<s>
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
a	O
4X	B-Application
turn-based	O
strategy	O
game	O
and	O
the	O
third	O
in	O
the	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Quicksilver	O
Software	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Infogrames	O
Interactive	O
on	O
February	O
25	O
,	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
game	O
manual	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
discovers	O
that	O
the	O
planet	O
called	O
Antares	O
in	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
Battle	I-Application
at	I-Application
Antares	I-Application
was	O
actually	O
a	O
forward	O
base	O
,	O
"	O
ConJenn	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
events	O
of	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
the	O
Antarans	B-Application
retaliated	O
and	O
defeated	O
the	O
young	O
races	O
of	O
the	O
Orion	O
Sector	O
,	O
enslaving	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
people	O
on	O
every	O
planet	O
,	O
and	O
destroying	O
all	O
research	O
and	O
military	O
centers	O
,	O
effectively	O
making	O
any	O
retaliation	O
impossible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
thousand	O
years	O
later	O
,	O
the	O
Antarans	B-Application
mysteriously	O
disappeared	O
due	O
to	O
an	O
outbreak	O
of	O
their	O
"	O
Harvester	O
"	O
bioweapons	O
program	O
,	O
which	O
wiped	O
out	O
98%	O
of	O
the	O
population	O
living	O
in	O
the	O
Antaran	B-Application
sector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Survivors	O
were	O
left	O
primarily	O
on	O
only	O
two	O
planets	O
:	O
Antares	O
itself	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Antarans	B-Application
living	O
on	O
the	O
planet	O
Orion	O
,	O
ruling	O
the	O
Orion	O
Sector	O
from	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
Antarans	B-Application
survived	O
in	O
various	O
smaller	O
colonies	O
and	O
outposts	O
throughout	O
the	O
galaxy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Antarans	B-Application
on	O
Orion	O
overseeing	O
the	O
younger	O
races	O
from	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
II	I-Application
concluded	O
that	O
without	O
backup	O
from	O
their	O
powerful	O
empire	O
,	O
changes	O
would	O
be	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
isolated	O
Antarans	B-Application
engineered	O
a	O
new	O
bioweapon	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Harvester	O
Zeta	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
a	O
turn-based	O
strategy	O
game	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
of	O
defeating	O
the	B-Application
artificial	I-Application
intelligence	I-Application
(	O
AI	B-Application
)	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
players	O
,	O
in	O
one	O
of	O
three	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
each	O
turn	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
makes	O
all	O
the	O
decisions	O
that	O
will	O
be	O
performed	O
during	O
that	O
turn	O
,	O
including	O
exploration	O
,	O
colonization	B-Application
,	O
diplomacy	O
,	O
trade	O
,	O
voting	O
in	O
the	O
Senate	O
,	O
technological	O
research	O
,	O
espionage	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
design	O
,	O
construction	O
,	O
and	O
combat	O
deployment	O
of	O
their	O
space	O
fleet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Victory	O
conditions	O
,	O
set	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
include	O
domination	O
of	O
the	O
galaxy	O
,	O
leadership	O
of	O
the	O
Senate	O
,	O
and	O
discovery	O
of	O
the	O
five	O
Antaran	B-Application
X	O
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
victory	O
method	O
with	O
moderate	O
difficulty	O
is	O
the	O
discovery	O
of	O
the	O
five	O
Antaran	B-Application
X	O
's	O
through	O
exploration	O
and	O
sending	O
out	O
of	O
special	O
high-priced	O
exploration	O
fleets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Colonization	B-Application
is	O
of	O
individual	O
planets	O
located	O
in	O
the	O
numerous	O
star	O
systems	O
randomly	O
generated	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
each	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
3	I-Application
,	O
the	O
players	O
utilize	O
own	O
spies	O
in	O
several	O
different	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
either	O
manually	O
control	O
the	O
fleet	O
or	O
allow	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
to	O
take	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
in	O
Space	O
Combat	O
the	O
player	O
can	O
control	O
the	O
attack	O
by	O
designating	O
an	O
overall	O
plan	O
or	O
allow	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
to	O
take	O
command	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
battle	O
can	O
be	O
watched	O
or	O
allowed	O
to	O
play	O
out	O
with	O
only	O
the	O
final	O
results	O
reported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
reviewers	O
cited	O
the	O
cumbersome	O
interface	B-Application
,	O
poor	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
and	O
launch	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
as	O
serious	O
faults	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
did	O
receive	O
some	O
praise	O
for	O
its	O
massive	O
depth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
developers	O
are	O
commended	O
for	O
attempting	O
to	O
innovate	O
in	O
the	O
genre	O
of	O
4X	B-Application
games	I-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
said	O
to	O
have	O
become	O
stale	O
and	O
formulaic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
3	I-Application
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
game	O
of	O
macromanagement	O
,	O
which	O
did	O
n't	O
quite	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
would	O
set	O
broad	O
plans	O
and	O
issue	O
orders	O
from	O
the	O
top	O
,	O
trusting	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
to	O
carry	O
them	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
maddening	O
exercise	O
in	O
battling	O
your	O
own	O
empire	O
’s	O
broken	O
AI	B-Application
for	O
hours	O
,	O
only	O
to	O
discover	O
that	O
you	O
’ve	O
already	O
overcome	O
your	O
only	O
real	O
opposition	O
...	O
you	O
can	O
just	O
click	O
'	O
end	O
turn	O
 '	O
a	O
few	O
hundred	O
times	O
and	O
win	O
without	O
doing	O
anything	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
relies	O
on	O
extensive	O
automation	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
playable	O
,	O
and	O
at	O
its	O
best	O
,	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
succeeds	O
in	O
reducing	O
the	O
micromanagement	O
that	O
often	O
plagues	O
the	O
later	O
stages	O
of	O
games	O
in	O
this	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
the	O
combination	O
of	O
weak	O
opponent	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
unappealing	O
graphics	O
,	O
and	O
having	O
to	O
second-guess	O
the	O
automation	O
makes	O
for	O
an	O
experience	O
that	O
is	O
much	O
less	O
rewarding	O
than	O
you	O
might	O
hope	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpy	O
3/5	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
problem	O
is	O
that	O
[	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
management ]	O
makes	O
the	O
game	O
feel	O
sterile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pelit	O
84%	O
by	O
Niko	O
Nirvi	O
,	O
who	O
later	O
strongly	O
recanted	O
,	O
calling	O
the	O
game	O
"	O
brain-dead	O
"	O
and	O
lamenting	O
that	O
he	O
'd	O
rated	O
it	O
as	O
though	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
was	O
working	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
highly	O
anticipated	O
and	O
much	O
lauded	O
by	O
some	O
gaming	O
publications	O
,	O
Master	B-Application
of	I-Application
Orion	I-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
only	O
a	O
moderate	O
seller	O
and	O
not	O
the	O
breakout	O
hit	O
that	O
the	O
previous	O
games	O
had	O
been	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
generally	O
attributed	O
to	O
an	O
unwieldy	O
and	O
cumbersome	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
poor	O
space	O
battle	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
software	B-Error_Name
bugs	I-Error_Name
that	O
caused	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
crash	O
and	O
were	O
never	O
fixed	O
(	O
save	O
for	O
the	O
two	O
patches	O
that	O
addressed	O
a	O
few	O
of	O
the	O
worst	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
,	O
Infogrames	O
provided	O
no	O
support	O
following	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
release	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
suppression	O
of	O
many	O
popular	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
previous	O
games	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
genocide	O
and	O
refitting	O
of	O
obsolete	O
space	O
ships	O
)	O
combined	O
with	O
the	O
absence	O
of	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
promised	O
new	O
features	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
racial	O
ethos	O
systems	O
and	O
colonization	B-Application
of	O
moons	O
and	O
asteroids	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
player	O
being	O
limited	O
to	O
planets	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
lack	O
of	O
micromanagement	O
or	O
the	O
general	O
character	O
and	O
charm	O
of	O
the	O
predecessors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
significant	O
problem	O
was	O
poor	O
enemy	O
AI	B-Application
(	O
although	O
subsequent	O
community-created	O
unofficial	O
patches	O
made	O
small	O
improvements	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
