After months of anticipation and a seemingly endless amount of articles by yours truly, the final expansion to Galactic Civilizations 2, Twilight of the Arnor, is finally here. Spearheaded by Brad Wardell and the rest of the Stardock team, Twilight of the Arnor is not only a fantastic way to wrap up Galactic Civilizations 2, it’s one of the most ambitious, massive and high quality expansions to hit the PC in years.

The storyline for Twilight of the Arnor picks up right where the last expansion, Dark Avatar, left off. Earth is still cowering beneath its indestructible planetary shield while the rest of the universe continues to burn. The Korath/Drengin civil war continues to rage across the stars unabated and the other sentient races in the galaxy are left fighting for their very survival. While Earth itself remains relatively safe, humanities military forces are still at a severe disadvantage when it comes to battling the Drengin and the Korath (who are backed by the Dread Lords…you know, those insanely powerful ships that kicked your ass time and again in Dark Avatar.

All that changes when the Terran Alliance discovers the last surviving Arnor, the good half of the universe’s first sentient race (the Dread Lords being the evil half of course). The discovery of the last living Arnor unlocks what I consider to be the highlight of Twilight’s campaign, the ability to use Arnorian Ships. You get access to an Arnorian Battle Cruiser early in the campaign. At first you may think “wow, one ship, big whoopdy doo,” but the minute you take that bad boy into combat all you can say is “ahhhhh yeah, who’s the big man now punk?!” The Battle Cruiser is the Arnor equivalent of the immensely powerful Dread Lord ships, and being able to finally go toe to toe with a Dread Lord ship without needing an incredibly large fleet feels satisfying on so many levels.

I’ve read more than a few criticisms lobbied against Twilight’s “cliche” storyline, but I, for one, dug it. Turn-based games are slow, and usually lack that “I feel like I’m in a movie” feel. The addition of so much back story and main plot storytelling really increased my interest in the campaign as well as the sense of attachment I felt towards my race of choice (Iconian FTW).

Related Posts: Brad Wardell on GC 2: Twilight of the Arnor Teaser Delayed, again. Why am I not angry? Words of wisdom Brad Wardell on Galactic Civilizations 2: Twilight of the Arnor Gamer 411

Pages: 1 2 3 4