PC Gamer - UK (2022-07)

Take modules as an example. What

are modules, you ask? Well, so did I.

At first I thought modules were

optional extras you could select to

tailor your starbases (which act as

both resource

harvesters and

deployable control

points, with modules

helping improve those

functions in various

ways). But then I ran

out of modules,

whereupon I realised

they are in fact a

consumable resource. Yet unlike

almost every other resource in the

game, which are either harvested in

space or produced on planets,

modules are constructed at shipyards.

Oh, and you can only construct

modules once you’ve researched the

relevant technology, itself an issue for

reasons I’ll get into later.

As with many other systems,

GalCiv never properly explains any

of this. Space Clippy just points you

to various menus like a dismissive

waiter in an alien restaurant. The

irony is GalCiv IV is

not as obtuse as it

seems. It’s just terrible

at communicating,

which means that

enjoying the game at

its best involves a lot

of false starts.

This isn’t merely

about understanding

individual systems: it’s also about

how key features are presented. Take

the game’s biggest new idea: sectors.

Rather than display its universe as

one vast expanse of stars, GalCiv IV

splits the cosmos into self-contained

bubbles, connected to one another by

subspace warps (aka space roads).

You can play on randomly generated

maps with around a dozen of these

bubbles, each of which has roughly

30 stars in it.

This lets Stardock proclaim

GalCiv IV to be the largest game in

the series ever. Yet while visually

impressive, playing at this scale isn’t

all that fun. ‘Galactic’-size games are

painfully slow, while ship

management becomes extremely

fiddly as you’re constantly having to

zoom in and out to issue orders to

individual fleets.

SPACE IS BIG

GalCiv is more fun on smaller maps.

Not only does the game move faster,

with empires forced to rub shoulders

more, but the strategic importance of

sectors becomes more acute, as those

space roads connecting them turn

into highways that can be monitored

(although not completely blockaded)

to help defend your empire.

Not that keeping invaders out

will guarantee victory. GalCiv IV

introduces a new victory condition

called Prestige. This tracks how

awesome your empire is in a wide

range of categories, awarding you

prestige points to reflect how good

your military or research or tourism

industry is. Gain sufficient prestige

points, and you win the game.

This helps facilitate non-violent

victories and prevents larger-scale

maps from descending into wars of

attrition. You can also gain prestige

bonuses by completing a range of

quests that replace the standard

campaign of previous games,

unlocking as your civilisation

meets certain criteria. This lets you

experience the ‘story’ of GalCiv IV

without being forced to play as a

specific faction.

Those welcome additions are

accompanied by the distinction

between colonies and core worlds.

Core worlds are planets managed by

you directly. You assign a governor

to them, construct productivity-

boosting buildings on them, and have

the option to build a starbase nearby.

T

his latest sequel in the long-running strategy series bills itself

as the most accessible entry yet. This is true, in the same way

that the tail is the most accessible part of a tiger. Stardock’s

long running 4X series officially has a tutorial now, in the

form of a little robot helper accursedly nicknamed ‘Space

Clippy’. But Space Clippy doesn’t help much when a game explains

everything as if it’s arrived from another dimension.

MOSTLY HARMLESS

You may need a Babel Fish in your ear to understand GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS IV

By Rick Lane

GalCiv IV

introduces a

new victory

condition

called Prestige

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A colourful and

intimidatingly deep

space 4X game.

EXPECT TO PAY

£40

DEVELOPER

Stardock

PUBLISHER

In-house

REVIEWED ON

AMD Ryzen 5 3600,

GeForce RTX 2080

Super, 32GB RAM

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

LINK

galciv4.com

SHIP SHAPE

GalCiv’s 4’s ship designer offers extensive customisation for your spacecraft

1

APPEARANCE

Lets you pick from ship

presets or individual parts.

2

EQUIP

Allows you to choose

thruster-type, weapons and

so on.

3

EDIT

Allows you to adjust the

scale, position, and shape of

individual ship parts.

4

ANIMATION

Enables adjustment of

elements such as rotating

sections on the ship.

2

1

4

3

Galactic Civilizations IV

REVIEW