Galactic Civilizations II continues the legacy of classics such as Master of Orion and Sid Meier's Civilization series.
GalCivII is one of the most engaging and well-designed games that I've had the privilege of playing. I have always been a fan of turn-based strategy games versus the more popular real-time genre, and with the recent release of the final expansion pack, Twilight of the Arnor, I can't imagine that my preference will change any time soon.
The story behind the game's campaign setting is simple but well thought-out: The galaxy is a big and populated place, but interstellar travel by its various inhabitants is limited due to the lack of practical transportation technology-at least until humankind makes its debut on the galactic scene with the invention of superluminal travel capable of being integrated into individual ships. With easy interstellar travel now possible, relations between the various races change, bringing about concepts such as interplanetary trade and (gasp!) interstellar warfare.
The campaign focuses on humanity's integration into galactic society, although you can also choose to play as any of the other races. Each race has its own benefits and drawbacks, of course, and there are numerous ways to "win" the game, be it with military might, superior technology, or by simply being the most well-liked race in the galaxy.
For those of you who've played any classics such as Master of Orion, the concept of GalCivII is nothing new-it's the presentation of the game that places it in the same league as such hallowed games. I get the feeling that the guys at Stardock approached their design concept by saying something like, "Okay, if the Master of Orion franchise were dropped in our laps, what would we do with it? How could we make it better?" The game interface is clean, attractive, and logically designed. The icons for game management elements, such as Research or Planetary Management, are intuitive. You can automate these elements to a certain degree or you can micromanage the heck out of them. And, in what I consider to be a truly inspired development decision, you can even design your own ships by putting them together piece-by-piece, as if someone dumped a big bucket of Space-Legos in front of you and said, "Here you go, have at it."
One of the criticisms that has been leveraged against the game is the lack of tactical combat, and while it's true that hardcore grognards might be initially disappointed with such an exclusion, I believe that repeated play will show that the game more than makes up for this design decision with superior (and scalable) artificial intelligence. The game seems possess the unnerving ability to learn and adapt to your playing style, offering up a challenge that won't make you miss the lack of multi-player capability, which seems to be the second major criticism of the game. But really, how often do you think people would take advantage of multi-player capability in such a game as this? As someone who has attempted to play Civilization IV over the internet, I can tell you how extremely frustrating it is to begin a game against another person only to have them (A) quit when they think they're going to lose, (B) quit for no apparent reason, or (C) promise to continue the game at a later time and then renege on that promise. GalCivII, bless its code, will never quit on you, and it will always be waiting to play with you. Perhaps Stardock will incorporate multi-player and tactical combat into a (hopefully coming some day) GalCivIII, but until then, you're going to have your hands/claws/tentacles full as it is.
The way I see it, if you're still reading my review at this point, you're obviously interested enough in this type of game that I would heartily recommend it along with the two expansions. I can also recommend downloading the game directly from Stardock, and as of this writing you can get the entire Dread Lords/Dark Avatar/Twilight of the Arnor package for $60.00 USD, which is an absolute bargain in my book.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a galaxy to conquer…