Each starfighter carries a certain combination of energy weapons, missiles or torpedoes, and a number of units are equipped with nonlethal EMP cannons.

As a result, the Earth Empire sends out expeditionary sleeper ships to distant planets found to have abundant natural resources and harvests them.

A peaceful insurrection in the 47th century results in the Earth Empire's leader, the Tzar, personally leading the destruction of a rebellious planet.

The game picks up several months after the Battle of Bennay, when the player character signs up for combat duty with the League as it fully mobilizes for war.

As a result, they decide to launch a counterattack on the Alpha Centauri system, where a civil war is raging in between League supporters and Earth Empire loyalists.

If the player is successful on Alpha Centauri, the Earth Empire and the League forge a peace as they reach a tactical stalemate after the Faction is defeated.

Success in the Sol system requires that the player defeat the Tzar's personal Super Titan (a final boss).

If the player gets this ending without failing any act or mission during the entire campaign, there will be an additional scene: A disc-shaped spaceship, flying above an unknown sun.

[4] The in-game soundtrack was written and produced by Tim Wright, who also composed music for the Wipeout series of games released by Psygnosis.

[7][8][9][10] IGN elaborated that "The game has an incredible sense of scale and space ... One minute you're flying your small attack fighter through a formation of giant (and I mean h-u-g-e) space cruisers, desperately trying to avoid the massive laser beams they're firing at you, and the next you're flying like a madman in the midst of a swarm of tiny enemy attack fighters trying to destroy them before they send you floating home in pieces.

"[7] Boyer also made Colony Wars his pick for "Sleeper Hit of the Holidays" several months before EGM reviewed the game,[12] and in EGM's 1997 Editors' Choice Awards, it was a runner-up for "Best PlayStation Game of the Year" (behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), "Best Graphics" (behind Final Fantasy VII), and "Best Sound" (behind Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee).

[13] GamePro gave it a 4.5 out of 5 in control and sound and a perfect 5.0 in graphics and fun factor, saying it "easily ranks as the best space-combat game on the PlayStation.

"[6] GameSpot took the reverse position, saying that the storyline and general mission presentation are bland, but that the gameplay excels due to the intense situations which arise during combat.

[14] Star Trek: Invasion (2000) is a similar space combat simulator for the PlayStation developed by many of the same people that worked on the Colony Wars series.