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	Galactic Civilizations
	Developer: Stardock Publisher: Strategy First Genre: Strategy Players: 1 Similar To: Colonization Rating: Everyone Published: 04 :09 : 03 Reviewed By: Ryan Newman Overall: 8.5 = Excellent

Screenshots

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Intro
With the release of Master of Orion 3, many gamers felt that their need for a new 4X space strategy title wasn't adequately fulfilled. Even with the relatively recently released and quite excellent Space Empires IV Gold, there can never be too many good titles within a genre, and it's with that that I'm happy to say that Galactic Civilizations is the antidote to the ills of withdrawal felt by disenchanted MoO3 fans. In their latest release, Stardock has created a title that, while not perfect, is able to welcome newcomers to the genre and still be enjoyable to old pros.



Gameplay: 9.5/10
Mankind is about to embark on the journey into space. Hyperdrive technology has been released throughout the galaxy and it also marks the starting point of man's struggle into the stars. Before venturing off into the unknown, the dominant political party needs to be established. The player can choose from a variety of parties whose focus range from war to mercantilism, population expansion, technology, and more. An empirical system will also be in place, giving complete control over everything, but advancement in society and wealth will only truly take place as more democratic systems are chosen. One doesn't have to be chosen though; if someone enjoys being emperor or if they prefer colonies having a little say, they can keep their status as emperor. The choice is all up to the player, and if their leadership skills are up to par, any penalties will be nearly nonexistent. That really exemplifies the freedom that gamers are presented with, which also permeates the title and is Galactic Civilization's greatest strength.

Starting off on Earth, the player is given a survey ship and a colony ship. The survey ships are used to explore the anomalies and debris scattered about space; hidden within will be additional hitpoints for the ship, enhancements for research, and even restorable ships. This will also be the primary way to explore star systems early on, and this is where the real race begins.

Finding optimum planets is key, but the initial range in which the player's ships can travel limits their ability to create a thinned-out empire too early. This is also a time in which the initial research will occur, along the avenues of diplomacy, military tactics, ship and weapon enhancements, communications, with each intertwining and combining to create new topics. Early on, a universal translator will be crucial, but later on, that same research may give way to allowing you to be elusive in diplomatic meetings. Choosing more cultural avenues to research may also contribute to actually winning as combat isn't the only means in achieving victory; cultural influence can cause planets and systems to join the humans either voluntarily or through slick diplomacy. Of course, there's always the option of crushing everyone and ruling with an iron fist.

Once everything is situated, the humans will really be in for a ride as they make first contact. With a handful of races populating the galaxy at the beginning, each having customizable difficulty and behavior (the latter having a little dice to roll to choose how they will act), enough info will be known so they won't be totally unknown. Most races will be standoffish at first, but will be more courteous when their palms are greased a little - or if the humans become a military juggernaut, at which point everything from solar systems to technology and items that are limited to only one per galaxy can be demanded from them. I always ran into a problem on the higher difficulty with one computer opponent flipping out and starting a war, even when they were given the appropriate amount of money and goods. Even though such sporadic behavior was extremely frustrating, it does lend to the erratic nature of politics.

There will be some predictable aspects, though, as there are a few scripted events. Major ones involve a particular race breaking out and engaging heavily in war, colonists breaking off to form their own independent nations (minor races), and a few of the minor races creating rifts in space that result in space creatures running wild. To prepare for such potentially game-ending sequences, gamers can partake in a fairly robust diplomatic system. Within the communication menus, items can be traded, given, or taken to smooth out relations; money can be allocated to espionage and to destabilize their society; and, further on, alliances can be made. Unfortunately, minor races don't get so many features, and this is troublesome when they start sprouting up later on with extraordinary military and economic stats, and decide to mix it up with the big guys.

As time progresses, the player will be forced to deal with moral situations that dictate if he will be good or evil. Being good is tough and will require a solid economy and a happy populace as choosing the 'right' path will normally mean a negative hit in some regard. There's a moderate choice that tends to involve some give and take, but with nothing affected enough to lead to any significant gains or losses. Then, there's the 'bad' choice, and this will give significant gains, but at the cost of the player's morality. These range from colonies going back to a feudal lifestyle, with the choices either leaving them at a loss of planet resources, leaving them be and building around them, or saving the people and forcing them into the military. These are also rife with humor, with the previous example calling the isolationists "hippies" and one where a rampant virus causes people to develop sores, and the juice within them is considered delicious by aliens, leaving the player with the decision to cure them, leave them alone, or make an industry out of selling the juice. The paths chosen here will also lead to how the player is considered: good and bad both have different interfaces, as well as research paths. For instance, my evil ways let me research Darkside, which corrupted those I came into contact with, and also Advanced Slavery - one of the few games to ever even mention slavery as being used as an economic tool, and again, it doesn't need to be researched if the player doesn't agree with it.

Taxation is also delicate with people getting upset over being taxed too heavily, which causes income to actually lower since people will leave instead of paying inflated fees, and a decrease in popularity can ruin the player's good name; this can have further dire results if the player chose to proceed forward in government. Negative opinions weigh heavily when voting time comes around and having a player lose a majority in the senate means a hit in trade, espionage, and other factors. Further governments will also depend on the public's favored opinion to be productive, and if the player is a good leader and the people put all their faith in them, income will skyrocket.

It isn't advisable to be the lone insane villain that is bent on complete domination. Trade is the main source of income, so good relationships mean solid revenue, as the main target when war breaks out are trade vessels. Once enough trade ships have been destroyed, the route will be declared unsafe and that means a hit in monthly income. To work around this, all races are in the United Planets - think of a United Nations of the future - and they will pass laws to protect trade routes, share technology, increase trade routes, ban overly powerful weapons, etc. I have to say, it's teeth-grindingly irritating to not hold much power in the U.P. and see decisions made benefiting the most powerful of races; however, if that main power is the player, being able to control the direction of the council is absolutely enthralling, as is reaping the benefits of being an intergalactic superpower.

When it comes time to exchange blows, an extremely strong economy is needed to sustain prolonged assaults and invasions. If a remote planet is getting hit hard, Galactic Civilization's unique economic system will be used. Players can either wait to build an object, or purchase it to have it by the next turn; there are a variety of purchase plans which will have a percentage rate that charges a higher monthly fee the cheaper the initial purchase price is. So, a strong economy can withstand a barrage of colony ships, assault ships, and buildings all being built turn-by-turn and eating up massive amount of amounts of current and future income.

Combat itself is simplistic, but it's also a bit disappointing. Ships can level up, and Starbases can be upgraded to provide them with repairs and assist in attacks (as well as mine resources, and also boost trade, cultural influence, etc), but both seem to be paperweights once the computer decides to attack. The ability to make custom ship designs isn't there, and packing them in fleets only serves to move them faster and offers no bonuses for attacks for setting them within formations - which, incidentally, can't be seen. When a ship meets a slightly stronger attacker, it becomes very lopsided as multiple ships can attack and still be destroyed. I know a battleship is strong, but it would still take much heavier damage from a dozen or so light starfighters simply from the incoming tons of firepower. So the race for better ships means constantly building and disbanding a ship, as they will eat up monthly resources for upkeep, and you must always be pumping out the newest and best. Planetary invasions fare better, with techniques being learned that can soften the defenses of a planet, but also harm the structures and its resources; there's the ability to detonate the core, pre-empt an assault with gas attacks, use mini-soldiers, and so on. Holding a planet will take time and extensive resources, so war is a long process that isn't to be taken lightly - as it should be.

Governing a vast empire with so much to do could get confusing, but build orders can also be given to officers who govern the colonies. While this worked well enough, I went with a hands-on approach to make sure each planet was sure not to revolt and break off. Administrative tasks are just as important as military duties, and this balance was struck very well, as was the ability to leave smaller details with the feature of build orders, having ships wait until an enemy is spotted to need attention, and more.

What makes Galactic Civilizations so good is that it's so accessible. There were only a few minor cases when a menu or task could've been streamlined, but those were pretty rare. For a game like this, such ease of use is crucial, and Stardock handled it very well. There's also a good deal of in-game options: setting how many turns until autosaving, showing detailed information on the grid map, options to turn off any pop-up messages like asking to upgrade items, or intergalactic news. The most informative bits came from question marks near objects that acted as an outstanding quick resource to access crucial information. It's a good thing those are there, though, because the manual is pretty small for a game like this; the developer's webpage has an extensive encyclopedia and sections with additional information, and even a note saying they were busy making a fun game and couldn't fit it all in the manual, but that isn't an excuse when Paradox and others have done far better jobs for games that are equally - if not more - complex.

Stardock's website will also be where players will find the substitute for standard online play, the Metaverse. After completing a game, the player is asked if they want to submit their score to the Metaverse; upon doing so, they will be ranked and their name displayed for all to see. Initially, others were supposed to be able to download information from the games to learn strategies like research order, timing, and much like replays for WarCraft III. A nice feature was to be that others could download the AI from another's game and face it themselves. Players can also create empires to vie for power of the game's 'empire,' also found on the site, and achieve power by having high ranked players. Multiplayer in a game like this wasn't of particular interest, so the Metaverse is an interesting substitute, but it has yet to be fully implemented. I don't mind it not being fully functional now, but it is advertised so it should've been good to go when it hit the shelves.

The manual is just one of a handful of complaints I have about Galactic Civilizations. The scripted events occur at various times, and it's easy to get trapped and have it almost impossible to actually advance due to circumstances that popped up with a certain race. Minor races also have minimal contact, despite being incredibly powerful, and they really come onto the scene too hard at times; I can't imagine a sect breaking off and managing to have a military might beyond those of the major players. As I said, ship combat is also lopsided and even though there are several factors to consider as to why a slightly more advanced ship would whip a large number of slightly inferior vessels, it isn't explained well enough to justify some of the more horrid massacres. The biggest problem came with the crashes. Unfortunately, a handful of my games tended to crash to the desktop in the later portions, which was even more annoying since I had invested so much time. With all that said, the crashing is my primary complaint as the rest can easily be overlooked.

Graphics: 6.5/10
I don't ask for much when it comes to graphics. I go with what fits a game, because in a case like Europa Universalis, less is better and the theme just worked, and that's how it is here. Developers who go into titles like this with overly ambitious graphics end up making a mess, but when they lay out a clean grid that's decorated with pleasant looking planets and anomalies, I'm good to go. I did have a problem with some of the ship designs; if a minimalist approach is taken, at least make what's given the best it can be, and quite a few of the ships just looked poor. What little effects exist are fairly good; the still shots to show on-going events around the galaxy, and the animated bits to show the other races and crucial events to the humans (invasions, first trade routes, etc.), also did their jobs well.

Sound: 7/10
The music has a relaxed sound to it, but fits well with whatever changes come about. Exploration feels more like sailing out onto an open sea, rather than going headlong into a vast emptiness. It's the perfect tone, and is a good example of easy listening. The sound effects, on the other hand, weren't up to par. Explosions and laser fire sounded like they were lifted from an Atari title, and if that wasn't bad enough, the quality was poor; luckily, such sounds are only predominant in conflict and aren't consistently heard.

Control: 9/10
As stated, the streamlined menus make most processes easy affairs. There were only a few instances when a process seemed to have an unnecessary step or two, but it was never anything too drastic or time consuming. All of this makes it not nearly as intimidating to newcomers as its contemporaries, and it really becomes impressive as to just how everything was handled whenever it gets to a late date and there is tons of information and things to do. Following specific items on the overall grid can be a pain, but there's a multitude of icons to choose from to display specific items on the mini map. The only thing that caught my eye was the mini chart on the interface that displayed the power of the various factions didn't always appear accurate with what was held in the general consensus by the United Planets. Overall, though, this was an outstanding job and it'll go a long way in hooking new players to the one-more-turn syndrome.

Overall: 8.5/10
Minor complaints and a game-crashing bug keep Galactic Civilizations from achieving a higher score. However, it definitely deserves an Editor's Choice Award as it's incredibly addictive and has sucked more of my time than I'd care to admit. I wholeheartedly recommend Galactic Civilizations and there's no doubt that my complaints will be addressed shortly with a patch, and not to worry; it's still a great title as-is.

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