The initial taste of the game's widespread customization will come with the scenario setup, including options for overall map size, habitable planet frequency, victory conditions, etc. Players then have the pick of 12 default races to play as--with, of course, the option to create a custom race, tech trees and all. You can also dictate your leader's abilities a la Fallout, pumping points into various traits such as courage, diplomacy, or luck.

Almost everything about the game has a variable attached, from basic rule sets to UI behavior. Don't want a message to pop up every turn telling you about newly discovered meteors? Turn it off. Want to play a game on a universal map that takes months to complete? Call in sick. Maybe avian flu.

Probably the best example of the game's flexibility is found in the starship creator, a sort of Spore-like spaceship builder that allows you to attach hundreds of parts to hull hard-points. Engines, weapons, and even spoilers and other unnecessary flamboyances are at your disposal. Each component can be sized up or down, slapped to dozens of points on a ship skeleton and molded into a unique craft. It strokes the LEGO spaceship nerd in all of us.

While the game also lacks a real RTS component for space battles, it does allow you to simply watch your ships duke it out in 3D. It's a nice feature, but you'll make use of the "skip" button more often than not. This is a game about grand decisions, about strategy and planning. The realization of those plans isn't so much a reward as it is an afterthought, another minor step on the way to overall victory. I'd love a way to command my customized fleet, but in truth, even in games with strong RTS components like Total War, I end up automating most of the combat anyway.

Another area that GalCiv shines is diplomacy. It's a standard trading menu, but the simple indication of green or red text makes it very easy to tell the other party's inclination, cutting out all the annoying guess work usually involved in these types of systems. Paying 100,000 credits to have someone else fight your battles has never been easier.

A United Nations-style galactic council will submit proposals every now and then, dictating everything from the number of weapons allowed on freighters to the location of the next galactic Olympics. The size of each race's empire dictates the weight of the vote, but larger races can be beaten by calculated compromise. Faced with allowing the dominant Yor empire to dictate the vote, I decided to cast mine in favor of the second-largest race, guaranteeing that our combined power would keep the Yor in check. I'm in your council, nullifying Yor votes.

But enough about that stuff. Isn't this supposed to be a review of the expansion?

Twilight of the Arnor, which requires both the previous expansion and the original game to run, adds all sorts of improvements to the GalCiv II base. Other than improved graphics, the world-destroying Terror Stars, and the "Immense" month-destroying map size, the most significant of these is the diversification of research trees. Whereas before each race's tech tree was identical, now all 12 are wholly unique. Often a pathway to a particular technology is simply different, but there are also a number of technologies that will be specific to one race or another.

A new avenue of victory has also been added in the form of Ascension crystals. Building starbases on enough of these points will trigger a countdown to victory, the first race reaching 1000 Ascension points becoming the winner. While some have noted that this victory condition seems removed from any overall conflict, I found it actually ends up sparking conflict. Like a country developing nuclear weapons in real life, it forces you to act preemptively, starting wars in order to smash the other race's crystals and stave off defeat for a few hundred more turns.

There are a dozen other bullet points to Arnor, including map, tech tree and planetary improvement editors. The campaign mode also presents the final chapter in the three-arc story, progressing in an increasingly difficult list of scenarios.

Unfortunately, Stardock still hasn't added a multiplayer component. This particular exclusion doesn't bother me so much, but others will surely be disappointed. What irks me more is the game's crashing upon an alt-tab. Tasking out is a major part of my PC gaming life, and any title that isn't alt-tab friendly earns a black mark in my book.

And while I'm being irked, I would be remiss in glossing over some of the game's bothersome traits. For one, it is a little cumbersome in design, not nearly as streamlined and snappy as, say, Civilization IV. The game can also become a little overwhelming, especially as your empire expands on larger maps. At times I found myself knowingly disregarding urgent issues, moving on to the next turn just to keep the pace up.

Perhaps most dangerously, GalCiv can be downright harmful to your health, to the point of needing some kind of label. Warning: This game has been shown to increase the chance of prostate cancer in men. Bathroom discretion is advised. Stardock recommends an emergency bucket at all times.

That's about it for half-hearted complaints--back to the praise. Like the best of strategy games, GalCiv's many options and unexpected variables make for endless amounts of scenarios. At a cover charge of only $60 for the original game and its two expansions, Stardock is selling more hours of entertainment per dollar with this package than even the best page-turner of a book. If any of this sounds interesting in the least, you owe it to yourself to give this series a shot before it fades into obscurity.

Just make sure that bucket is within reach.

Disclaimer: Nick Breckon grew up down the road from Stardock HQ in the lovely town of Plymouth, MI. Go Whalers.