Rating: 
Summary: Decent game, but cheesy, sloppy feel
Review: I like some of the ideas behind this game. The sliders for setting taxation and spending priorities throughout your empire, or good-neutral-evil empire alignments and the decision making to set your empire's alignment, for example.Unfortunately, the good ideas are wasted in a game that feels like it was slapped together by a group of programmers that were working on this during breaks from playing X-Box and drinking beer. The graphics and sounds are cheesy, but as a 4X player it doesn't detract too much from the game (after all, I'm here for the strategy, not the pretty pictures). What does detract from the game is the crazy tech tree, the spelling errors, the cut scenes that often are simply a waste of time (even as entertainment), and the clumsy interface. The game is just too ugly. My advice would be to wait until Galactic Civ II comes out to see if they at least spend the couple hours it would need to run the game texts through a spell check. Until then, I'd play SE IV, or even Master of Orion II (with the added bonus that MoO II can be had for $5).
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent space strategy game
Review: General/Summary: Galactic Civilizations is an updated version of a game released back in the mid-90s for the OS/2 operating system. Loved by many who used it it's now been released for a mainstream OS, Windows. It's a 4x Space Strategy game but is closer to Civilization, than some other 4x games. I'd describe it as a cross between Master of Orion 2 and Civilization.
Gameplay: Great, it has an intelligent AI, multiple paths to victory, and great strategic depth. On the outside the mechanics of the game itself are very simple but the strategies of the game itself are very deep. You have to decide which path you want to take and deal with the computer controlled empires. Of note is the strength of the AI. It will bargain with you, and each other, surrender when it's almost destroyed (to prevent the end game tedium in other games), get angry if you build up military outside it's sectors etc. etc. The AI also does not cheat as blatantly as other games. It does get knowledge of where all the good stars are (it's explained by the background story by "they've been in space longer"... lame but it's not a HUGE advantage) and the equivalent of the tech "Stellar Cartography" but it does not get the massive free resources/planets/ships as in other games. Graphics: Servicable but definately but the greatest. The cutscenes are nice and add to the game. The graphics are decently drawn 2d graphics, no massive 3d explosions or such but in a 4x game what else do you expect? Sound: Decent music, only average sound effects. Again not a big factor in this type of sound and definately not as annoying as some other games effects.
Rating: 
Summary: You better like one player.
Review: Most important point here: One player game. Otherwise, it's okay. I'm bummed.
Rating:
Summary: Read the negative reviews carefully
Review: After buying this game, I went back and read the negative reviews more closely, and it seems to me that they are generally correct. I have loved 4x games since I played the first Civ, but this game leaves a lot to be desired. I get the impression that the designers were really focused on having a good AI (which is nice), but along the way they left out a lot of other things (which was not so nice). Galactic Civilizations seems much more like an experimental prototype for a later, more sophisticated release, rather than a fully developed game in its own right. One thing that is completely missing is the ability to improve your territory. This is normally a big part of 4x games, and I never really realized how important it is to game play until now. During the course of the game you colonize planets, and each planet has a simple "quality score" that generally varies from 1 to 20. All planets of the same quality rating are exactly alike in game terms; you don't have some planets that produce a lot of trade resources, other planets that produce a lot of minerals, and so on. They are all just "generic planets of quality X." I think this might have been acceptable (maybe) had this game come out in 1990... but for a game released in 2003, this is just not sufficient in my opinion. The interface is also not that great... sometimes it would be nice to able to use the keypad for maneuvering your ships, rather than the mouse. However, they didn't include keyboard shortcuts for commands, so you have to constantly switch back and forth from the mouse to the keyboard, or just give up and use the mouse constantly. Also, the game lacks many customization options: for example, you always play against the same 5 alien races, no matter how large or how small the galaxy is, and you can't turn off "features" like random effects that can have a huge effect on the game. There is no multiplayer option, which was puzzling a couple of years ago when Civ 3 came out without multiplayer but is almost unbelievable now. Finally, despite all the talk about the "non-cheating AI" the fact is that the computer players start out knowing the location of all the good star systems, while you have spend quite a few turns stumbling around trying to find good spots to colonize. Altogether I rate this as something of a disapointment: a good AI in search of a game.
Rating:
Summary: finally an AI to challenge the single player
Review: There are bigger names out there, there are bigger budgets out there, there are better mutliplayer games out there, but when it comes to 4X games one game will stand out for the best AI. Galatic Civilizations.
Galatic Civilizations is the new game from Stardock published by Strategy First. It places you in charge of the human race at the dawn of space colonization. Your job ... Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate.
Scouts and survey ships allow you to explore the map. It contains from 10's of stars (tiny) to 1000's of stars (gigantic) as well as resources and anomalies. Anomalies, which can only be explored by survey type ships, consist of many types, potentially granting all sorts of bonuses. Colonization ships allow you to colonise any empty planet, though only those with good enough planet quality are worth it. Constructor ships allow you to build starbases to exploit the rare galatic resources or to enforce your will on differnet areas of space. Many different module upgrades allow for everything from an economic trade based station to a star destroying TERROR star. Tens of different military ships allow you to exterminate.
Galciv does not require you to exterminate to win and is well balanced with the traditional reseach, military and diplomatic victories being augmented with a cultural victory where enemy planets can decide to join your civilization due to cultural influence. Cultural domination is a very enjoyable way to win, focussing all your efforts on building the galatic wonders and cultural starbases to expand your influence and convert the enemy.
The universe in Galciv consists of 5 other major races and a plethora of minor races and event races. Minor races exist on single planets only and do not expand. There are great sources of trade and will often trade money for ships, trade goods or technology. Event races are created by random events (such as civil wars, pirates, terrorists, new races) throughout the game and can expand. Some are fairly weak while others require immediate Galaxy wide efforts to exterminate before it's too late.
The developers have focussed on making the game challenging and enjoyable to play. During the 18 month beta testing phase a constant question of would I have done that was always asked of the AI. If not then it was modified to behave more intelligently.Because it is multi threaded the AI works during your turn allowing for a much better thought out strategy. It follows the same rules as the human player with the one exception that it knows where the starting planets are (background story). It's very enjoyable to see the chief developer post a report on a game he expects to win (not even on highest AI levels) and get beaten by better play. Interaction with the AI players is usually through the trade screen where you can trade ships for technology or bribe another race to declare peace with your favourite minor race.
So what's the catch? Well there is no tactical combat or in-game ship design. This is totally intentional as the focus is on strategy not tactics. Combat is between individual ships and takes place quickly on the main map. There is also no multiplayer as all the effort has been placed on producing a decent single player game.
This game is due out at the end of this month with a host of extra goodies being instantly available for download. The final cherry on the cake is that this game will not just be supported, it will be improved. Free improvements and additions will be available every few months.
Definitely a game to buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good Game
Review: For the most part, I enjoy playing this game. Just as it was during my OS/2 days, it's a good turn-based strategy game (with much improved graphics). There are a few problems with it which, hopefully, they'll fix in future updates. First, it seems that all resource allocation is done at a global level. So, if you have a really advanced planet that's built all the social projects, there's no way to turn off the social spending on that planet alone. It has to be done at a global menu for ALL planets. I've played games where all my planets except one had built everything they could (at that point). But, to keep my lesser planet moving forward, I had to keep dumping tons of cash down the drain on those other planets. The unused spending doesn't get put back into the treasury. It just disappears. Secondly, it would be nice if you could set a destination for ships at the planet level. IOW, tell the planet that every ship it builds should automatically head for some location on the map. This would be especially useful when building Starbases. They take dozens of ships and every one of them has to be manually targeted to the location. There are a few other quibbles, but those two are my biggest complaints. Overall, still a pretty good game. BTW. Make sure you download the updates to this game as soon as you get it installed. Apparently, they contain quite a few fixes which enhance game play.
Rating: 
Summary: So boring!!!!
Review: i played this game maybe a few days and then never again. It is just plain boring. Nothing in comparison to MOO3 or civilization. I really do not understand why today the AI player is so unlogically sophisticated. Do not understand me wrong since i love a challenge. Its only that why should i want to try to outrun a car. That would not make sense!
Rating:
Summary: First, Four Stars, Falling Further With Time
Review: I do like Gal Civ for a number of reasons.
1 Minor mistakes are not fatal
2 You can micromanage planetary production as much as you want,
3 You don't have to micromanage if you don't feel like it
4 I like the exploration and discovery aspects
5 The frequent updates and addons are pleasant
6 There is an overall strategy to gaining influence, military might, and economic strength that is satisfying
7 I really enjoy exerting enough influence in a sector to cause the alien systems to surrender to me. The problem is that most of the things I like were only true until I was thoroughly familiar with the game. Oh, I'd buy it again even knowing what I know now, but it promised a fuller experience than it delivered in my opinion.
1 The AI has a huge advantage in reaching habitable planets
(I may be petty, but the scrambling for habitable planets is frustrating because I can send a ship that starts closer to a good planet than the AI's only to discover the AI's ship moves in record time and claims the prize)
2 The survey ship, which is not meant to be a fighting ship is the only one that can get offensive and defensive bonuses from the various specials floating around in space at the start of the game. (Your survey ship can get enough bonuses to be more powerful than battleships - somewhat less than realistic) By the time you can build heftier ships with survey abilities, most of the specials have been explored and used up. So, the more advanced survey ships are seldom useful.
3 Though space battle tactics are considered unimportant by the developers, I consider tactical combat challenging and exciting. I believe the game lacks some punch for that reason.
4 Once familiar with the game the anomalies become hohum, even the free ships. With all the potential of this game I was looking for that little extra "something" and didn't find it. The game is very enjoyable and I recommend it to those those with long range gaming goals. It has the framework to be much more, however, and I hope the developers produce it in another edition.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: This game is on my top five list. From the start, I was hooked... at first I fumbled around, figuring things out... but when I got into it, boy did I ever! Micromanagement is something I've never been good at, which is my downfall because I love the complexities of strategy games. However, this takes the cake. Micro was never an issue when I played this game... and I only played the demo! Now that I own it, I must say that it has blown me out of the water as far as expectations. MOO3 this is not!
Rating:
Summary: What a waste
Review: This had to be the most boring game that I have every tried to play. I spent 2 hours trying to figure it out to no avial. I feel like the reviews were written by someone who was paid (I must be missing something).
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