Galactic Civilizations: Galactic Civilizations Preview Company: Stardock Earth's future looks to be war-torn and bloody in about every futuristic depiction ever seen. Galactic Civilizations is no different, but at least you get a chance to change things. As the leader of the human race at the dawn of the 23'rd century, your goal is to lie, cheat, steal, and kill your way to becoming the greatest civilization the galaxy has ever known. But be warned, as there are five other civilizations lurking around out there with their own agendas. As a 2D turn-based strategy game, Gal Civ looks to differ on the grounds that it offers more replay value due to all the varying methods of actually playing the game. You can customize your civilization to determine their skills for things like diplomacy and technological research. Not just a militarily tactical game, Gal Civ lets you achieve victory through economic or political power. Gaining influence in the United Planets Security Council is as important as maintaining a well-defended homeworld. An important aspect of Gal Civ will be the multiple ways of dominating the galaxy. If you successfully negotiate an alliance between all five alien races, the game is won. Another way is to research technology that takes you beyond mortality, which, if history reminds us, is not an easy task. And of course, strong-arming everyone else out of existence will do the job quite nicely as well. Sci-fi fans will definitely want to check this one out in the future, but if Galactic Civilizations delivers what it promises to, it could very well reach mainstream as easily as the Trekkie fans. -Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications AKA Andrew Horwitz Related Links: Galactic Civilizations' website