Galactic Civilizations 4 review of a fascinating 4X with lots of problems

Stardock He has frequently replaced works of excellent quality with other works that we can describe as choppy. However, the Galactic Civilization series has always been its flagship series, one that convinced everyone and received generally enthusiastic reviews from critics and audiences. Many still consider the second division to be one of the best 4X fields ever, even superior to the successor.

For this reason, the wait for the new episode became painful among fans and Galactic Civilization 4 review It can only begin with the question: will it reach the heights of its predecessors and say something new in the genre?

4X

The answer to the question to which we closed the previous paragraph is actually quite obvious: It may succeed, but not under the current circumstances. But let’s go in order. As you can imagine, Galactic Civilizations 4 strategic 4X Turn-based, where the player must take over one of the eighteen existing factions and guide them to conquer the Milky Way, colonize planets, explore the farthest recesses of the galaxy and fight against other galactic civilizations. our same aims of domination.

When you start the game you realize that there are no real campaigns to play, but you can only choose the following. sandbox mode, of course, can be customized in many ways. We’re not at the level of Distant Worlds 2, but the modifiable settings are still plenty, starting with the number of opponents we’ll have to face, going through the pace of production, to various difficulty levels. Playing in co-op mode, the game is less customizable, but in this case, the presence of another human to share the space is compensated. If you want, you can also create your own factions using the powerful internal editor that offers really great possibilities for match customization.

game universe

This game mechanics they are really many on their own and it is impossible to describe them all, a statement that needs to be said is true for any 4X so we will try to give you as general a picture as possible to give you an understanding of the game. experience each function as a whole rather than trying to explain it. The scale on which one ascends in Galactic Civilizations 4 is truly enormous, the galaxy structured so that it can be explored on multiple levels and in multiple directions. They stretch from individual planets to the entire Milky Way, passing through star systems, which in turn form sectors (clusters of star systems) and are connected by a technology called Subspace Streams.

All of the games start with limited travel options as you have to do some research before you get the knowledge you need to travel between space sectors. In any case, the result has something surprising because it goes from the specific to the general with the single. conceptual fluidity striking. All of the maps are easily readable and offer both graphical and textual information.

A bit of confusion emerges from midgame, but given the strengths on the field and the dimensions various civilizations have taken on, this is perfectly normal. From this perspective, Stardock has done a truly exceptional job of making the colonization of space something adventurous, with events unfolding in different sectors and forcing the player to think differently from other 4Xs built in such a way that they emphasize certain distances.

This sectors Definitely the most relevant innovation of the game, which raises it compared to previous parts, creates new problems for players to face, first of all, the defense of subspace streams can lead to slowdowns if lost. Supporting sectors that are still in the process of colonization or sectors where enemy forces are massively present.

battle system

Another important innovation is a micro management system based on the more fluid concept of the core earth, that is, the planets to which all colonies of the surrounding star systems refer. To give an easy-to-understand example, in the Solar system Earth is a core world, while Mars can be turned into a colony. This is an important distinction, because the latter has to send resources to the former at the risk of creating strong internal conflicts. However, the player is called upon to directly rule only the core world, a choice that significantly simplifies his life, especially after conquering dozens of planets scattered across various sectors. The idea is to avoid having to use AI-managed assistants and avoid unnecessary complications that would only waste a lot of time. On average, there are about four foraging colonies in each core world.

Of course there are also enemies to face, especially other factions. to master it battle system This is really important. Like any self-respecting space strategy, it’s possible to create fleets of different types of ships in Galactic Civilization IV.

Of course, there are also spaceships that perform tasks other than combat such as colonizing, searching planets for resources, and exploring unknown sectors, but especially from the mid-game, the biggest focus will be on military ships. Can be drawn directly from the player with a powerful editor. Battles usually take place automatically during individual turns, except for planetary sieges, which can take longer. The player does not have major intervention possibilities in conflicts, which is determined mainly by the strength of units on the field. At the end of each fight, we are presented with a summary screen that tells us the result and provides various data for us to understand.

some problems

In addition to fighting, the player can resort to politics to pursue their own goals, better define their civilization through the system. ideologiesthat is, seven philosophies of government, each with two specialties (let’s call it that) that make it possible to drive certain macro choices and determine relations with other civilizations. You need to spend culture points to develop ideologies. The latter, unfortunately, is rather mysterious as it is unclear how they were appointed. Others are linked to a system of ideologies such as characters, artifacts, and executive orders that are well integrated into the strategic fabric, making some choices pleasantly complex, and also generating narratively interesting implications.

As you can see, we are facing really complex game, whose input curve is quite steep. Even so, once you understand the main mechanics and become familiar with the choppy interface, it gets progressively faster to play. By mutable interface, we mean it’s the victim of some pretty weird choices: it’s perfect for managing planets and starfleet, but it also lacks useful shortcuts.

For example, in order to construct a building, you must first research a certain technology, no direct link is given to it, but you must research it in the skill tree screen. Another problem is represented by text popups called tooltips, which appear when you hover the cursor over an element of the interface and tend to disappear immediately when you move the mouse. Another problem that has always been with the interface relates to production queues that are difficult to change, it is not clear whether it is due to precise design choices or some bug. The truth is, they waste a lot of time because those cursed icons don’t want to know how to obey.

broken rhythm

This more serious problem Galactic Civilization IV has another feature: the game speed in the second half of the games. One of the strengths of the Stardock game is its size, but also its biggest flaw if you consider how long each turn takes when there are dozens of planets scattered across multiple sectors, spaceships to move, and political choices to make. make. The core world system helps, but cannot prevent a slowdown in the game. The slowing of the pace also corresponds to a worsening perception of being in front of a really cold title, where the player’s choices never seem so important as the results are inevitably positive.

strong emotion asepticity everything is conveyed by both purer political systems, with ships that look like mere sums of numbers, as well as the combat system, which is little influenced by the design chosen by the player. The situation is slightly raised by artificial intelligence, which is excellent in space, has proven to be able to design good attack tactics, tries to make as much use of the star systems it is in as possible, but is mediocre in diplomacy and mediocre with rapidly changing options. predictable.

From a graphics standpoint, Galactic Civilizations 4 does its own thing thanks to the many customization options and details of the various space maps. Time spent in early access also benefited fluency, which proved flawless even in very crowded environments. During the test we encountered very few mistakesAll simple and uncompromising for the gaming experience.