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Galactic Civilizations II Dark Avatar |
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Saturday, 30 June 2007 |
You can count the first Galactic Civilizations II expansion's major improvements on one hand, a new campaign, planets that require specific tech prereqs for colonization, mineable asteroid fields, spies, and custom opponents—but in this case, little things add up to a lot. Dark Avatar is Stardock's way of "fixing" a game that didn't really need repair, and proof that the old "if it ain't broke adage is a bunch of Anterrelian tubeworm leavings.
Dark Avatar's best and most game-changing (and most "well, duh") addition is a new tech track that makes "uninhabitable planets" toxiccoated, supergravity. whatever perfectly acceptable places to park your colony pods. While it doesn't entirely eradicate the frantic Monopoly-style land grab of GolCiv II, it does make the early game a lot more interesting. Come across a Class 18 (that's GalCiv II speak for 'potential utopia—grab it quick!") toxic world, and you're suddenly faced with some tough trade-offs. Rush to research what you need to colonize it, but risk falling behind in other key early-game technologies. Bump up espionage spending and carefully monitor the Krynn Consulate to make sure they're not researching the tech yet, but stunt your own economic growth—or bump up taxes and gamble on your citizens' morale.
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