If you enjoy sex, hanging out with friends and a Family, stay clear of this game.
First of is the interface of the game. Two Words: Complete Customization. No longer do you have to deal with a game that offers horrible interface screens that seems to take half the screen, in this game you can place it were you feel like it. If you’re a veteran of turn based games, I’ve said enough to get your attention.
Second is the game’s AI. I think it was in MGS2 that they said that “The quality of a hero is measured by the caliber of its enemies” meaning that there is no glory in defeating the local girls scout basketball team, the real glory comes from defeating the 1992 USA Dream Team. In this this game the IA IS the1992 USA Dream team. This punk (I’m Refering to the AI) will totally own you if you do not play your cards right. It truly feels like you are always playing against a human player since it is constantly looking to outsmart you in many ways, mostly NOT thru military action. It will form alliances with other races if you grow to powerful for it to confront you, it will use spies to predict your next move and will try to raise prices of whatever it is you need to advance just so it will take you longer to reach it. It will also see thru your charade if you try to position your armada near its borders while you wave the white flag. And if you’re going to talk about AI you have to talk about the game’s …………….
10+ Races: When was the last time a game had this many DIFERENT races to choose from? And that’s 10 WITHOUT counting the other 6 or so “Smaller “ races. Oh, and Did I mentioned you can choose ANY of them? Did I also forgot to mention you can create YOUR OWN race? The beauty of it is that they all play different, meaning that those you call friends while being race “A” may be your worst enemies if you decide to be race “B”.
Extras: Aaahhh yesss. We call them extras, console lovers call them “Side quests”. Anyhow GCII has plenty of them. From customization that actually has an effect on how the ships perform in battle (a quite Robust list of customization options if I may add) to a large list of random events that too, have an effect on the entire game. So far the one that really impressed me was when one of my scouts found a lost precursor temple, inside he found a lost artifact that turned out to be an ancient weapon. Of course I started research on this new weapon as soon as I could; and as soon my enemies found out what it was (thru spying of course, those rats!!!) they quickly turned nice and wanted me to join their trading routes while retreating their battlecruisers from my bordes. Truly amazing. Yet the part of this game that truly impresses me is………..
The Story: Truly engaging indeed. The developers must have dedicated months if not years to come up with a story that involves EVERY SINGLE race in the game; and how each one is entangled with the other is truly amazing; Only Betesha and Blizzard can stand firm against this tipe of storytelling. All in all, this game is just too good to be true. If you like turn based gaming you’ve just reached heaven. But a word of warning to this tale……..if you enjoy sex, hanging out with your friends and a family, stay clear of this game. Because once you enter the world of Galactic Civilizations you may never want to leave. Ahhhh hell I’ll just say it……………..In the words of Master Yoda: “Consume you it Will”