Then, just as I was about to conquer his homeworld, the Iconian leader sent me a message telling me that, while he knew he couldn't defeat me, he was going to use his last action to spit in my eye -- he was going to surrender to the humans. Suddenly all his planets and ships belonged to the human leader who had doubled the size of his empire in a single turn. My next message was from the human leader who told me to say my prayers because I wasn't long for this world. The humans! They had been everybody's buddy! They had built up a great trade network and were the most peace-loving race in the galaxy. They had also given technology to the Iconians and encouraged them to go to war with me, all to pull me out of position and swoop in for the kill. I found this out because the computer AI sent me a message taunting me for my stupidity in falling for it! The greatest thing about Galactic Civilizations II is that something like that happens every game. I may not have enjoyed being flimflammed by the computer, but that's the kind of immersive gameplay every strategy game player dreams of.

Unfortunately, it's also the kind of situation that Galactic Civilizations II players will have to get used to, at least for a while, because this is not a game that's kind to the newbies. Managing a galactic empire means that a lot of data is going to get gets thrown at the player. There are screens for planetary management, spaceship construction, financial inflows and outflows, trade routes, and there's a huge research tree to monitor, diplomatic relationships to keep an eye on, and a whole host of performance statistics that detail the health of the empire. The deeper the strategic options, the more data that needs to be sorted. This would all be unmanageable if not for the game's excellent, if complicated, interface. Whichever way the player needs to slice the data to determine a course of action, there's a screen where it's available.

The problem is that none of this information is intuitive. Production factors, population morale, and financial bonuses all work together in ways that aren't immediately obvious. The game's manual is available as a .PDF file, which is almost as bad as having no manual at all, and the filmed tutorials are wholly inadequate for pulling a new player into the intricacies of the game. It's very possible in one's initial games to lose because you haven't yet figured out the relationships between planet population, revenue, manufacturing, production, and research. The game's campaign, which in many strategy titles serves as a tutorial, is even worse for learning the game. The campaign is a fun series of specialized maps telling the story of the return of the Dread Lords, but it incorporates a lot of specialized situations not found in the regular game and throws the player against the Dread Lords, a race whose smallest ship makes the Death Star look underpowered.

Once the player really gets into the game, though, the computer AI provides such a good challenge that it's almost possible to forgive the game for once again not providing multiplayer support. Now there are plenty of good arguments for Stardock not including multiplayer in Galactic Civilizations II. They range from things like the company being able to offer the game at a lower price point to not being able to give the depth of gameplay available in a single-player title. Even if I accept those arguments, it still leaves the fact that this is a title about wheeling and dealing, lying, deceiving, and stabbing your opponents in the back. As good as Galactic Civilizations II is in single-player, it pales next to the possibilities inherent in a multiplayer version of the game.

In the end, though, the lack of multiplayer and the steep learning curve are mere quibbles when placed against the sheer joy of finally getting the best of those damned Humans (or Arceans, or Korx, or Drengin…) after they've kicked you around for a little while. Stardock took a real chance in 2003 when they released an old-school turn-based strategy game, a genre most other game companies have given up on. If that game wasn't perfect, it can be seen in retrospect as a necessary stepping stone to the gameplay wonder that's currently running on my desktop computer. Master of Orion is dead. Long live Galactic Civilizations II!