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The year is 2225. The reckless Humans have joined the other galactic powers in a race for control and domination of the galaxy. The evil Drengin Empire has plans to wipe out Humanity and their allies, but as they will all discover, there is something far worse in the universe than each other… Lead your favorite race in a struggle to dominate the galaxy in Galactic Civilizations LL, a 4X strategy game where you use whatever means necessary-technological advancement, economic might, cultural expansion and military prowess- to survive the epic interstellar war

I used to really enjoy playing an old (DOS Era) turn based space conquest game called Stellar Conquest III. The best thing about that game was the ability to modify ships to any configuration you liked. You could easily make any sort of ship from massively slow base defender loaded down with weapons, to a scout ship, to freighter, etc. Aside from Alpha Centauri, I'd never found another game that captured that same level of freedom and creativity in designing a fleet. Until Galactic Civilizations I came along, and now its sequel, Galactic Civilizations II, which has taken the design process to a whole new level.

I'll admit I'm a micro manager in turn based strategy games. I like tweaking things. I like to make sure everything is optimal. But I know that many people don't like the tediousness of maintaining every little thing. That's where this game excels: you can either customize endlessly, or play using presets that enable you to get right into the game and commanding your empire. The game is versatile enough to please a micro manager or a big picture player.

The graphics are adequate. They are not eye-candy, but they are pleasing enough, and like most turn based strategy games, I'm not playing GC II because the visuals knock my socks off.

Gameplay is excellent. If you play any of the Civilizations games (the Sid Meirs games like CIV IV, CIV IV WARLORDS), you will feel right at home. Camera controls are intuitive and once learned become seamless. You'll forget what you're doing as you pan around and check out your empire.

Overall this is a great game, one that I am enjoying, and one that happily does not include any malicious DRM schemes. It's well worth buying on its own merits, but even more so considering it's makers are not treating me and the rest of the gaming community like a pack of thieves.

If you like turn based strategy in a space setting, this is a perfect choice. Highly recommended.

Galactic Civilization 2 is a great example of a 4x ("eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate") space strategy game. Masters of Orion is an old series with a similar feel. If you have played Civilization, GalCiv2 plays very similarly with planets in space as the only buildable area for 'cities', then other anomalies allow for other environment upgrades.

GalCiv2 is a very complex game, and does not have much of a tutorial to help new players. The basic concept can be hard to learn initially, but is well worth the investment. For anyone familiar with turn-based strategy, it is not too different from the previously mentioned games, and can be picked up pretty quickly. Internet guides and FAQs will also help teach advanced techniques. There is also extensive help available through their official forums.

New content, in the form of two expansions, have greatly lengthened the life of an already excellent game. Stardock shows themselves to be a great company who really work for their customers. I recommend using their Impulse service in conjunction with this game. You should be able to enter the CDKey directly in and download it without needing to put the CD in the drive (I have done this for the Non-Game of the Year edition and the Ultimate Edition).

I recommend the Ultimate Edition over the standard, since it includes the two Expansion Packs, but if the price difference is too great the standard version of Galactic Civilization 2 is well worth giving a try.

Way too complex. I had no idea what the object of the game was, or what to do, and I was a programmer for 36 years. I uninstalled it and threw out the cd.

The GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS series in effect has kept the classic Turn-based Strategy genre alive. When the CIVILIZATION series was going to the dogs (all flashy animations and dummied-down options instead of evolving) and the MASTER OF ORION series was committing seppuku (unable to live with the shame of its 3rd installment), GC reminded us how much fun space colonization can be!

Starting off with a planet in a customizable Universe (size, resource abundance, scarcity of habitable planets etc), one begins his journey of exploration, colonization and conquest. With the exception of roving pirates who can be destructive if encountered early on (but whose annoyance can be deselected), the factions are well balanced and interesting.
The graphics are clear (with full zoom capability), whereas the interface is easy to master and friendly to use.

However, what makes GC so much more fun than any other space colonization game is its ship design options. From freighters and colonist-ships to planet defenders and frigates, there are no limits in what one can build in your dockyard. Want something that looks like STAR TREK's Enterprise, STAR WARS' Millennium Falcon or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Colonial Vipers? Easily done - the sky is the limit.
Research will not only keep you solvent and your people happy but it will also make it possible to better equip your ships. Stronger engines, more effective armor, more destructive weapons.

And, on top of all that, this being a STARDOCK release, it comes free of any intrusive DRM scheme. These days, that alone deserves gamers' support. How much more so that GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II is a great game.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!