Game Curmudgeons

What is, in my opinion, the greatest multiplayer game of all time is coming to Live Arcade.

Fucking WARLORDS. Warlords will be available for 400 points on May 28th, 1 am PST. Here’s hoping the devs figured out a good way to make it work without a paddle controller(say, using the analog stick to simply point at the place you need a shield).

Review to come ASAP, though it will likely be “THIS IS STILL AWESOME” or “THEY FUCKED IT UP.”

And that, in a nutshell, is Galactic Civilizations II:Twilight of the Arnor. You’ll get it, you’ll start playing at 6pm, you’ll realize it’s 5 am, you REALLY need to pee, and you’re pretty thirsty. And your drink went flat HOURS ago.

Galactic Civilizations is the classic 4x style. Build your technology, your military, your economy, and your influence via any number of methods. At the same time, other races are working to do the same thing, to expand any of those enough to become the dominant force in the galaxy.

Twilight of the Arnor is the second expansion for the game, which could have fairly been sold as GalCiv III(but so could Dark Avatar). A new campaign is featured of course, as with the prior two installments, but that isn’t the biggest draw of the new pack.

Make no mistake, the game looks great. The AI is improved yet again, and can definitely be considered the best 4X AI out there prior to these boosts. It all runs very smoothly thanks to some interesting graphical optimizations that produce some very good looking textures and better framerates. And of course, more cycles devoted to the AI trying to win for itself.

Part of what makes the game so good is that the AI isn’t trying to beat the player, it’s just trying to win. The other AI gets just as much priority as a threat, and each race has a unique personality and style, which is now demonstrated not only in choices and behaviors, but the very technological abilities of each race. Some races have fragile psyches, requiring meditation centers. Others are violent, with slave pits and gladiatorial arenas. Other, mechanical races, simply use really really big computers and have plenty of repair centers. Some races also get special weapons, movement abilities in space, materials for building, all sorts of things, and it results in, yet again, an entirely new experience. Each race is different to play with and against, and just in case that’s not good enough, players can create their own races, and their own ships.

The end result is there are about nine different games withing Twilight, with the same premise, and all are highly refined and a ton of fun. No race plays quite the same(if reasonably near the same), forcing you to adapt to each, and the game itself will force you to adapt to changing situations on the fly. The best way to explain is just to describe the most recent game I played.

The last time, I went in with full intent to get a simple tech victory(ha! No such thing as simple in GalCiv). My first step was building my defensive abilities and weaponry, so I can hold my planet when eventually the attacks come. Just to help with that, I grab a few nearby planets, and start settling in, fast.

A few turns later, something major has already gone down. Ascenscion crystals are the game’s solution to the old strategy problem of mopping up the mess for hours. Now, build a few bases, wait some turns, done. It’s a great solution when you’re an overwhelming military power, but the cleanup or invasions would be too costly. Of course, it brings on a lot of aggression once you get near the point of winning. In this case, an evil race went straight for the crystals, but nobody wanted to make the first strike because of the strong military.

A little bribery in the form of credits and technology goes a long way, and coerces another race with a decent military presence to attack the ones with the crystals. They charge the homeworld, I charge the crystals being captured. In that period the bribed race is wiped out, but my military is extremely strong. I swoop in and wipe out the remnants of the initial problem, take some tech, space stations, and planets.

Now I’m really cooking. I’ve got rapid research, but another race is after me, since they were pinned down by the race I finished. A solid year of battles(52 turns, essentially) ends bitterly with my victory, and seeing that, two races come after me. Two more rush to my aid, deciding they like the cut of my jib.

The galaxy is now at war, all out war, after I just wanted to sit in my corner and do some research. Planets defect to my side as I get new buildings and galactic achievements(unique skills or goods, essentially). Rips open up in space time, nobody can rush the Earth anymore due to it, they can only move at 5 parsecs per turn. I defend, eventually it all ends, and three races are left.

My heroism is, apparently, appreciated. My population has surged, my influence is nearly half the galaxy. Suddenly I notice I haven’t researched any diplomacy whatsoever. Using the amazing labs I’ve built for my tech victory, invention matrixes and discovery spheres, places built to unlock the very secrets of the universe, I study how to butter up aliens.

One level of research is all it takes. I have half the influence in the galaxy, slightly more. 10 turns later, the required amount, I have dominated the galaxy by culture alone. Every species in the galaxy wants an iPod. They can’t get enough of those crazy Earthican sounds, the movies, the food. The galaxy’s economy is dependant on me, and I have one.

That’s what Galactic Civilizations is all about. You have a plan. You do your best, it doesn’t work. Things happen, big things, world changing things, and you deal with them. You make friends and enemies, and in all this you damn well forget you’re playing a game, you’re just trying to do the best you can for the species you are.

GCII:Twilight is truly transcendent as a game. It sucks you in with a depth of AI and options, new events every time you play, things that just never will be the same from one game to the next, even if you always play as the Terrans. I’ve been playing since the original, and every time something new comes out, I know, I’m in trouble. I’m late for my day job RIGHT NOW because of this game.

I cannot recommend it enough, nor can I possibly warn you enough about how much of your life will be ruined.

Galactic Civilizations II:Twilight of the Arnor gets 5 of 5 canes, an editor’s choice award which will be given when I can get up from my chair and find the thing. Just one more turn, okay?