Galactic Civilizations III

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 257 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 140 out of 257
  2. Mixed: 69 out of 257
  3. Negative: 48 out of 257

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  1. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 23, 2023
    7
    Solid game, very fun in the early with interesting options with the ship creator. It becomes little repetitive in the mid game and boring in the late game.
  2. apokalipto
    Aug 19, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  3. Istio
    May 13, 2022
    7
    good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good
  4. andre_rossel
    Sep 3, 2021
    10
    A TRUE MASTERPIECE BUT FALL SHORT TO BE A LEGENDARY.

    This is a great game, not good; great, the tech tree has so much love just as the races and their playstyles and personalities, it has the best diplomacy system i ever seen. The AI in general is super responsive to your movements. And balancing economy, military and research can be a real challenge. Ideologies are also fun and ads to    A TRUE MASTERPIECE BUT FALL SHORT TO BE A LEGENDARY.

    This is a great game, not good; great, the tech tree has so much love just as the races and their playstyles and personalities, it has the best diplomacy system i ever seen. The AI in general is super responsive to your movements. And balancing economy, military and research can be a real challenge. Ideologies are also fun and ads to the game balancing between been consistent and do what its best.

    2 things stops this one from complete greatness. First the campaing its crap. Its crap because its too small scale and short to reflect the needs of a game made for civs developing over time on big maps.
    The second it has a meta. One power Ancient its totally broke OP, beats all other by far also missiles with miniaturization beats absolutely anything, just stack power, speed and other mod on small hull to total supremacy. I beat on gifted by research without barely even making contact with other civs. investigated entire tech lines on one turn.    … Expand
  5. ComandanteCobra
    Jul 23, 2021
    7
    It was free on Epic, so I've tried it...Thanks EPIC!!.
    Classic turn based sci-fi game that hook you to play "just one more turn" until very late in the night.
    Lots of races (Star control aliens too with DLC), lots of ships customization, good visual for an old game.....but it suffer form a little of repetitivness and slow micromanagment (late game). Games (random map and not campaign)    It was free on Epic, so I've tried it...Thanks EPIC!!.
    Classic turn based sci-fi game that hook you to play "just one more turn" until very late in the night.
    Lots of races (Star control aliens too with DLC), lots of ships customization, good visual for an old game.....but it suffer form a little of repetitivness and slow micromanagment (late game).
    Games (random map and not campaign) tends to be fun at the beginning and less enjoiable when you have played for many turns.
    Late game phases...when you have to defeat last opponents are slow and with lots of grinding.
    You'll have to manage lots of planets - colony - ships -science-money-resources and so on...at a slow pace (combat preparation is a little slow, especially resource gathering late game)    … Expand
  6. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    5
    Dumber version of the original, that felt less engaging, less interesting and less complex.
  7. Infarktbear
    May 12, 2018
    10
    Großartiges Spiel - empfehle aber, den Expansion Pack Crusade zu kaufen. Intrigue ist nicht nötig.
  8. rockon
    Jan 20, 2018
    8
    This beautifully constructed game may actually be receiving lower average user ratings than what it should simply because, whether stated or not, the extremely high difficulty level, deep complexity, frighteningly steep learning curve, and slow-as-molasses game development wear entirely on their nerves. This is a game so exceedingly difficult to beat that users have practically beenThis beautifully constructed game may actually be receiving lower average user ratings than what it should simply because, whether stated or not, the extremely high difficulty level, deep complexity, frighteningly steep learning curve, and slow-as-molasses game development wear entirely on their nerves. This is a game so exceedingly difficult to beat that users have practically been weeping online about their being unable to win with any strategy they employ. The secret is that you must study the game like you're taking a college course. It takes many hours of study and play experience to even have a chance to win. Because if you don't play the first 20 turns exactly perfectly, you will lose. You won't find out it's hopeless and that you've blown the game until later and you've wasted your time by making those early mistakes. There is zero margin for error or one single bad decision in those first 20. The game really is that hard. First I played the game with cheats to see what it had. I never finished a game with cheats, just took a look. Then I played the game with out cheats and got crushed. Then I got crushed again. And again. Now I've watched about 6 hours of online tutorials and I'm typing notes that now have escalated into four typed pages. I have a few more hours of tutorials to watch before I attempt once again to play. Even after all this studying, the game is so hard that I still don't have the confidence that I can stay out ahead of the AI. The AI opponents are incredibly aggressive even on Normal setting. If you don't watch your diplomacy, you'll have all of them attacking you at once. They won't attack each other. Just you. And then there's little to no hope. As far as trying an Insane map Ascension Victory? You might need to invest 300 hours to finish that single campaign. And regrettably you'll know you've won long before you see the victory screen. Ditto with the Conquest Victory. People are saying leave all Victory conditions enabled. Research victories can also take a long time, but if you're trying a Conquest Victory on one of the bigger maps, you'd better have about two weeks on your hands with nothing else to do but play GCIII. Not a bad vacation, in my book. Get in some food, get some of the green stuff, and kick back in your recliner in front of your PC.… Expand
  9. Fikthenig
    Aug 27, 2017
    6
    The game delivers everything it promised. The only objection I have with this game is that it can get a little boring as time progresses. Although I am not much of a civilization strategic type of gamer, I have played other games like Civilization Revolution, Tropico, and Age Of Empires and I found those to be more interesting then Gciv3. I did appreciate the high end graphics and I taughtThe game delivers everything it promised. The only objection I have with this game is that it can get a little boring as time progresses. Although I am not much of a civilization strategic type of gamer, I have played other games like Civilization Revolution, Tropico, and Age Of Empires and I found those to be more interesting then Gciv3. I did appreciate the high end graphics and I taught the mechanics were just fine. I also felt that the enemies were either too easy to defeat or to hard to oppose.
    Good Luck and Merry Ruling!!!!    … Expand
  10. xtom
    Jun 1, 2017
    9
    Great turn based 4x strategy game. Some newer 4x games go for a colder realistic and immersive look with their graphics but the galaxy maps, planets and UI in GalCiv are colourful, interesting and a joy to look at as you play. The ship designer and steam workshop add a ton of user made ships and civilizations so there's always plenty of new content to explore. Devs are actively working onGreat turn based 4x strategy game. Some newer 4x games go for a colder realistic and immersive look with their graphics but the galaxy maps, planets and UI in GalCiv are colourful, interesting and a joy to look at as you play. The ship designer and steam workshop add a ton of user made ships and civilizations so there's always plenty of new content to explore. Devs are actively working on and improving the game at time of writing. Recommend playing with the Crusade DLC as it adds a lot of great gameplay features and -1 from score if played vanilla.… Expand
  11. JonoR
    May 31, 2017
    6
    GC3 is pretty run of the mill. It only has one real stand out feature: the cosmetic ship designer. You can spend hours in it making ships to fill out your fleet. However, that means nothing in terms of gameplay as what a ship looks like doesn't matter. The fanciest battleship at the base level is just as good as a cube. On the gameplay, well it is...adequate. Nothing really special orGC3 is pretty run of the mill. It only has one real stand out feature: the cosmetic ship designer. You can spend hours in it making ships to fill out your fleet. However, that means nothing in terms of gameplay as what a ship looks like doesn't matter. The fanciest battleship at the base level is just as good as a cube. On the gameplay, well it is...adequate. Nothing really special or amazing about it, particularly when you compare it to the other 4Xs that have come out. It is also a shame that where it is different (the ship designer) the devs have put zero effort into improving it.… Expand
  12. Critical_Fun
    Mar 27, 2017
    5
    Long time Civilization fan and huge space nerd. Both of which are easier for me to figure out than this game. Starts out very fun but I eventually always go broke, even on easy. Maybe I'm just dumb. Never had that problem with Gal Civ 2. It's a shame because other than always going broke, it's a nice concept. Ship building a fun and unique for a large scale strategy game. I justLong time Civilization fan and huge space nerd. Both of which are easier for me to figure out than this game. Starts out very fun but I eventually always go broke, even on easy. Maybe I'm just dumb. Never had that problem with Gal Civ 2. It's a shame because other than always going broke, it's a nice concept. Ship building a fun and unique for a large scale strategy game. I just couldn't afford any late game no matter how much I invested in commerce.… Expand
  13. demondred79
    Feb 23, 2017
    5
    It's hard to put 50+ hours into a game and then give it a thumbs down.
    I've had some good times with the game but mostly it's been either a game that was so trivial to beat the AI (early patches), or maddening ones (patch 2.0).....all while playing normal difficulty. I'm glad the devs are constantly improving and evolving the game but I think it has a critical flaw in that it has simply    It's hard to put 50+ hours into a game and then give it a thumbs down.
    I've had some good times with the game but mostly it's been either a game that was so trivial to beat the AI (early patches), or maddening ones (patch 2.0).....all while playing normal difficulty. I'm glad the devs are constantly improving and evolving the game but I think it has a critical flaw in that it has simply too broad of a surface area on ways to play it, which can easily run the casual gamer into the ground...repeatedly. Ultimately it comes down to a "secret sauce" formula, as seen on countless fan sites, where you are going to lose unless you get a certain minimum amount of objectives done in the first 20 to 100 turns or else you're destined to lose. In other words, the whole game is made in the first series of turns....and the rest is simply a process of going through the motions.

    I've played Civ1 through 5, GalCiv2, Elemental, FE, etc.....and damn do I REALLY want to love galciv3 but it's just too screwy of a game that seems to be angling more for hardcore players. I think the game needs to be focused a bit more starting with the overwhelming state of the research tree. Yep, i'm sure that's controversial but it's WAY too broad. As a player I get sick of clicking through 4 trees (sorry but it needs to be 3) and having 12+ different choices that only (for the most part) very incrementally change the game. Research alone forces a player to micromanage, when that's a turn off for a LOT of people.

    I could talk forever and give example after example but it's just not worth my time. GalCiv4 will need to start from scratch if it wants to win me and others back. By and large it was too similar to GC2 to start with....but made worse by minutia and formulaic measures in order to win.    … Expand
  14. Jaehaerys61
    Dec 31, 2016
    8
    Malgrès son graphismes qui bof, je reconnais que ce 4X est prenant à la long. Mais j'espère que les développeurs vont amélioraient la partie graphismes et l'histoire.
  15. Octomort
    Mar 17, 2016
    5
    A year on,any major updates/improvements? no. Still badly balanced. The interface is an improvement over Galciv 2, especially the research/tech tree. But still just more of the same. Either you overwhelm the AI or it overwhelms you. I've played civ games at immortal level, usually emperor, and total war on highest settings, so have a reasonable idea as a 'normal' player. Just glad aA year on,any major updates/improvements? no. Still badly balanced. The interface is an improvement over Galciv 2, especially the research/tech tree. But still just more of the same. Either you overwhelm the AI or it overwhelms you. I've played civ games at immortal level, usually emperor, and total war on highest settings, so have a reasonable idea as a 'normal' player. Just glad a friend swapped me a copy.
    Give it a try but find a friend who has it and try and borrow their copy before spending money.    … Expand
  16. spambox
    Dec 21, 2015
    4
    -AI seems to cheat badly. I had no 1 military spending economy and research production and AI had always **** load of more ships and technologies even with disabled tech trading. I could not even pay upkeep for 1/4 of his fleet size and I had twice as strong economy.

    -star base defence modules seems to be unbalanced quite lot and its not worth to produce -still quite buggy and game    -AI seems to cheat badly. I had no 1 military spending economy and research production and AI had always **** load of more ships and technologies even with disabled tech trading. I could not even pay upkeep for 1/4 of his fleet size and I had twice as strong economy.

    -star base defence modules seems to be unbalanced quite lot and its not worth to produce

    -still quite buggy and game gets lagy in mid phase since AI produces ships lige crazy idiot seemingly does not need to pay upkeep even for ships.

    -3d reall time battles and ship look designing stuff is pointless fancy waste. It servers no purpose.
    they should at least try to make it like gracious space battles    … Expand
  17. theirrelephants
    Nov 11, 2015
    6
    Rather than building on GC2, it seems to be rather bereft of features by comparison. The campaign was pitifully short and very disappointing.

    The large maps and resource systems have great POTENTIAL, but that's all it is at the moment. With the AI the way it is, I can't really recommend this game at the moment. Just play Galciv2.
  18. Axehilt
    Nov 8, 2015
    5
    Great strategy games are a series of interesting decisions.

    GC3 lacks that flow of interesting decisions to be a great strategy game. Everything else is there. You have all the typical types of decisions (exploration, colonization, research, production) and even some unusual ones (ship design) and it's all executed at a high quality level. But strategy games are about the    Great strategy games are a series of interesting decisions.

    GC3 lacks that flow of interesting decisions to be a great strategy game.

    Everything else is there. You have all the typical types of decisions (exploration, colonization, research, production) and even some unusual ones (ship design) and it's all executed at a high quality level.

    But strategy games are about the strategy, and GC3 just falls flat in that regard.    … Expand
  19. MaxWar
    Nov 4, 2015
    8
    One of Stardock's biggest flaw is about releasing half finished games. One of their greatest quality is that they keep working on them until they turn out great in the longer run.

    For this reason when you look at reviews of GalCiv III, always look for recent reviews. Reviews from 6 months ago will not represent the game well. When the game was just released I did not like it very    One of Stardock's biggest flaw is about releasing half finished games. One of their greatest quality is that they keep working on them until they turn out great in the longer run.

    For this reason when you look at reviews of GalCiv III, always look for recent reviews. Reviews from 6 months ago will not represent the game well.

    When the game was just released I did not like it very much. It still felt like a beta. I came back to it periodically to find it substantially improved each time. They have now just released patch 1.4 and I started a new game. For the first time I think I can say I am truly enjoying the game.

    For me the game is stable, never crashes and does not glitch. Some users commented they had problems. On my intel i5 + windows 7 64bit machine it works great.

    At this point the AI has had a major overhaul and puts up a nice challenge. This was the main thing that prevented me from enjoying the game in my previous attempts. The two main areas that still need to be worked on are diplomacy and invasion mechanics. Stardock is scheduled to address these areas in upcoming patches. I give it 8/10 because it is already a good 4X. Should get even better.    … Expand
  20. ihatecoc
    Nov 1, 2015
    5
    Crash happy game, full of missing things like fonts, saved files that vanish in thin air, ship designs never saving, crashing or extreme lag, even fleets without ship icons (looks like your flying black nothingness inside your fleet logistical box) Some things I like but hey its so cool when your fleet flies off the map into nothingness while battling the opponent. What? Wait forCrash happy game, full of missing things like fonts, saved files that vanish in thin air, ship designs never saving, crashing or extreme lag, even fleets without ship icons (looks like your flying black nothingness inside your fleet logistical box) Some things I like but hey its so cool when your fleet flies off the map into nothingness while battling the opponent. What? Wait for bargain bin on this one...… Expand
  21. Pyro59
    Oct 8, 2015
    6
    I can’t recommend this game at its current $50 price. While the game has massive potential, there are too many issues with the game at present:

    There's a lot of micromanagement of planets. You need to adjust the slider for research, social manufacturing and income. Then there's a separate slider for social and military manufacturing, because buildings and military units have separate    I can’t recommend this game at its current $50 price. While the game has massive potential, there are too many issues with the game at present:

    There's a lot of micromanagement of planets. You need to adjust the slider for research, social manufacturing and income. Then there's a separate slider for social and military manufacturing, because buildings and military units have separate production queues. You're going to need to adjust the sliders for each planet constantly to make production and research more efficient for each building, military unit and research technology. Production times are quite low, and you're going to have a lot of planets, so a good portion of each turn is spent on this.

    Galactic Civ 3 has limited documentation in game which doesn't provide much information about how the mechanics work. The tutorial only touches on the most basic concepts. You're going to spend a lot of time alt-tabbing to look up game concepts in your browser. The documentation in game that does exist describes your research technologies and ideology options. However, while the game mechanics have been updated in patches, the text in game often isn't updated to match the changes. Many of the tool tips describing research technology don't fully match the actual gameplay effects.

    Diplomacy is pretty broken at present. Some research technologies give you an option of specialization. You can only pick one choice per technology. Some of the choices are seriously unbalanced. For example, you might have a choice between 10% extra research or a 10% reduction in the maintenance of research labs. Research labs only cost about 1credit per turn to maintain, so the maintenance reduction is a negligible bonus. Since you're stuck with your choice for the rest of the game, it's a clear choice in favor of the research increase. But here's the kicker, if another civilization likes you they will occasionally give you techs. Like what happened to me, when they gave me the 10% maintenance reduction specialization. There is no way to decline the "gift" so I was stuck with this and 10% less research for the rest of the game. There is also an issue with tech trading where civilizations can trade tech when they don’t have the prerequisite for it. Imagine having a game of Civilization where you can give another civilization “flight” when they haven’t discovered “the wheel”. Apart from the obvious lack of realism, it makes tech trading unnecessarily confusing due to the sheer number of techs that show up to trade. You shouldn't be able to give a civilization a tech unless they have the prerequisite first. Because of these flaws with diplomacy, you're better off disabling diplomacy options like tech trading, random events and the “United Planets” when you setup your game.

    There is a lot of use "good and "evil" concepts. For example, your ideology stretches the range from "benevolent" to "malevolent". Basically, you decide whether your civilization is "good" or "evil". Several of the alien races are "evil" while others are "good". Malevolent civilizations don't hide the fact they are "evil" and seem proud of it. It’s not a gameplay issue, but I feel the story deserved a bit more depth than simply painting various alien races as good guys or bad guys. It’s like something off Fox News or CNN.

    Overall, I'd say this is an OK game, but Endless Legend, Civilization 4 & 5 are better. I can only recommend it if you're already bored of these other 4X games. If you've played all the good 4X games and have time on your hands then it’s worth a look. Its lack of polish means it’s not worth its $50 price tag. The developers do update this game so it will improve over time, and the game definitely has huge potential. Give it another 6 months of patching or try to pick it up on sale for $30 or less.    … Expand
  22. ScienceAdvisor
    Oct 2, 2015
    4
    Just another game that was stripped of elements to package and sell separately as DLC, while trying to convince you that it is an upgrade of the previous installment. The scary thing is they still have a lot to do, and by the time they are done the total cost could be triple at their current prices. I strongly suggest waiting for a complete version in a few years, and do not get scammedJust another game that was stripped of elements to package and sell separately as DLC, while trying to convince you that it is an upgrade of the previous installment. The scary thing is they still have a lot to do, and by the time they are done the total cost could be triple at their current prices. I strongly suggest waiting for a complete version in a few years, and do not get scammed with another DLC-shuffle.

    There is also the issue with the AI cheating to keep up with the player. Stardock claims there is no atrifical bonuses being handed out as many poorly designed 4X games rely on (usually a categorical production bonus as the player gets more powerful). Instead Stardock allows the AI to trade tech for free between themselves, as they did back in Gal Civ 2. Which is why when tech brokering was turned off in #2 the AI was such a cakewalk. Any player would jump at the chance to get free tech, especially since some of those give gloabal bonuses (e.g. +1 Speed to all ships). So not only do they get bonuses, but they are far more excessive than mere production (they get those too). This is to cover-up the continuing lack of actual intelligence in their system.    … Expand
  23. THRASHMASTER87
    Oct 1, 2015
    1
    The only positive thing in the game is the ship editor...too bad that you are forced to see your beautiful creation spinning with no sense or logic during the space battles...
  24. Ogbek
    Sep 27, 2015
    0
    Doesn't support steamos despite being a recent game. That alone means I won't buy it.

    It's basically just a retread of Galciv II with better graphics -- no bad thing, but certainly not compelling enough to buy a game that won't play on a steam machine.
  25. Imod85
    Sep 5, 2015
    1
    It's just GalCiv 2 with better graphics (but still bad compared to other 4x-games), but less features than the original. Also there are no improvements to AI, UI, Menue, etc. It feels still outdated, the menues could've made a bit more clear and shiny. of course, hardcore-fans would say it is nostalgic, I say it's just old and dusty. Overall there is nothing new, it feels like no effortIt's just GalCiv 2 with better graphics (but still bad compared to other 4x-games), but less features than the original. Also there are no improvements to AI, UI, Menue, etc. It feels still outdated, the menues could've made a bit more clear and shiny. of course, hardcore-fans would say it is nostalgic, I say it's just old and dusty. Overall there is nothing new, it feels like no effort was put in the game, just copying an already existing game. Then there are still many bugs and the camera in battles is a joke. If you have GalCiv 2, you don't need this game. And if you don't have GalCiv2, then buy GalCiv2. It's way cheaper and has more content than this "new" game.… Expand
  26. cassius769
    Aug 9, 2015
    3
    No different from GalCiv 2. Slightly better graphics. So much heavier on the system. When you play on a massive scale it takes sometimes minutes for the computer to finish its turn. No innovation whatsoever. I mean GalCiv2 is already very good - what they could do is to add depth to it. I dont know perhaps ability to have something to say during battles. Minor options like stance or whatNo different from GalCiv 2. Slightly better graphics. So much heavier on the system. When you play on a massive scale it takes sometimes minutes for the computer to finish its turn. No innovation whatsoever. I mean GalCiv2 is already very good - what they could do is to add depth to it. I dont know perhaps ability to have something to say during battles. Minor options like stance or what kind of formation.… Expand
  27. dk3d
    Jul 23, 2015
    3
    Disappointed. Graphics are totally out of date and building up your civ and moving ships becomes a tedious process within a few hours. The sense of being in "Space" is terrible due in part to the choice of colors used in the map/galaxy view and not being able to see the names of your planets or solar system when zoomed even out just a little is really annoying.

    The game interface as far    Disappointed. Graphics are totally out of date and building up your civ and moving ships becomes a tedious process within a few hours. The sense of being in "Space" is terrible due in part to the choice of colors used in the map/galaxy view and not being able to see the names of your planets or solar system when zoomed even out just a little is really annoying.

    The game interface as far as managing planets and whatnot is fine, it all makes sense, easy to deal with, but again, the sense of overseeing a huge chunk of the galaxy is totally not there at all. Battles are tedious, building up fleets is a snoozefest (not to mention moving them painful inch by painful inch).

    Just didn't fill that warm spot in my heart like I remember MOO and others did. If you had told me this was created 10 years ago, I wouldn't have doubted it.

    I've played basically one game, (over approx 12 hours of actual play) and as every goes by, the "one more turn" feeling turns into "What other game should I play." much quicker each time.

    I'll give it one more session perhaps but it's def on my "uninstall" short list as is another game from same company    … Expand
  28. santiagopm88
    Jul 12, 2015
    1
    God awful. Such a disappointment.

    The campaign has 3 (!) scenarios, I was done with them in no time. The story was barely getting started when it ended abruptly. The AI was atrocious, it did not capture a single one of my worlds, mount a coherent offensive (it didn't even try). On top of that the interface is missing really obvious features common to all such games (can't see a list of    God awful. Such a disappointment.

    The campaign has 3 (!) scenarios, I was done with them in no time. The story was barely getting started when it ended abruptly. The AI was atrocious, it did not capture a single one of my worlds, mount a coherent offensive (it didn't even try). On top of that the interface is missing really obvious features common to all such games (can't see a list of fleets, only individual ships? Can't quick save?) and is extremely buggy. Do yourself a favor, hold unto your good memories of this franchise and skip this instalment    … Expand
  29. DocMoriarty
    Jul 8, 2015
    4
    At a first glance GalCiv3 sounds better than it's predecessor but only on the "paper". Compared to GalCiv2 it's missing a lot of features and tools that make micro management of the systems easier and which are very helpful. It's often really simple things that are missing, such as the list of uninhabited planets or sorted ships by name in the shipyard. Another backdraw is the list ofAt a first glance GalCiv3 sounds better than it's predecessor but only on the "paper". Compared to GalCiv2 it's missing a lot of features and tools that make micro management of the systems easier and which are very helpful. It's often really simple things that are missing, such as the list of uninhabited planets or sorted ships by name in the shipyard. Another backdraw is the list of planets which is a joke compared to GalCiv2. But these shortcomings make it very unpleasant to play longer or with bigger maps, which contradicts the games claim that now even bigger maps are (at least technically) available, because they are practically not playable with the game mechanics at hand.
    If you haven't played GalCiv games at all so far, then i urgently recommend to get GalCiv2 Ultimate and forget about GalCiv3. Probably they are improving GalCiv3 over time, but so far i haven't seen any signs of that happening.
    I played mine for just 2 sessions and never again. Too tedious. Waste of money. When i go back to playing GalCiv i'm certain i'll do a GalCiv2.    … Expand
  30. StrategyAddict
    Jul 1, 2015
    3
    Honestly, this game fails in every domain:
    1. space battles are fully automatic and also suffering from incredible bad camera control, like you wouldn't believe.
    2. AI is yet to be found. Very passive to say the least. 3. Economics are very simple and easly to maintain, which is a good thing, since the lacking statistical informations you get are making it hard rather the fun to make    Honestly, this game fails in every domain:
    1. space battles are fully automatic and also suffering from incredible bad camera control, like you wouldn't believe.
    2. AI is yet to be found. Very passive to say the least.
    3. Economics are very simple and easly to maintain, which is a good thing, since the lacking statistical informations you get are making it hard rather the fun to make informed decitions.
    4. Research is rather dull. New technologies mostly offer numeric improvements and add nothing to the way you play the game. Detailed descriptions of things you research are mostly abscent and images of new things to build as well.
    5. What might be seen as an upside is the ship editor where you can design your own ships. However it was buggy in my game, discarding the beautiful design I made. And also most of the design is purely cosmetical and even though the ships look nice in close view, they really move very ungracefull during automated space combat.
    6. Planets, even though generated, all seem to look the same and require zero consideration in terms of indiviual build strategies. Also, they are filled up with buildings rather quickly, so that you can not place things you newly research, what further nullifies the effects of research.

    Because it at least has a campain, which is seldom for this kind of game and because it is an overall nice try, I'm giving out generous 3 points.However, I do not get how this game ever ended up over 70 on metacritic.

    Better alternatives include: StarDrive 2, Endless Space and still sins of a solar empire. I'd even recommend Distant Worlds and Planetary Annihilation over this. Or, if you haven't played it back in the days: Star Wars Empire at War.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Best PC Game of 2015
51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
80
#80 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. GamesBeat
    Apr 29, 2016
    87
    Galactic Civilizations III is a great 4X space strategy game, one that will keep you pushing for one more turn late into the night. If you’re looking for a terrific multiplayer experience, GalCiv III won’t scratch that itch, and some parts of its core pacing stumble. But the combination of depth, ease of gameplay, and a sometimes-funny, snarky aesthetic, make GalCiv III a delight to play.
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  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 3, 2016
    80
    Galactic Civilizations 3 is too much work and too little game. [Jan 2016]
  3. Games.cz
    Oct 12, 2015
    80
    The universe of Galactic Civilizations III is so great - gigantic environment, generous editor and ever-improving game balance is hopefully a good apology to fans disappointed that new installment doesn’t change anything.
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