GameSpy has awarded Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar as their Game of the month!

From the article:

At the heart of Dark Avatar are five new strategic mechanics that radically rework the game. They include "planetary environments" (which make about half the planets impossible to colonize at the beginning of the game without researching the proper technology), random asteroid fields that provide extra industrial resources, and new spy units that can be placed on enemy planets that shut down certain tiles. Each race also has a new "super ability" and there are new "mega-events" that can turn the game around on a dime. These are more than mere bullet points; the five elements work together to completely re-invent a title that GalCiv fans thought they knew. The Dark Avatar experience is deeper and richer without being noticeably more complex.
 

We are very excited and appreciate GameSpy's kind words about Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar. When we set out to make an expansion pack to Galactic Civilizations II we wanted to create something that really altered the game play while retaining the features that made the game good in the first place.  We hope players are pleased with the results and are glad to see that the on-line reviews of the game have been so positive thus far.

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar is available directly from GalCiv2.com (via TotalGaming.net) or you can purchase Galactic Civilizations II: Gold Edition at retail which includes the entire game (Dark Avatar and the original) integrated together.

Thank you GameSpy for the honor. Check out the full article which includes Final Fantasy and Virtua Fighter as runner-ups.