Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor
Encyclopedia
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor, released April 30, 2008, is the second expansion pack
to the turn-based strategy
video game Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords
, following the first expansion pack Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar
, released February 2007. It has been affirmed by the developer, Stardock
, that this is to be the last expansion.
. Purportedly, the two sides are manipulated by the Dread Lords, who are biding their time in preparation for their next assault. At the same time the Earth is isolated and safe behind an impenetrable barrier, and pockets of its once mighty Navy are searching for ways to end the Dread Lord menace once and for all.
As the game's main campaign progresses, it is revealed that one lone Terran Alliance ship runs across one of the Arnor, a race of beings descended from the same beings as the Dread Lords but who took a more benign path. According to the game's plot, the humans then learn the key to defeating the Dread Lords. This involves massive Death Star
-like vessels called Terror Stars.
The plot borrows heavily from the early 1990s game Star Control 2, with most of the plot still intact, and names of races and characters changed.
giving it a score of 92 out of 100
admitted in Episode 9 of the Three Moves Ahead Podcast
that his addiction to World of Warcraft
was affecting releases dates, even pushing back the release of Twilight of Arnor (around 48:50 in the podcast).
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
to the turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
video game Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game by Stardock...
, following the first expansion pack Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar
Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar
Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar is the first expansion pack to the turn-based strategy game Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords...
, released February 2007. It has been affirmed by the developer, Stardock
Stardock
Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...
, that this is to be the last expansion.
Storyline
According to the backstory of the game's main campaign, the Drengin and the Korath races are at war, with the latter wishing to annihilate and the former merely to enslave the GalaxyMilky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. Purportedly, the two sides are manipulated by the Dread Lords, who are biding their time in preparation for their next assault. At the same time the Earth is isolated and safe behind an impenetrable barrier, and pockets of its once mighty Navy are searching for ways to end the Dread Lord menace once and for all.
As the game's main campaign progresses, it is revealed that one lone Terran Alliance ship runs across one of the Arnor, a race of beings descended from the same beings as the Dread Lords but who took a more benign path. According to the game's plot, the humans then learn the key to defeating the Dread Lords. This involves massive Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
-like vessels called Terror Stars.
The plot borrows heavily from the early 1990s game Star Control 2, with most of the plot still intact, and names of races and characters changed.
Features
- Unique technology trees for all 12 civilizations
- Unique planetary improvements for each civilization
- New 3D engine powered map editor
- New Scenario Editor for creating highly detailed custom games
- New Campaign Editor for players who want to create their own custom epic campaigns for themselves or to share with others
- New Metaverse Tournaments: specific map and scenarios recorded to the Metaverse with prizes for top players
- New Ship Component: Atlas. Makes ships in a fleet more lethal
- New Ship Component: Fortitude. Gives ships in a fleet more hit points
- New Ship Component: Driver. Makes ships in a fleet move faster
- Updated Planetary Invasions
- New Enhanced textures and graphics for planets and ships
- New Galaxy Size: Immense (50% bigger than the previous largest galaxy size of Gigantic)
- Extra alien portraits and logos
- Legacy of the Telenanth: Detailed back story of Galactic Civilizations
Reception
Like its predecessors, the expansion pack received very positive reviews from critics, with MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
giving it a score of 92 out of 100
Trivia
Brad WardellBrad Wardell
Bradley R. Wardell , commonly known as Brad Wardell, is an American businessman, programmer and author residing in Michigan...
admitted in Episode 9 of the Three Moves Ahead Podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
that his addiction to World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
was affecting releases dates, even pushing back the release of Twilight of Arnor (around 48:50 in the podcast).