Galactic Civilizations II... Best game ever?

[Fayde]

I bought GalCiv2 on sale via Impulse yesterday, but didn't get to play it until today... Needless to say I have literally had it on-screen ALL day (not really playing it all day), and have yet to exit the game on my computer until just now (midnight). I just finished a small game, mostly to get the mechanics and the general idea.

So, it is a civ-style game obviously, but it completely destroys the Civilization series by a long shot. It is FAR more complex and deep than any of the Civ games I've played (2, 4 and 5). While there are a lot of the same features, variable win conditions and so on, the amount of little strategies in this game is VAST.

You can do SO much during your turn, and I mean, SOOOOOO much. Rather than just having such-and-such make you money, and then you can buy it, you have to assign your money toward specific areas of government, such as social, research or military. You also get your income from Tax and Trade, which is adjustable and directly affects your peoples happiness.
Some other things that are different about this game is Spies/Agents. You can gather info about other civs in the galaxy via placement of agents (whom can also be found out and you can get into some diplomatic trouble), and they feed you info on things ranging from why a civ doesn't like you to specific information regarding planetary defenses and "soft spots" in their government, and you can even steal technology. A whole part of the game is figuring out the best diplomatic strats for each race in the game.
Secondly, the diplomacy mechanic in the game is awesome. You can even align yourself as "good' 'neutral' or 'evil', which affects the way other similarly aligned (or not) races deal with you. You can also use diplomatic bonuses you gain through researches and buildings to kind of twist a civs arm into doing what you want (mostly in the cases of weaker civs).

Another interesting thing is the ability to design your own ships (abilities and cosmetics). You can put together your ship using different parts (kind of like Armored Core, only you can also mess with "chrome" parts that do nothing, just look cool). You can make some interesting and powerful ships specific to the task ahead of them. This can eat up a lot of time once you get a military going...

Lastly, a cool little thing you can do during the game is there are occasionally random events that can help or hurt you, but you are given 3 choices which will dictate further your alignment to good, evil or middle. The good will mostly boost morale (happiness), and make people more loyal to you. You can also choose Evil, which will give you a boost in income, technology or some other kind of immediate gain. These choices also offer some funny humor into the game, which is a refreshing twist on a civ game. Like when faced with riots on your newly colonized world, do you want to expend resources to stop the riots or loose 5 million people?: "Let those people blow themselves up! I always liked entertainment I didn't have to pay for!"

Anyway, if you haven't heard of the game, trust me, best game ever. Now... I need to go to bed, gotta get up for school in 6 hours... *punches game*

Sorry for not playing any games with anyone today.. I needed to de-stress on my own today. We'll play tomorrow!!!

PS: I don't think GalCiv2 is multiplayer... but STILL!!! BUY IT SOMEHOW!!!!!! GIVE THEM YOUR MONEYS!!!

[Waspman]

I've seen ads for it I think.
Isn't it developed by the same company that made Sins of a Solar Empire?

[Fayde]

I think it is (at least by the same company). It is in the same style of Masters of Orion (honestly, it feels more like it's sequel than a new game in some respects), as far as super deep/complex, but extremely addicting. I've play through 2 games so far, both small and short (about 3-4 hours each), and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the game. The game feels like SoaSE at times too, as far as managing logistics, and upgrading planets, but this game makes both SoaSE and the Civ series look like Barbie toys when it comes to depth/complexity. I mean, you can specifically build individual sectors of buildings on each of your planets which give them specific roles in your empire. You can land ground troops on the planets and take it over through 3 or 4 different means (gassing the planet, for example).

Another fun feature is the Ascension win condition. If you "mine" these crystals left behind by another civilization, you get a count down to this vitory. The more Ascension crystals you control, the faster the count down. However, these crystals are extremely rare, but always present. I personally went to war over getting a second one, and it lasted months in-game. I was able to get it and win via Ascension. This feature can make the game a little more action packed, as some races will specifically try to go for this victory, and fight you for any crystals in your territory.
Another interesting thing is, you can build star bases in the middle of enemy territory, boosting any military/economic/culture advantage you want to have over them.
You also have to worry about how far your ships can move. Life support systems can only last after such a distance, so you need to grow your empires territory in order to scout further into the galaxy.
The economic system is awesome too. You can go into debt (sometimes for good reason), and much like SoaSE, your main source of income is Tax which is directly related to your population. But, you do not spend the money on each ship. you assign a specific budget for your military, social or research improvements out of the income you currently have. So any ships being built on only 10% of your income will be build extremely slowly, but at 30 or 40%, they will build much faster (same goes for the other branches). You also get income from trade with other civs, which is a lot more complex that it seems, as you then need to keep peaceful relations with them or they cut you and a large amount of income off and you're screwed.
The game is just so awesome, I could go on about it for days... SO addicting.