Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue
Galactic Civilizations III Expansion Pack
Release Date: April 11, 2018
Strategy, 4X, sandbox, in space, grand strategy, multiplayer, singleplayer, internet
OpenCritic
Intrigue is the third large expansion for the turn-based space strategy game Galactic Civilizations III. The add-on expands the political layer of the game and offers the option to form different types of governments, add a galactic market with independent traders, and introduces multiple new technologies.
Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue is an expansion to the 2015's space strategy, Galactic Civilizations III. This is not a standalone DLC, which means the player needs to own the core game in order to play the expansion. Both productions have been developed by Stardock. After the 2016's Mercenaries and 2017's Crusade, Intrigue is the third large expansion.
Mechanics
This add-on expands the political aspect of Galactic Civilization III. Players can establish a government for their interstellar empire selecting from a number of different systems of ruling and appointing officials. If, for example, one decides to try one of the types of democracy, it becomes his or her priority to maintain a high level of population happiness since this is the only way to win the next election.
When the player's empire expands, some of the outer colonies are bound to desire independence. Apart from dealing with such tendencies with force, players can also enter federations and unions where the former colonies are turned into close allies willing to fulfill one's requests. Nonetheless, independent colonies are governed by the AI.
In the base game, trade is limited to direct transactions between nations – this proves problematic, as not everyone is willing to sell their rare resources. This has been mended by Intrigue, which added the galactic market, where vendors base their prices on supply and demand.
Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue offers also new technologies, weapons, starship parts, and planet upgrades. The last but not least change is the appearance of Galactic Network ran by neutral robots, that allows players to follow the actions of other nations.
Last updated on April 25, 2018
Videos and Screens
[1:24] Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue trailer #1
GameWatcher: 8.5 / 10 by Marcello Perricone
A very good expansion, only let down by some restrictive government options, a bad commonwealth AI system, and Stardock's continued refusal to stop people from playing with each other.
Softpedia: 8.5 / 10 by Cosmin Vasile
Obviously, Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue is now without its flaws, but it appears that Stardock managed to considerably reduce the number to just a few. Although almost every aspect of the base game has been improved, I feel that some of the newly added features need a bit of balancing or tweaking.
Cubed3: 7 / 10
The Intrigue expansion breathes a lot of new life into Galactic Civilizations III with new story elements, governments, and other minor additions. Some of the problems still exist, such as the very vicious mid/late game grind it often falls into, and while changes were made to help this, it is still present. Those who have had little problem with the action up until now will find the new content a welcome addition.
Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue Summary
Platforms:
PC / Windows
Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue System Requirements
PC / Windows
Minimum: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz/AMD Phenom X4 1.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 512 MB Intel HD 4000 or better, 12 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1 64-bit
Recommended: Intel Core i5 3.0 GHz, 6 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB GeForce GTX 560 or better, 15 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1 64-bit
Base Gamefor Galactic Civilizations III: Intrigue