Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor

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.

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 Galaxy. 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.

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 Metacritic giving it a score of 92 out of 100

Trivia
Brad Wardell 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).