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GalCiv2 expansion beta

Dated. Details inside.

Stardock has announced that the beta test for the Dark Avatar expansion to Galactic Civilzations II will start on 16th November.

As previously explained, it's open to anybody who has pre-ordered Dark Avatar - due out in February - from Stardock's TotalGaming.net service for US$ 24.95 or three "TGN tokens".

Stardock's keen to point out that all TGN titles ship without troublesome copy protection, and points anybody interested in pre-ordering and taking advantage of the Dark Avatar beta in this direction.

Dark Avatar aims to "truly redefine the scope of what an expansion can offer". Yes, we've heard that before - but to be fair to Stardock it does have a lot stuffed in there.

There's espionage, for starters, offering another strategic path through the game, as well as asteroid fields, custom civilisation opponents, expanded diplomacy options, two new races, new ship parts, a new mini-campaign, mega events (like civil wars, plagues, new game rules), super abilities (a super-warrior gets extra ships, a super-isolationist can stop others travelling fast through their space, etc., and everyone has one super powers), updated visuals and more.

For more on the game, check in with Stardock. For more on Galactic Civilizations II itself, check out our review.