Final Verdict

Galactic Civilizations II is a worthy sequel, improving the franchise significantly in many ways without losing sight of what made it great. We’re impressed with how simple the game has stayed while adding so much depth. Our high opinion of the title is perhaps best reflected in that we could only nitpick a few interface quirks and bugs as our cons.


Galactic Civilizations II isn’t perfect, by any means – we could stand some more granularity in difficulty levels, tactical battles would be nice – but it offers much more than GalCiv did in a more refined package. Fleets, logistical limits to keep fleet stacks reasonably sized, the ability to custom-design ships and of course the campaign all add spice that wasn’t there before. The move to 3D makes the game much more attractive and eases issues for LCD users with native resolutions.