Two years ago Galactic Civilizations II knocked our socks off with its endless turn-based playability and fun gameplay. Then the first expansion, Dark Avatar, came along and did it again, cleaning up the seemingly flawless original with a new flotilla of tweaks and options that made it even more addictive. Now the game has seen another release, Twilight of the Arnor, the last expansion and another can’t-miss inter-stellar time waster.

Concluding the Saga

In the storyline leading up to Galactic Civilizations II, the evil Dread Lords had appeared from the depths of space and were running amok across the universe, wiping out civilizations left and right – one turn at a time. The first expansion, Dark Avatar, saw the beginnings of some hope. The Dread Lords were splintering and beginning to show some weaknesses. Now, in Arnor, the Terrans (i.e. us) are given a chance to end it, finding a member of the Arnor, the seemingly long-long civilization that banished the Dread Lords in the first place. Through a new campaign, you’ll get to end the conflict.

It’s nice to wrap things up, but storyline isn’t exactly the attraction here. This series is about sandbox-in-space style gameplay. This expansion just makes that box even bigger, giving you more to do and more sand to do it in. It starts with 12 factions, the same as before, but they’ve finally been given some personalization. Previously, they were all basically the same, just with different attitudes and color schemes. Now, with individual tech trees that suit each race perfectly, you’re forced to choose the faction that suits your play style. You can focus on new weapon types and conquer the galaxy with force as the Drengin Empire, or go for a more peaceable victory as the Arcaen, making relations with distant neighbors using their advanced reactors and cultural tech.

With the diversified tech tree comes a slew of new ships, most important being the giant Terror Star. Inspired by the iconic Death Star, naturally, this ship can wipe out entire planets and everyone on them. This puts a real drag on your opponents’ supply chain, but is an inefficient way to go for victory (orbital bombardment and invasion is far less wasteful). If that’s not enough, the game now ships with six separate editors for creating everything from custom maps to custom technology trees. The tools aren’t pretty, but they’re simple and comprehensive, plenty enough for fans of the game to start filling forums online with their own, custom expansion packs.

There’s even a new way to win: ascension. The maps have so-called ascension crystals floating about in space, evenly (or thereabout) distributed around the playing area. Build a space station on one and you will start earning one point per-crystal per-turn. Earn 1,000 points and you’ll win the game. And yes, that can take a very long time, but games can easily go long enough for this victory condition to become a factor, especially when playing on the new, even larger maps; about a 50-percent bigger than the previous max.

Looks Better, Runs Quicker

It’s rare that strategy game expansions deliver much in the way of graphical improvements. Typically a year or two later, after you’ve spent your $29.99 you’re stuck with a bunch of new units to click on that look more or less as dated as all the original ones. Arnor, on the other hand, features a suite of improvements that make even the old units look considerably better. It’s all down to much cleaner and more detailed textures that make a surprising difference. No, you still won’t be showing the game off to your friends as a demonstration of your new video card’s assets, but it is a nice refresh when compared to the original.

What’s even nicer is the performance boost. If your machine struggled on longer games in the earlier releases, when there were hundreds of ships zipping about the void, you’ll find much smoother gameplay here. We saw consistently high frame rates that never dropped even after hours of gameplay, so if you haven’t upgraded your box since the game’s initial release you won’t be left out here – though you probably won’t be so lucky when Galactic Civ III comes out, which is apparently next on the docket for developer Stardock.

Must Have

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.

Review by: Tim Stevens