OT: Galatcic Civilizations (GalCiv)

[jpowell]

I love SEIV, particularly the white-knuckle early stages when the AI empires try to take you out. However, if you get a leg up on the AI, the rest of the game (hours and hours) is mop up leading to victory.

There is much more ebb and flow with Gal Civ: you can win militarily, culturally, technologically, or economically. You can SEEM to be winning the combat but the AI is still taking planets through its cultural influence. Alliances form and break up. Minor civilizations arise and are conquered. Victory is rarely assured until the end.

While similar, the two games are not really the same genre. SEIV is designed to be played for days or weeks, and contains incredible detail. GalCiv games are designed to be completed in an evening or two, and are definitely strategic in approach. The games complement one another more than compete, and there is no reason not to have both residing on your hard drives.

MOO3 appears to be a different matter. I have yet to read a favorable professional review of the game, which motivated me to return the box unopened. Keep in mind that on the day the game was released, a beta tester and Infogrammes forum moderator initiated a thread entitled, "For all those feeling let down or disappointed..." with MOO3. If the "insiders" know there are real problems with the game, what are the rest of us to think?