sins-of-a-solar-empire-rebellion posts

As promised, pre-orders for Sin of A Solar Empire Rebellion have now gone live on the Impulse web site. This allows folks to put their hard earned money down on the recently announced and upcoming space strategy game from developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock. The title, described as a stand alone expansion to the original game rather than a sequel, will cost $39.95.

However if you already own Sins of a Solar Empire you might be able to get a discount on Rebellion. In order to find out how much of a discount you can get you will have to head over to the official Sins of a Solar Empire web site and log in. You will be able to get a $10 discount if you are eligible. Also Rebellion pre-orders will also be able to play the beta version of the game when it becomes available.

Sins of a Solar Empire fans who have been waiting patiently for a new game in the space strategy series will be very happy today with this breaking news story. Developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock have officially revealed the next stand alone game in the series, Sins of a Solar Empir: Rebellion. Big Download got a chance to chat briefly with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell via phone last week to get the first few details on the game which is described as a stand alone expansion to the original title which was first released back in 2008 and was followed up with two small downloadable expansion packs, Entrenchment and Diplomacy.

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion will continue Ironclad's mix of 4X turn-based strategy elements with real time strategy space combat, according to what Wardell told us last week. The biggest change in the game compared to previous installments is that there will be two separate factions that players can control; the Loyalists and the Rebels. Wardell told us that each faction will have their own distinct art style and tech trees that will make playing each faction a different experience.

In addition to the new factions, players can look forward to getting their hands on new ships to command including the truly massive Titan-class ships which Wardell told us are the equivalent to the Super Star Destroyer that the Empire uses in the Star Wars movies. The concept art for the Titan-class ship can be seen above this post. Look for other new ships to be added to the game as well. There will be no single player campaign in Rebellion, which is something that fans of the original Sins have been wanting for some time. Wardell told us that Stardock and Ironclad have wavered back and forth on adding such a feature for the game but ultimately decided against it.

While Ironclad and Stardock have not released in-game screenshots yet Wardell told us that Rebellion will have some graphical improvements for the original game's Iron Engine including better lighting and particle effects and support for larger maps. As with the original game and its two micro-expansions look for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to have diplomatic features alongside the space combat, exploration and

While Wardell told us last week that Stardock's goal is to release Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion by the end of 2010 he added that both Stardock and Ironclad don't plan to release the game until its ready. Like previous games from Stardock, folks who pre-order the full game will gain free access to Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion's beta test builds. Also previous owners of the original Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity will get a discount when purchasing Rebellion. You can check out the full press release for the game after the jump.

Update: We've updated our article to reflect that the discount for Rebellion will apply to Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity owners