Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition

 PC
Metascore
tbd

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8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 39
  3. Negative: 3 out of 39
  1. Yazah
    Nov 21, 2011
    9
    The ultimate edition adds both expansions and the base game to make a very product. It is a great turn-based strategy game that gives you tonsThe ultimate edition adds both expansions and the base game to make a very product. It is a great turn-based strategy game that gives you tons of customization options (very powerful shipbuilding tool) as well as extensive strategy options for winning.… Full Review »
  2. Bobchillingwort
    Jul 22, 2013
    3
    In what seems to be a running theme for Stardock, this game is frustratingly opaque. I love a good 4X game. I've spent hours playing Civs 3In what seems to be a running theme for Stardock, this game is frustratingly opaque. I love a good 4X game. I've spent hours playing Civs 3 & 4 (plus assorted mods), and have gotten a bit of enjoyment out of Endless Space (after hacking through a number of ill-explained systems).

    Perhaps Galactic Civ II is indeed like Endless Space, and you have to spend hours either learning about the game online or having a friend explain it to you to get anywhere. Sadly I just don't have the patience for that sort of nonsense anymore. Want to know what the buildings a future tech will unlock do? No mousing-over for you, you have to instead right-click on the tech and read about it in a confusing menu. The game frequently fails to recognize when you click to select a tech, and uses a bizarre, confusing color scheme to show what you've researched or have selected. Does Stardock have a chronic condition which prevents them from telling me where my production is coming from, using a simple mouse-over? I ran into this issue in Fallen Enchantress and it's present here as well. Another recurrent issue is the game not saying how many turns a certain go-to order will take a unit to execute. I'm not even sure how you automatically resolve go-to orders without first ending your turn. Every other game just carries them out once you've given orders to every unit awaiting a manual move, but not here.

    Other issues abound. There are like eight different sliders for tech, money, happiness and production. I'm not even sure what bonuses my approval rating was giving me, since of course there was no mouse-over explaining the statistics behind my production and income figures. Perhaps it was buried under some sub-menu. Starting racial unique traits are very poorly explained, all something like "easily forms coalitions against enemies" is telling me is that I have to go onto some forum to find out what sort of modifier is actually in effect. Some starting civs have outrageously good starting attributes, but are apparently genocidal brutes and don't have a diplomacy modifier listed. Does this mean they can't conduct effective diplomacy at all, or just don't get a bonus? Are the "Extreme Isolationists" actually forced to play as isolationists?
    I guess I could figure all this out after six hours of internet research or whatever, but at this point I'm just sick of 4X games tossing me in a sea of incomprehensible data and expecting me to to visit their official forums or whatever to learn how to play the game. Curse you Stardock for releasing expansions to this game for years without giving it even basic user-friendly menus. If I wanted to play around with confusing spreadsheets I'd open up Excel while blindfolded.    … Full Review »
  3. DarkSoul47
    Mar 6, 2014
    8
    As it's name says, it's a civilization-like game in space. Every race has it's own tech-tree, special abilities etc. Creating your own shipsAs it's name says, it's a civilization-like game in space. Every race has it's own tech-tree, special abilities etc. Creating your own ships is a great feature. And, for every different mission, there's a one ship, that makes it a deep game. Different kind of weapons, modules, defence systems makes it a lil' bit complicated at start. And AI is really brilliant in diplomacy. They're not so great in wars but when you're in diplomacy screen, it feels like you're playing against real players. I wish, there was a real-time strategy elements in this game. Space wars in Real-time would be really great. You can watch the combat of your fleets but commanding them would be really nice. Economical mechanism is stable. Mining bases and trade routes are great features.

    sum: If you're a fan of civilization and if you like space theme, that's a great game for you.    … Full Review »
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