Publisher Lighthouse Interactive announced the European street date for its upcoming "4X" (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) strategy game, Sword of the Stars. The game will be released in the UK on September 1, and by the middle of September it should also be available in Germany and France. Just a couple of days earlier, they also released a demo version for the game, allowing you to experience and explore the Sword of the Stars universe as one of two races - the Human SolForce or the dreaded Tarkas Imperium.

The 227 MB demo features unlimited turns within a spherical galaxy made up of 40 stars. Gameplay is limited to "Fission Era" technology and 3 difficulty settings, but it includes alliances, random encounters and a few surprises, as well as a multiplayer mode for up to 4 players, on LAN or online. If you want to give it a hyper-shot, Blue's News compiled this list of mirrors for your downloading pleasure.

And before saying "no, thanks", you might want to know that Sword of the Stars is being developed by the core team behind Homeworld: Cataclysm. Screenshots and a trailer are available locally, if you're still in doubt about Kerberos' 4X space strategy game.

"Sword of the Stars returns gamers to the action-packed roots of the 4X genre with some new twists, including a 3D starmap and real-time combat resolution in a 3D environment! Playing as one of 4 unique races, gamers will explore planets, research new technologies and create empires in a hostile universe where weakness means extinction and only the strongest will survive. Sword of the Stars provides quick, intuitive play, state-of-the-art graphics and tactical combat that make the game instantly involving and rewardingly fun."

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)