This game is loose

Its like a sandbox of the actual game. Don't mean to flame but this game has no storyline, nothing to get stuck with. Every next chapter of game starts with total scratch, all the research is reseted and you feel like you are playing the same game again and again.

The campaign is not the focus of the game, the random sandbox mode is. I'm sure if you spent some time playing single standalone games rather than the campaign, you would change your mind.

so you like it only for a starship "lego"?

Galciv2 is still a civilization game where you build your empire. Like all civ games storyline isn't it's strong point.

so you like it only for a starship "lego"?

I don't customize my ships much at all.
I've never played the campaign. (I did start it once to see if it was any different)

I play the sandbox mode. Random everything. I lose a little more than I win. I like having to work to survive; not some dumb scenerio goal. Much more fun I think.

so you like it only for a starship "lego"?

Yes and no.

The true joy of the game is to build the empire you want to build. It isn't to jump through some arbitrary hoop that the devs thought up, but to provide a game where you build the empire, you build the ships, and you determine the story line.

If you watch a movie, you can enjoy it, and may grow tired of it. The same can be said of computer games.

It was once said that a good book is one that is differant everytime you read it. The same is true of computer games. With the right tools and a good imagination, it's never the same experiance twice.

storyline=survival. doesnt get any more intense. no goals just survival. storyline depends on the race you pick to play with. they all have their own background and reason for being. are you playing the campaign? campaign isnt even a good representation of the actual game. you dont even get access to all the techs. play a regular game with random races, random intelligences, random galaxy sizes. customize your own race and write your own story. play the torian who were enslaved by the drengin but now have their freedom. your goal is revenge! lots of good stuff here if you use your imagination. you want goals to work for? heck every civ is rated in all types of categories. make your own rules. i want to be number one militarily by turn whatever!

It was once said that a good book is one that is differant everytime you read it

EXACTLY!
NO two games are alike!

In sandbox mode once you get to really feel the pressure of wars, leadership and making tough decisions and I don't mean just the ehical decisions you gotta make real decisions such as: taking altarians for allies when you know three evil races are gonna jump on your back.Save the arceans who give a huge trade bonus but if you do you'll have to fight the powerful drengin, declare war against the number 1 military power in the galaxy(say terrans)or lose three planets via culture flipping and hope you can establish an alliance with all the major races before your very own homeworld is culture flipped. settle for the class 11 planet(not that big of a challenge) or do you want the class 13 torian homeworld(very big of a challenge).

In fact, all that and more is just another day in the life of one of the Galactic Civilizations.

I found myself seriously disrespecting the OP and decided not to post w/o thinking about it seriously. It's too easy to name call or insinuate education level <= retard. I should dismiss it and go on, but here is an opportunity to say nice things about Gal Civ II.

The races are unique and well thought out. The graphics are phenomenal. The AI is great, it makes playing single player fun. Something other games don't have. It's a 4x space sci-fi game, so it is a niche. In my opinion it far surpasses the competition. Even SE V or Sword of the Stars! MOO is dead. Long live GC.


- SS

Reanor:

The game is fantastic, but the storyline / campaign stuff isn't the strong suit or focus area, as others have mentioned. If you're looking for a game where the campaign essentially is the game, I can see where GalCiv2 could be frustrating to you. Most players of the game are more interested in the strategy, ramping up their challenge to outsmart and outmaneuver the AI, etc. That's where GalCiv2 shines, in the AI.

You say that other games have been all about storyline....I believe that Civ 2 is still considered one of the best games ever made, and it had nothing BUT sandbox. So if you bought this because you heard it had a great story, you need to punch whoever said that. Almost every review has said nothing about the story. They have all been focused on the amazing job the AI does at giving you a challenge and also the cool ship design feature.

And this game does have a storyline in it. But it is very hard to put a cap on the campaign when the main bad guys (Dread Lords) for most of the game already have every tech in the game. While it is annoying to relearn how to invade a colony, it does give the game a sense of pace for each mission and also keeps you from zerging at the start.