Introduction

Browse through any store that sells video games nowadays and you'll be amazed at the staggering amount of choice available to the average gamer. Every genre imaginable is playable, whether it's a gun blazing First Person Shooter, fantasy based Role Playing Game or even a gut wrenching Aviation Simulation. Personally, I've always been a fan of the glorious 4X genre, especially after playing the wonderful Master of Orion II, which was released in 1996. Regrettably though, for the last ten years, space-themed 4X games have been a rare sight, with only two coming to mind; Galactic Civilizations and Master of Orion 3. Neither was as good as anticipated, since the first lacked depth and the latter lacked user friendliness. However, when Stardock announced that Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords was in the making, I knew that hope was on the horizon again for the space-themed 4X genre.

Sorry, 4X…?

Most strategy games only allow total conquest and domination via brute force but in reality, we all know that isn't always the case. Politics, economy, diplomacy and culture all play an important role in our everyday lives, so why not in our video games too? That is the entire philosophy behind any 4X game, and millions of people have been addicted to the genre ever since the first two landmark games emerged in the early 90’s. But before I dive deeper into this complicated genre, let me quickly explain the reason for it being called “4X”. What 4X means is that literally, the game can be defined by four words with an X; eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. This might look like a very simple definition but trust me; rarely do games successfully balance the four crucial elements correctly like in Sid Meier’s Civilization series, which is still considered the “daddy” of the genre.

I must confess though, for my part, I have never been a fan of the original Civilization games, no matter how successful they are because I simply don't like the setting. Controlling entire galaxies or solar systems is much more appealing than dominating countries or cities and for that reason alone, I've always been a fan of the sci-fi, space themed 4X games. The original Galactic Civilizations offered exactly what I had been searching for; complete galactic domination. Released for PC in 2003, the game was very enjoyable, especially thanks to its compelling AI that made every session varied and fun. Unfortunately, this was nothing new since my all time favorite, Master of Orion II, had already accomplished such a feat years before. In addition, whereas the newer game only permitted you to play as the humans, the older allowed several different races and even the ability to create your own if you deemed it necessary. Simply put, the 1993 game was richer, more immersive and more addictive than the newer one. Realizing this, Stardock began to work on a sequel, trying to get that magical feel that games like Civilization IV have achieved in spades lately.

The Engine

The most important thing to have in any 4X game is a reliable 3D engine because the worst-case scenario is that you spent your entire afternoon playing a tense session when all of a sudden, the game crashes and of course, you failed to save regularly. Sadly, this will happen quite often in Galactic Civilizations II if you don’t install the numerous patches available. So all I can say is; download the updates before playing the game! They exist for a reason and once you finish installing them, you will be treated to a rock solid 3D engine. Not only that but it’s a very frugal engine too, barely using any resources at all to run smoothly.

Here are the minimum requirements:
• Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
• Pentium III 800Mhz or equivalent processor
• 256MB RAM
• 32MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card

It surprises me how low some of these games’ minimum specifications can be nowadays, especially when you compare them to some of the older games out there. For example, Max Payne 2 was released in 2003 and demanded that a computer have at least 1 GHz to run it. Glancing back at the requirements above, you’ll obviously notice that this isn’t the case with Galactic Civilizations II, which let me remind you, is being released in 2006. What this means is that the latest game from Stardock is accessible to everyone.

The Outside

Usually, I’ll describe the graphics and sound departments separately but for Galactic Civilizations II, that won’t be the case. Why you may ask? Simply because there isn’t enough to say about either except that they are sub par for the average gamer. By making the 3D engine as undemanding as it is, the graphics are extremely bland. The problem is that the game is awfully empty, with only the rare planet or ship ever being shown. And even those infrequent objects aren’t that well made, using blurry textures and low polygon counts as you can see in the various screenshots. The only things that stand out in the graphics department are the sleek interface and the different cinematics. The rest is forgettable, if not worse.

Sadly, the same applies to the sounds and music in Galactic Civilizations II. While the music isn’t specifically bad or anything, it is slightly repetitive and after hearing it for the hundredth time, you will have a crazy urge to rip your hair out, I am now bald. Luckily though, since this is a PC game, the option of muting it and playing your own tunes in the background is always a possibility. As for the sound effects, they are so rare and spartan that I have difficulty remembering whether they sounded good or bad. Overall, like the music, the sound effects weren’t anything atrocious but they weren’t exceptionally amazing either.

The Inside

Now, in a normal game, everything I have written in the previous section would hurt the overall review of the title in question, but for Galactic Civilizations II, that just isn’t the case. Graphics and sound are a bonus in a 4X game, not a requirement as the most important factor is what lies under the skin: the gameplay. I’ll get straight to the point; this is what the original Galactic Civilizations should have been all along. The amount of work put into this sequel is apparent from the moment you start the game and for that alone, Stardock deserves plenty of credit. For example, it is generally known that 4X games aren’t the “pick up and play” kind, requiring a steep learning curve that can take quite a few days to get the hang of. Reading through the typically enormous manuals isn’t of much help either so, to get you at home with the basics of the game, Galactic Civilizations II has several video tutorials to explain everything from the combat to the trading. Believe me, even if you are a seasoned 4X player, going through these lessons is almost a necessity because Stardock has also rendered the game much richer than its prequel. The ability to have nine different predefined races, or even the ability to create your very own custom race is just an instance of how much more involved the player can be in this game. In general, everything that needed fixing from the prequel has been corrected and thankfully, nothing was broken in the process.

However, even with all the tweaking, Galactic Civilizations II only offers two different modes; the campaign and skirmish modes. Regrettably, a multiplayer option is absent, even when it was proven last year in Civilization IV that an online 4X game is achievable. But to be honest, this just doesn’t matter because the gameplay is so rich and varied that you can never get tired of this game by yourself. No two gaming sessions will ever be similar in the slightest of ways because there are so many different ways of playing with the dynamic AI. Whatever path you take during your conquest of the galaxy, whether it’s a cultural guru or iron fisted warlord, the AI will adapt to your style of playing, rendering the game highly enjoyable. If the computer sees that your civilization is mostly an economic one, they will start to build up their military strength and vice versa. Not only that but if an adversary deems itself doomed against your might, they might decided to surrender their planets to one of your other opponents, making your life a living hell. It’s that kind of ingenuity from the AI that makes Galactic Civilizations II a blast to play, even if there isn’t any form of multiplayer.

What I enjoyed most though were the different methods of victory, ranging from military domination to technological superiority. My all time favorite strategy of defeating foes was by becoming an economic empire and buying everyone’s allegiances with my abundance of cash, forcing them to do war in between themselves while leaving me out of it. Even better was by staying very neutral so that none of the other empires interfered with me while I secretly influenced the other colonies to rebel and join my cause. The diverse manners of controlling your vast empire was also particularly captivating, with the choice of having a harsh dictatorship or a more complicated democracy where votes might kick you out of power. Best of all is grasping the notion of how immeasurable Galactic Civilizations II freedom is. The first time you lay your eyes on the research tree will be an awe-inspiring moment because there is an abundance of much choice available. Add to that the possibility to build and customize your own spaceships, controlling every aspect of their creation from the shape, design and components and you’ll start to understand what I mean by freedom.

One mustn’t forget about one of the biggest changes between Galactic Civilizations II and its prequel; the brand new scripted campaign. As the Humans, you find yourself immediately an enemy of the evil Drengin Empire that will stop at nothing to destroy you. However, as you gain more allies and further your war against the Drengin, you soon discover an even greater threat than initially imaginable. I won’t spoil the story but this is one campaign that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end. One interesting thing worth mentioning about the story mode is that Stardock allows a lot of liberty in the way you have to play out these various missions. Even if you fail one, you can still move forward in the campaign if you wish to do so. Sure, there will be minor consequences for skipping a mission but Galactic Civilizations II doesn’t stop you from completing the campaign just because you can’t succeed a certain level. Sadly, not everything is great since a minor issue still exists; the land and space combats are dull and boring since you have no real input in either of them. Typically, the person with the larger battalion and the most researched armor or weapons is the winner of any combat and while I wasn’t expecting combat warfare like in Homeworld 2 or Age of Empires 3, it would have been nice to see a little more interactivity than what is offered. That said even if I take this into account, it isn’t enough to ruin the magical feeling of conquering thousands of planets by whatever means you want.

Conclusion

I could go on forever, talking about all the lovely details that make this game stand out from its prequel, making it the must have 4X space-themed in recent memory. It might not have the multiplayer appeal of Civilization IV and it might not have the graphics of games like Doom III but what it does have is a polished gameplay that will have you addicted within the first hour, even with the somewhat steep learning curve. Add to that the compelling AI, the limitless freedom and it’s obvious that Galactic Civilizations II is a jewel among games. For me, it brought back memories of my all time favourite game Master of Orion II since it almost feels like an updated version. That is the best compliment I can give.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Gameplay 20/20
Graphics 10/20
Sound 10/20
Value 20/20
Preference 20/20
Overall 80/100

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