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Galactic Civilization II: Dark Avatar

Score: 95%
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Publisher: Stardock
Developer: Stardock
Media: Download/1
Players: 1
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy/ Strategy


Graphics & Sound:

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar is all about improvements. While the gameplay has been greatly altered, the first and most noticeable changes are the visuals. The game still sticks with the style of the original, though with major improvements. Everything is much cleaner and smoother. Ships look better and show off more details. The galaxy itself also feels a little more detailed and not as barren. There’s also the usual assortment of weapon effects and explosions.

As with the first game, sound is sound. Music and sound effects are present, but for the most part you probably won’t realize its there most of the time. In the long run, this is actually a good thing since music isn’t a distraction and when you do hear something, you know it is probably important.


Gameplay:

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar begins after the original. The Dread Lords have been defeated and relative peace has descended upon the galaxy. However, the Drengin aren’t content with this peace and begin to turn on their once allies, conquering the universe in the process. A dispute soon breaks out between the Drengin Empire and one of their clans, the Korath. The Empire wishes to simply use their conquered foes as slaves, while the Korath feel their enemies are better off dead. This brings in one of Dark Avatar’s first major improvements, a worthwhile Campaign mode. The original Campaign mode was enjoyable, but it was simply window dressing. Here, the story will set up situations that require you to change your play style and tactics, such as having to sneak around the galaxy, deploying spies or forging alliances.

Still, even with improvements to the main campaign, the real fun is with the Sandbox mode. Just as with the original, it is easy to lose hours of time playing managing your galactic empire. And, as with the Campaign mode, the Sandbox mode has also seen a few tweaks that make it even better. For one, the colonization process has been changed, alleviating the galactic gold rush found in the original. Only a handful of planets can be colonized from the start; others require specialized technology to colonize. And, since certain planets require specialized technology, you’ll have to be careful about what you choose.

Asteroid mining now gives that added boost to resource production, plus it gives you backup production later in the game. If you have mining facilities set up on an asteroid, you can divert its production to nearby planets, upping their resource output.

Espionage now plays a bigger role and isn’t a massive money sink. When used properly, espionage can completely alter an enemy’s production efforts. The uses are nearly limitless, from log jamming economies to getting the drop on enemy tactics to even causing civil strife on planets. Spies can also be deployed to hunt out your opponent’s spies who might be sneaking around your facilities.

Mega-events are another major addition, and one that may or may not be as universally accepted as the other additions. At times during the game, galaxy-changing events will happen, completely changing the direction of gameplay. Plagues and galaxy-wide riots can break out, sometimes working to your advantage while at others presenting a major disadvantage. Personally, I found mega-events fun. Even when I was on the losing end of an event, it provided just enough of a change to keep me on my toes and caused me to really think about what I was doing.

There’s still no multiplayer aspect, though the depth of the Campaign and Sandbox modes offer more than enough game.


Difficulty:

One of the great things about Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar is its customization options. The original offered quite a few options and Dark Avatar only expands the options. Everything can be customized, from how your opponents move through their tech trees to economies to even how much processor power your opponent’s A.I. has to work with. The less power it gets, the less time it has to think about its moves. Customization options also extend to creating your own races, ships and enemies.

Still, even with all of the available options, Dark Avatar takes some time to learn. It is a deep game that requires patience to learn, so don’t expect to jump in and become a galactic power – even with everything turned down. Even on lower settings, the A.I. is great at knowing how to get the most out of what it has to work at.


Game Mechanics:

One of the few downsides with Galactic Civilization II: Dark Avatar is that isn’t as engaging as the rest of the game. You can make decisions about your overall tactics, though battles are really just number comparisons.

While all races share common technologies, each has a special ability that fit its style. For example, the Korath have an Annihilation ability that lets them wipe a planet clean of all life. These abilities add yet more strategy to the game, forcing you to vary how you deal with each race.

Dark Avatar keeps the same interface as Dread Lords and tries to make things as easy as possible. For the most part, the interface is well laid out and not overly difficult to use. Menus have been cleaned up and are a little easier to use.

Galactic Civilizations II: The Dread Lords was a great strategy game and its expansion, Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar only makes it better. If action is more your thing, this isn’t the game you are looking for – but if you are a hardcore strategy nut, this is the game for you.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows 98/ME/2000/XP; Pentium III or equivalent processor; 512 MB RAM; 128MB VRAM; Direct X 9.0c
 

Test System:



Windows XP; Pentium 4 1.8 GHz; Radeon 9250 256 MB; 640 MB RAM; DirectX 9.0c

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Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated