Galactic Civilizations III

This game is not terrible, it's just not up to the current standards of 4X games. It doesn't provide anything particularly unique and it falls behind the competitors in execution of what it does. Also it's buggy and lacks polish. Unfortunately, since it's 2 years after last DLC and there is already galactic civilization IV in early access, I doubt it's going to be fixed.

The game seems fine and worth playing, but we purchased it to play multiplayer coop and that experience has been disappointing. We've player lots of Civ 6, Gloomhaven, Core Keeper, and others but Galactic Civ III has not worked in that regard. We have no trouble creating a game and playing as long as we like. However, after saving, we simply can not rejoin. The host loads the saved game but no one else can join. So, beware if multiplayer coop is your motivation. Solo, admittedly, works fine.

It became a DLC fest. Just look at all of it...

Galactic Civilizations III is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed by Stardock, released in 2015. It's the third installment in the Galactic Civilizations series and offers an expansive, space-based strategy experience. This review will delve into various aspects of the game, from its gameplay mechanics to its graphics and replayability. [b]Gameplay Mechanics[/b] 4X Elements: True to the 4X genre (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate), the game offers players a vast galaxy to explore, colonize, manage resources, and engage in warfare with other civilizations. Race Customization and Variety: One of the standout features is the deep level of customization available for creating unique civilizations. Players can choose from a variety of races, each with distinct traits, or create their own from scratch. Complex Diplomacy and Trade: The game's diplomatic system is intricate, allowing for nuanced interactions with AI-controlled civilizations. Trade, treaties, alliances, and psychological warfare are all viable strategies. Tech Tree and Research: The technology tree in Galactic Civilizations III is extensive, offering different paths and strategies for development. Players can focus on military, economic, cultural, or technological supremacy. [b]Graphics and Visuals[/b] Quality and Detail: The game features detailed and visually appealing graphics, especially in the design of ships, planets, and star systems. The galaxy map is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Custom Ship Design: A highlight is the ship design feature, where players can create and customize ships. This includes not just functional elements but aesthetic choices as well, which adds a personal touch to fleets. UI and Accessibility: The user interface is generally well-designed, making management of a sprawling space empire more accessible. However, it can be overwhelming for new players due to the sheer amount of information presented. [b]Sound and Music[/b] Soundtrack: The game's soundtrack is fitting for its space setting, offering an immersive auditory experience. It complements the game's scale and grandeur. Sound Effects: Sound effects for different actions and events are well-executed and enhance the gameplay experience, although they are not the standout feature of the game. [b]Community[/b] Modding Community: There is a strong modding community around the game, offering custom content that can significantly extend the game's life and appeal. [b]Conclusion[/b] Galactic Civilizations III is a comprehensive and deep 4X strategy game that offers a vast array of options and strategies for players to explore. Its strengths lie in its extensive customization options, detailed graphics, and complex gameplay mechanics. While it can be overwhelming for newcomers to the genre, it's a rewarding experience for those who invest the time to learn its intricacies. The game’s longevity is further supported by a vibrant modding community. Overall, it is a solid choice for fans of the 4X strategy genre, especially those interested in space exploration and empire-building.

Galciv 2 c гексами и кучей дорогущих DLC. Кроме выросшей жадности, ничего нового.

Good game. Too much & very over priced DLC. I have no intent of ever investing a hundred dollars in a video game! Come on, guys. At least lower the prices every year or two as the game ages. There is no excuse for this.

All in all I've mildly enjoyed my time with this game. But being mildly enjoying just isn't good enough compared to competitors in the 4X or Grand Strategy space. I appreciate that this game has the ability to customize your ships, both visually and in terms of capabilities. Want a speedy scout ship? You can build one! Want a big bastard brimming with space rocket launchers? You can build one? Oponent built that big basterd? You can build a ship full with anti-missle capabilities for your whole fleet. However, I found the process of doing so... tedious. And often wondered if it really was paying dividends to spend my time on it. Build can also be pulled from the Steam Workshop, and given the age of the game I can imagine that some "solved builds" exist that people should basically be using instead of homebrewing their own. I appreciate that this game has the ability to customize your leader, if case you want to min-max for a particular strategy or when you want to built you favorite custom race to play with or against. Steam Workshop also can be your friend here! Did I use it however? No, I did not. The base game races out of the box were enough for me. Gameplay wise, certain aspects I found just fiddly. Moving ships around and creating your fleets and managing your big empire... all felt more work than it needed to? I quite liked the Citizen system, where everyone at a regular cadence is getting a worker that you can assign to a specific role. Want to go wide with a lot of systems and space stations, we got a worker for you! Want to focus on generating particular resources? We got workers for those too! You can assign them to a specific planet for a big boost, or keep in a council for a significant smaller global boost. And then there is the flexible worker, which can be reassigned it's specialization giving a lot of flexibility at the cost of being less powerful compared to the fixed worker types. Workers get stronger over time, but only when they are assigned to planets. So your first workers tend to be slightly more impactful than others. And lastly, there is an option to 'kill them off for a special bonus', but I never bothered with this feature. I very much liked the idea behind planet management, but disliked the execution in reality. For planets you can build tiles, which all can give conditional adjecency bonuses. As I like spatial puzzling, I found this an exciting prospect! But in reality, you often encounter planets that are 'small' having (5-10 slots) and in distributed clusters preventing any adjecency benefits... Why? Why did this need to be this way? Such a missed opportunity... Sure, you can research tech to place a limited number of extra tile slots on planets, but not making good use of the adjecency aspects of this system seems poor oversight... And I quite like the freedom offered in diplomatic exchange between races. Tech, resources, ships, colonies, space stations, treaties... A wide selection of things that can exchange hands :) Including specialization technologies that you chose in your tech tree as part of the multiple choice nodes in there. Now the frustrating aspects of this game: - Maneuvering and moving around fleets and upgrading them is a chore and can be really anoying to deal with. - All games seem to devolve in a massive intergalactic war. Game typically starts with all races at peace. Then 1 or 2 get at odds with each other and start asking you on a regular basis to join their side of the war of give them some support to win or help survive the war. Races starting to resent each other because they are trading with 'their sworn enemies', causing more and more races to jump at each others throats. And somewhere around the mid-game, basically everyone is at war with some or the majority of the still surviving races. - Because of the 'intergalactic war devolvement' tendencies of the games I've seem, I believe that it helps to just place a 'war optimized civ' and beat everyone up as quickly as possible. These games have been both the quickest and most enjoyable games as well. Trying to go diplomatic or economic just doesn't seem worth the effort, compared to chaining invasion after invasion of oponent planets in quick succession. It's not a bad game. It's not great either. It straddles the middleline. And being middling just isn't good enough anymore, given the competition.

Can’t buy the ultimate edition because i own the base game. Guess I'mbuying Endless Space 2 instead.