Galactic Civilizations III

I’ve always been a big fan of the strategy genre and have always loved throwing my life away on a good 4X game. But in the past little while, I found it harder to find a truly great one. I could play to my heart’s content on other 4X-ers I’ve reviewed, but I always had to overlook some serious bugs in order to enjoy dominating the universe. So it was with some trepidation that I took on this review, thinking that I didn’t really want to have to tough out another rough around the edges exercise in galactic domination. What I got from Galactic Civilizations III, however, was a well made, well ba...

As the United Planet Chair, you smile as your recent resolution passes – you’ve been currying favor from other council races for a while now, and you know that the recent vote will be the final maneuver for your total control of the galaxy. The best part? You took over everything without creating a single military ship. This is Galactic Civilizations III, a strategy space world where clever planning and diplomacy are as powerful as beam weapons and starship shields. The long-awaited follow-up to 2006’s Galactic Civilizations II is a worthy successor and an enjoyable addition to the 4X (eXplore...

Galactic Civilizations 3 doesn't do much to change the established explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate grand strategy model aside from its ideological advancement tree, but its extensive customization, faction personality, and overall quality make it an excellent game. Its AI has a couple of notable blind spots and the space battles are a snore, but otherwise, it excels in passing itself off as a human-level opponent in both military strategy and diplomacy. That means it’s a 4X game capable of keeping me engaged for a whole lot of hours, and that’s not even counting time spent creating s...

Galactic Civilizations III is more of the same with some nice upgrades and a handful of new features, and I have no complaints about that. A great starting point for new players, and an even nicer reason to take up an old addiction for veterans.

A very good expansion, only let down by some restrictive government options, a bad commonwealth AI system, and Stardock’s continued refusal to stop people from playing with each other.

The final frontier

Like a mug of Earl Grey with a dash of cocaine. Quirky, erudite and astonishingly addictive. How civilized.

Only a minor improvement on the last game, but still a hugely accomplished space strategy game – with an almost infinite range of customisation options.

A good game marred by bugs and lack of documentation. Once it is fixed it should be back on top but it does not justify a higher score.