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G4, an American cable and satellite TV network devoted to gaming, has reviewed Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar in their show XPlay. The full review can be read on the programme`s website. Like many other reviews, the article comes to the conclusion that the game is more like a sequel than an expansion, stating much of this is due to the AI:
The article goes on to talk about the graphics, new espionage system and the countless extra features. But don`t take XPlay`s word for it, watch what Colonel Saul Tigh of the Battlestar Galactica (who knows a thing or two about AI) has to say about it!
That’s largely due to A.I. wizard Brad Wardell’s hard work retooling the game’s “brain.” If you have a powerful enough CPU (multi-core recommended), the A.I. will think much further out in Dark Avatar (as if it wasn’t bearish enough already). Flip the optional switch and the game becomes eerily unpredictable, targeting resources thoughtfully (as opposed to “grab ‘em all”), pursuing tech advances more organically and with a smarter eye on terminal prizes, and building attack fleets that operate much less repetitively (e.g. “Oh look, another wave of right-on-schedule blah”). It’s still not “Poker-smart” and it can’t really bluff the way an all-in human player might, but then again as 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) games go, this isn’t a genre that really complements bluffing anyway.
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