PC Gamer - UK (2022-07)

Colonies, on the other hand, require
no direct management, simply
funnelling their resources to the
nearest core world.
The idea is to reduce your
management duties from upward of a
hundred planets to perhaps a dozen
or two. And it works – or at least, it
does once you’ve figured out how to
effectively differentiate between
colonies and core
worlds. A colony
becomes a core world
when you assign a
governor to it, so
functionally it’s up to
you to decide. But only
worlds with Excellent
ratings or above are
worth turning into core
worlds. Since the game doesn’t
tell you this, it’s easy to rush into
colonising a bunch of barely habitable
backwaters while the AI nicks all the
good planets from under your nose,
snout, or proboscis.
The ‘proper’ way to establish core
worlds is slow and involved, and you
may find yourself more inclined to
direct intervention. Conquering
other empires is mechanically
straightforward: you just click on a
fleet or planet to attack it, then wait
until the battle or siege is resolved.
Again, though, GalCiv fails to
mention that core worlds can only
be conquered after researching a
specific technology called Planetary
Invasion. Colonies, on the other
hand, can be snatched at any time
with any ship, even a lone starfighter.
If anything, this goes too far the other
way, with wars descending into
glorified pest control unless you
ensure all colonies have a couple of
ships stationed to defend them.

Once you’ve parsed GalCiv IV’s

garbled attempts to communicate

with you, the universe feels

sufficiently weird and ripe with

possibility for a sprawling sci-fi

sandbox. Not simply in the various

races you encounter, which range

from fleshly mantis-like creatures

who thrive on oceanic worlds, to

armies of sentient robots who don’t

need food to survive,

but also in the many

anomalies that you

can scan for minor

rewards – such as ships

you can patch up from

wreck sites, or strange

artefacts that provide

you with useful one-

off powers.

As your empire develops you’ll

unlock a range of ‘executive orders’,

special edicts that can instantly

recruit a new colony ship, boost your

income, or reveal a new system on

the map. In a game where progress

is highly gradual, these quickfire

bonuses offer a satisfying immediacy.

In one instance I used an artefact to

give a colony ship an extra move,

helping it evade a fleet of pirates and

beat a rival vessel to the best planet

in the sector.

DEEP THOUGHT

As the game unfolds, your avenues

of approach become more varied.

Diplomacy, for example, initially

seems limited, and it’s difficult to get

anything resembling a decent deal

from other factions. As you gain

access to better diplomacy tech

your options for forming different

relationships and alliances expand

considerably. There are still issues

though, like enemies who sue for

peace during a war while refusing to

offer any incentives for you to stop.

Indeed, while most of GalCiv IV’s

‘problems’ stem from poor

onboarding, there are a few

other black holes visible amid the

background glow of competence. By

far the biggest of these is how the

game approaches research.

GalCiv IV’s tech tree is more of a

tech arboretum, so to make decisions

easier, the game presents you with

several new techs, pruned semi-

randomly from the tree, to pick from

as your next research project. This

works fine until you actively want to

pursue a specific tech, like, say, the

Planetary Invasion system I

mentioned earlier, which is an

important mechanic to leave to the

whims of chance. You can trade tech

with other races – which is how I

eventually got it – but they have to

be willing to trade it with you, a

situation by no means guaranteed.

SO LONG...

More broadly, GalCiv IV doesn’t have

much of a hook compared to other

space 4X games. There’s little here

you haven’t seen done better in, say,

Stellaris, such as the nuggets of

narrative tied to anomalies. Other

new features, such as the Crusader

Kings-style relationship you have

with Governors and Citizens, are

highly simplistic, basically meaning

that a planet might abandon you for

another faction if you let the

Governor’s opinion of you drop too

low. The ship editor is nice, going

well with GalCiv IV’s general visual

snazziness. But it’s very much an

auxiliary feature, with little

meaningful impact on the main game.

Galactic Civilizations IV is like an

ancient alien race awakening to find a

bunch of pioneering little upstarts

have hit the scene, all buzzing around

with their hot new spaceships and

innovative ideas. Its response to this

is to go big, but it’s also broad and

conservative. Space Clippy represents

a token effort to make contact, but

GalCiv IV ultimately doesn’t really

care if the message is understood.

But then it’s got a legacy spanning

decades. It doesn’t need your

approval. It’s GalCiv.

68

A vast and dependable

grand space strategy.

But there’s little here

that’s radical, and expect

to meet it halfway.

VERDICT

The ‘proper’

way to establish

core worlds is

slow and

involved

FACTION REACTION

A quick guide to some of the weirdest factions

Y O R

SINGULARITY

An entirely synthetic

race that doesn’t eat

food and doesn’t

care about approval.

Ideal for new players.

NAVIGATORS

Navigators excel

at science and

exploration, but are

less good when it

comes to fighting

and diplomacy.

DR ATH

Tough looking

dragon-people. The

more money they

have, the happier

their citizens are.

Sounds about right.

X E L O X I

The Xeloxi

Civilization is

comprised entirely

of criminals, which

seems a bit

prejudiced, really.

Galactic Civilizations IV

REVIEW