Tom Francis, of PC Gamer UK magazine, has posted the first part of his latest AAR of Galactic Civilizations 2 over at CV&G.com. It is to be included in the latest magazine issue as a separate booklet, and the online blog will be updated every few days til the complete piece is up there. This piece was written on the heels of the newest expansion for GalCiv 2, Twilight of the Arnor; Francis’ previous effort was on the preceding Dark Avatar expansion.
I’m a huge fan of his work, and immensely enjoyed the last AAR, so I’m really looking forward to reading this one. Essentially it is a meticulous day-by-day recount of a playthrough, in this case it’s an attempt to conquer the galaxy with a cultural victory. What makes this kind of thing interesting is that everything that occurs is related and nothing omitted – all mistakes and all victories. That his pieces are hilarious by nature is only icing on the cake. It makes the game sound interesting to even those who aren’t even interested in playing it.
Wow, this reminds me of what “Pelit” magazine used to publish back in the 90s, when strategy games were still somewhat more palatable to the general public. Their multi-page articles (that would sometimes be presented as series and span several magazines – unheard of) were released under the title of “Lue & Pelaa” – “Read & Play”, with the writers describing vividly their multiplayer campaigns in games like Steel Panthers.
They certainly were exciting to read. If I had to think of the one aspect that was the “it” factor, it must have been the emotional bridges these articles built between the writers, players, reality and the games. I don’t usually play strategy, but for a moment there they certainly seemed intriguing… …and little more like reality.