Several hours of my life - GONE!

User Rating: 9 | Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor PC
By Joonbeams | Review Date:
- And I'd do it all again (in fact I have). For many, this game falls into the category of "hidden gems", but no real turn-based strategy gamer needs any introduction. I'm a big fan of turn-based strategy games (CIVs being all times classics) so if you're not, there is no point in buying this game. However, if you are, then you are in for a treat. I wouldn't say that there is anything particularly revolutionary here, but this is not necessarily a bad thing - and in the case of GalCivs it's great. Stardock is one of those rare companies that really seems to care about it's fans and their input so the expansions are always notable improvements.

This expansion has better graphics than previous releases (but those don't make or break games), it has distinct races with distinct tech trees - which is awesome (e.g. the Drengin build 'slave pits' rather than factories!), smarter AI, ehanced customizability of ships, and some minor tweaks, but other than that, it stays true to the GalCiv brand that is the standard for space-centered, turn-based strategy games. All in all, TOTA adds real value - I ordered mine in the pre-order but at $20-40 you simply can't beat the bargain.

I rate this a 9/10 mostly for gameplay - it's not a 10/10 b/c it is not particularly original nor 'next-gen'. That said, if you are a PC gamer, there is simply no reason not to own this game. It says a lot about the current state of gaming that this game (or series) isn't flying off the shelves in record numbers.

WARNING - if you play this game, you will lose several hours of your life for the elusive 'one-last turn'. I think about this game at work and hurry home to play it. I'm playing my second game, on higher difficulty, on immense galaxy, with a different race and it's like I'm playing a totally different game!

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