support. You'll have to enjoy the game with either the black borders or a stretched image, depending on your computer's settings. Is it inconvenient? Yes. Is it game breaking? not in the slightest.

For a 2002 game, the game play is great, and the graphics are great (for a game of its era) and the explosions are great even for modern day games.

It's easy to get frustrated when you fail a mission, many people haven't quite gotten an understanding for the game yet and blame their mission failure on bugs. I've beaten the GOG version several times and I will surely play through the steam version just as many times. The replayability of this game is endless to me.

This is not a short game to play through, many missions will take hours to complete. You start out in the Earth-Mars war, you even get to choose who's side you want to fight for. These missions are introductory missions, teaching you how to play the game, planetary management, and research, and the levels get progressively harder as you go. In some missions, money management is absolutely CRUCIAL.

Battles can be quite intense at times and definitely fun to watch.

If you enjoy Space RTS games, this is definitely the best. Yes it's old, but its fun, very fun and a must have. Just make sure if you get errors, you look for the fix before rageposting about how "bad" of a game it is.

Oh and, in the first missions, make sure to press the F1 key (it will inform you of this) as all the information for controls you need will be listed there

Firstly, this is one of my favorite games of all time. It was just as fun as when i originally bought it on disk, and that was almost ten years ago. This is definitely one of the more refined games out there, and for not even being an RTS player, I found this very enjoyable. Also, the graphics for this game were, at the time of its release, were ahead of curve. Space is absolutely beautiful and the planets are very detailed. I highly recommend this game to just about anyone, but specifically RTS and space-opera fans.

I used my write in reward for a "Deserves a Remake" reward. This game is one of the most under rated space strategy games ever. To this day it has the best and most realistic explosion in any game ever made. I would love to see a remastered version of it.

This game is underated.... But seriously this is an amazing Sci fi RTS similar to Homeworld with its 3D movements and really good graphics for its age, its a shame the multiplayer fonctionality isn't there anymore i'd love to see a sequel.

Not a terrible game but there are just many better alternatives for space strategy; I'd suggest something like Homeworld or Star Wolves instead.

+Graphics are decent for the time
+Voiced dialogue
+Excellent range of zoom from up close and personal to star map level

-Poor UI, often lacking in helpful information
-Controls are poorly explained and can be awkward
-Game is likely to crash due to 'sound system error' without manual fix/download:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/haegemonia-vector-prime/downloads/steam-legions-of-iron-sound-system-and-mp-fix

Don't buy this in it's current state. Sound errors and no widescreen support.
I thought this deserves a new thread. The game's sound issues haven't been fixed and I get this problem continously on Win 7 x64 (about 4 or 5 missions in, when you first get access to wormholes). Play for a few minutes and bam, crash to the desktop.

There's no widescreen support, so enjoy playing at 1024x768 or 1280x960.

I'd also like to add that I bought this game when it came out on disc back in 2002 or whenever it came out. It's a fantastic game and I love it to this day. I just wish there was a Haegemonia 2 onwards. This steam version just isn't worth your money until these 2 issues are fixed (the sound problem especially). I can play the game at 1280 with the nvidia settings (aa etc) set to max, so the lack of widescreen isn't a huge problem for me but the sound issue is.

This may have been a good game when released but time has not been kind. The limited resolutions and lack of aspect ratio settings conspire to stretch the planets and everything looks fuzzy. Seondary objectives are vague and the strategic view is not much help. Intecepting a suspicious ship requires you to look at every ship in the system until a tooltip indicates which one you can attack. They all look alike. Command, who has scanned and tried to communicate with the suspect, will not provide any means of IDing the vessel. They won't even tell you what region it was seen in. There are no significant tactical or strategic options. The game is too simple to be engaging and too complex to be a time waster. You have better games to play.

Before I write my review here's a link to the "Sound error" fix :
mediafire com/file/16787mmlm1l4u92/Hgm.exe (Fill in the blanks)
Go offline on Steam then replace the original Hgm.exe in the game folder,then right-click it > troubleshoot compatibility > Windows XP (Service Pack 3). Don't go online until you've tested it.
Edit : This worked for me,but for one of my friends it didn't. It caused "Missing CD" error. I don't know any other way to fix it.

I have 13mins on the game here,but I've played many hours on the original CD, that is now scratched up and not functional. My review disregards the "sound error".

I'll start off by saying the game is very old now and that you shouldn't expect anything spectacular from it.
There are:

• 3 playable races - Humans,Darzok,Kariak ; each has their own starting researched techs in any other game mode outside of the campaign. The unit types transfer between all races with a few exceptions,meaning all races have Fighters,Corvettes,Cruisers,Battleships,Military bases,Mining bases,Planetary products etc ...
  
• The campaign is long enough in combination with the other game types to justify the game's price.
  
• The difference between the Earth and Mars campaigns is only in the first missions. You basically choose which side of the conflict to start from and when the conflict ends you continue playing through the rest of the missions which are the same for either side.
  
• There are about 25 types of ships to choose from (not counting the variants of said types per race)
  
• There are 8 research trees which allow you to upgrade your ships' armament and equipment, planetary facilities and defences, spy missions etc. 4 of these research trees are weapon upgrades (1 tree for each weapon type - Proton / Missile / Ion / Quantum
  
• There are 9 maps for multiplayer - 7 scenario and 2 FFA / TDM. Since I haven't played this game's MP (due to non-existent player presense) I can't tell you how it runs and whether it's peer-to-peer or dedicated server. If you can't get it to run through Steam you and your friends could try making a game through something like Gameranger.
  
• In the multiplayer you can skirmish against AI if you can't find people to play with and you've gone through the campaign.

PROS :

• The game has aged very well. For a game released in 2002 the game has great graphics and possibly the prettiest explosions in a space game that can give 2010 games a run for their money.
  
• Some of the best ambient and battle soundtracks for a space game to date, in my opinion. The sound effects are also pretty good.
  
• Decent gameplay. Not as advanced unit and strategy-wise as one would expect after having played games like Homeworld. In pretty much any game mode you have to beat your opponents by Conquering them / Beating them by score. It doesn't wear off right away.
  
• Somewhat lenghty campaign. I'm not sure how long it would take one to beat it,because it depends on how much you've figured out and what difficulty you play on. The missions you're given at the start are linear,but mid-to-end game they become more open in the sense that you're free to apply your own strategies to achieve the goals.

CONS:

• Non-existent tutorial. Your superiors in the campaign reffer you to the "USSF military database"which you know nothing about.Basically you gotta hit F1 and read everything there is. I'm including an archive with screenshots that have explanations on them for stuff the game doesn't explain.The rest you can figure out ingame when you press F1.
  
• The controls are clumsy and there isn't much you can order your units to do. Go-to,Attack,Defend,Mine and Spy on.
  
• After you beat the campaign there isn't anything else to do except spar against AI through the multiplayer mode or play with a friend.
  
• Somewhat cringy dialog sequences during the campaign between characters.
  
• Somewhat lacking unit variety. It's like chess - enough unit pieces to do the job, but not enough to greatly customize your playstile.
  
• Few multiplayer maps - as listed before 9 maps,two of which are FFA/TDM, the rest are scripted or allow a specific number of players/AI.

Link to help images :
http mediafire com/file/3wyr79o1r03tubu/Hegemonia+help.rar

That's pretty much it. If I've missed something,I'll come back to add it to the review.

Pro tips:
- Earth campaign : If you want Major Sanders,send a fighter squad to the malfunctioning military base in the asteroid belt in the 4th mission (I think) . He'll escape and be available to place in one of your military units.
- Any campaign : If you want the Residential base woman leader (forgot her name) to join you you must research the "population transportation ship" , produce it and send it to the system the Residential base is located as soon as possible. Someone releases poison gas in the station's ventilation system and you have to get the people out along with the leader by sending the population transportation ship next to the station.The leader is a governor you can place on one of your colonies.
- Don't send battleships anywhere without backup.They're slow and vulnerable when outnumbered and outgunned.
- In the campaigns do the Proton + Missile combo. Proton weapons can pass through shields and missiles have the highest damage per shot out of all weapons. Don't use missile units against fighters,they can easily evade them.
- If you want to spar against AI make a multiplayer game then save it and load. This will get rid of the delay between clicks and click registering ingame.

Ah Haegemonia... I have a very well used disc for this in my desk and just had to buy it when I saw it on steam.

Short version: It's easily worth double the current £4 price. There is a good story, music and generally a very enjoyable game here with at least 10+ hours of gameplay. You play a commander either for Earth or Mars, who has to bring a system wide civil war to a close, then the majority of the game is about advancing humanity into deep space. The exploration and research feels rich and it has some good atmosphere. It's dated, but worthwhile.

Long Version!

Pros:
- Clean, effective user interface.
- Great music that adds mystery, atmosphere and the battle music is great.
- An excellent research system where what you spend points on carries over between levels and throughout the entire game. It's really a joy to unlock things, and levels where you get a lot to spend feel awesome.
- The system for building up colonies is very intuitive, and another area where the well designed UI comes through for you.
- The story is good. There are challenges and twists as you try to secure humanity's place among the stars.
- It's somehow still rather pretty.

Cons:
- By today's standards, the graphics are a little simple. But you can look past that because they hold up well.
- The character animations when they talk to you are a bit too mannequin like.
- The unit types are a little too simplistic. Generally you'll want to build the largest 1-2 ship classes you can and ignore the earlier ones later on. Doesn't have a rock/paper/scissors mechanic to keep things viable like modern games. The weapon techs and research do tend to make up for this a bit however.

Go buy it.

Do eet.

Nao.