Galactic Civilizations IV

Galactic Civilizations IV has a solid foundation, in terms of mechanics and presentation, but needs to add polish. I like the wide-ranging customization offered at the start of a campaign and how the early game moves. But the experience needs more excitement for the middle game and extra variety in terms of events and challenges. The title is too sculpted to suit the tastes of those who has picked up the previous two titles in the series. It rewards solid planning and careful execution; it asks players to learn the connections between mechanics and to exploit them. But to truly flourish, Galactic Civilizations IV needs to try to add a little revolution to its evolution-driven approach to turn-based strategy.

This new space 4X game is nothing novel, but Stardock’s latest release builds on classic strategy mechanics while giving them a contemporary, intergalactic twist.

Galactic Civilizations IV is another satisfying space-faring extravaganza that introduces some smart tweaks to the long-running series’ formula, although a lack of guidance, bloated tech trees, and some other minor lingering issues hold the game back from true top-tier status. Hardcore sci-fi strategy fans will undoubtedly find plenty to enjoy here, but this game may not quite have the gravitational pull needed to separate you from your 4X favorites long term.

Though it maintains some serious design flaws carried over from its predecessors, Galactic Civilizations 4 is an epic grand strategy game on a truly galactic scale.

Galactic Civilizations 4 is a good strategy game made by someone who knows how to handle the genre. Too bad that in some cases he has fallen victim to his own ambitions.

Galactic Civilizations 4 is a vast and dependable grand space strategy. But there's little here that radical, and expect to meet it halfway.

Galactic Civilizations 4 is a competent 4X turn-based strategy game, but it doesn't offer any reasons to choose it over its competition.

Unfortunately, I can’t say I have had huge amounts of fun with Galactic Civilizations IV. Although all the basics are there for an enjoyable experience, and Stardocks added a good amount of specific systems to make the experience unique, crucial aspects like war management and IA behavior ended up ruining my time with the game.

Despite having some interesting concepts and refreshing mechanics, Galactic Civilizations IV suffers from an unintuitive UI, lack of tooltip information, and production queue bugs.

Stardock has created a game with good bones. Some of the new systems, such as the core world management and ideology system, add to/improve the game. Unfortunately, other systems feel tedious at times. They are not broken per se but are not quite there yet. They either bog down the gameplay or lack impact on the experience. The core gameplay loop is decent, but it just didn’t hook me into feeling the need to play one more turn before bed. If you enjoy the series, Galactic Civilizations IV is worth picking up. Otherwise, I would wait for a few patches or DLC to help flesh out some of the systems.

There’s a lot of unique civilizations you can try out in this space strategy giant. But there’s also a plethora of design mistakes and oversights and a late game that’s generally tedious. What’s more, Galactic Civilizations IV sorely lack a proper tutorial.