Windows

Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor

Galactic Civilizations 2: Twilight of the Arnor is one of the best expansions I have ever experienced in my many years of gaming. If you’re a fan of GalCiv2, pick this up. It’s as simple as that.

Twilight of the Arnor is a marvelous addition to an already stellar turn-based strategy series and if you have even the slightest interest in this type of game, you need to own the entire series. This is the type of game, particularly with this final add-on, that will stay on your hard drive for a long, long time. We simply cannot make it any more plain than that.

For better or worse, Arnor is an add-on that completes its parent game rather than simply expanding its scope. Some of the minor adjustments, primarily those made to the interface, seem better suited to a patch than an expansion; others are so immediately and obviously integral to enjoying the game that -- and I hate to abuse this expansion pack cliché -- I honestly can't imagine reverting to a previous version.

If you’re into turn-based strategy and you enjoyed the original Galactic Civilizations II and its first expansion, chances are you’re still trying to stitch together the shreds of your personal life those games left undisturbed. So, your family and friends (if you have any left) would probably wish you to skip this last expansion and just go on your merry way. However, it’d be a real shame to miss out on this one; it caps the mini-trilogy with a flourish and makes us very, very eager to see what the next proper release in the franchise will have to offer.

Multiplayer quibbles aside, there's simply not that much to complain about in Twilight of the Arnor and far, far too many things to praise in this small amount of space. The technology trees alone make it impossible for someone who's sampled Twilight of the Arnor to ever go back to just playing Dark Avatar. Add to that impressive customization tools, new gameplay dynamics, better AI, graphic upgrades, new ship-builder components and completely re-done flavor text and hundreds and hundreds of smaller tweaks, fixes and changes and what you have is an absolute triumph and a new standard for turn-based-strategy games. Bravo, Stardock. This is how expansion packs should be done.

If you're looking for something to do with the rest of your life, you might want to check this game out. If this game had a dedicated multiplayer mode, I would want to live forever.

Единственный проект, мешавший воцарению Galactic Civilizations 2 на троне 4X-игр, — одна из икон «золотого века PC», культовая Master of Orion 2. Благодаря Twilight of the Arnor споры о первенстве потеряли смысл. Stardock в который раз проигнорировала мультиплеер и тактические бои, однако лучшего способа стать Императором Галактики вам не найти.

Aside from the small bugs and the controversial tech-tree redesign, Twilight of the Arnor delights us with lots and lots of new features, and I believe that even months from now I won’t discover all its secrets. I for one wish that more producers would embrace Stardock’s approach of creating a game by taking into consideration the feedback of their fan base and actually care about the quality of the finished product.

There are no two ways about it: if you like space strategy games, you have to play Galactic Civilizations II. And if you play Gal Civ II, you have to play Twilight of the Arnor. Just based on the improved graphics and the unique technology trees, it's well worth picking up. Sure, the terror stars are too costly for their limited applicability, and yes, the Ascension victory seems to sidestep the point of actually playing the game, but when you balance that against the numerous other improvements that Stardock has made, there's no way we can't recommend this to anyone looking for a deep, rewarding, utterly captivating turn-based strategy experience.

None of this would mean a thing if the game’s single-player AI (there are still no proper multiplayer options) wasn’t pitch perfect. It clearly is, and Stardock deserves kudos for making Twilight of the Arnor as intricate, layered, and challenging as a turn-based 4X space strategy game has any right to be. Old school still rules.

With Twilight completing the games legacy and all three games available for a generous price, it’s a great time to pick up one of the deepest games around. When the biggest addition I can think to the game is a ‘real time’ clock somewhere on the UI so I can keep track of how much of my life the game is stealing, that’s saying something.

This game just became elevated to my personal list of all-time PC favorites: HOMM II, Caesar III, King’s Quest 6, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island III, Quest for Glory IV, Civilization IV and now, Galactic Civilization II. I never thought I would enjoy a space game as well. It’s almost like playing HOMM in space. This game is probably not as well-known or advertised as some games, which is a shame, as it is a must-have game for any fan of turn-based strategy games. Oh, I also enjoyed the Reviewer’s Guide, which was written by Brad Wardell. Great reading! Missed the recipes, though.

Adding this much new life to what should be a very familiar game is an amazing achievement. While no single addition here can be said to make this expansion, the scope of the subtle yet wide-ranging changes greatly improve the Galactic Civilizations II experience. Before Twilight of the Arnor, players could stick to the Terrans and encounter everything that the game had to offer. Now, you deal with something new each and every time you go galaxy conquering with a different alien race, which freshens up a game that was in need of exactly this kind of facelift.

Zoveel verniewing in een uitstekend spel brengen is een hele prestatie. Het is ook niet zo dat een bepaalde verbetering alle aandacht opeist, wel dat het geheel aan aanpassingen de complete spelervaring naar een hoger niveau tilt. Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor moedigt je echt aan om met elke beschaving te spelen, en dat verhoogt de waarde van deze klassieker aanzienlijk.

Na jaren van gebreken bijschaven en verbeteringen toevoegen staat Galactic Civilizations op eenzame hoogte in het 4X-genre.

Twilight of the Arnor constitue un juste couronnement pour la série Galactic Civilizations. Ce nouvel add-on (nécessitant le jeu original et son grand frère) est tout simplement brillant.

All told, Twilight of the Arnor does an excellent job adding more meat to an already meaty game. It's a bit raw and bloody deep in the middle, but still quite satisfying.