Skip to main content

‘Galactic Civilizations III’ adds espionage missions in ‘Crusade’ expansion pack

galactic civilizations iii crusade expansion detailed galciv3crusade
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Stardock Entertainment has revealed the many new features and improvements coming to its 4X strategy game Galactic Civilizations III in the upcoming Crusade expansion pack, including custom factions, espionage missions, and a fully revamped invasion system.

Galactic Civilizations III players can also expect to see new races and civilizations after installing the upcoming expansion, along with an exclusive story-based campaign mode.

Released in 2015, Galactic Civilizations III is a spacefaring strategy game in which players spread their civilization’s knowledge and culture throughout the galaxy. The game’s core sandbox mode allows for endless gameplay possibilities, pitting players against as many as 100 opponents within a single massive universe.

The upcoming Crusade expansion for Galactic Civilizations III will introduce new races and civilizations for players to encounter during their journey, including the Terran Resistance, the Onyx Hive, and the Slyne. These races will appear throughout a Crusade-exclusive campaign that pits the citizens of Earth against the Drengin and their allied forces in a series of large-scale space battles.

In a bid to spread Earth’s civilization to the stars beyond, players must hire spies and soldiers to take control of enemy planets. In Crusade, citizens can now train to specialize in espionage, which gives players access to stolen alien technologies and unique forms of interplanetary sabotage. Other citizens can assume the roles of admirals, engineers, or celebrities in order to improve their planet’s culture back home. Once spies and soldiers conquer alien planets, players can send trained citizens to Earth-allied worlds in order to establish new bases of operation.

Crusade also boasts a Civilization Builder that allows players to craft custom factions with unique ideological abilities. Players may also share their custom civilizations and browse other user-crafted worlds via Steam Workshop.

The Crusade expansion for Galactic Civilizations III launches this spring via Steam. Galactic Civilizations III owners can pick up Crusade as a $20 add-on, while newcomers can opt for a $40 bundle that includes the base game and all expansion content.

Editors' Recommendations

Danny Cowan
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
How to get to Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves
An election poster for guybrush in Sea of Thieves.

Over the course of its many years of updates and expansions, Sea of Thieves has had a few notable crossovers with other pirate franchises. The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover let you team up with the legendary Jack Sparrow, but the Monkey Island content felt like it came out of nowhere. For those unaware, Monkey Island is a series of pirate point-and-click games that were as funny as the puzzles were obscure. Thankfully, you don't have to intuit that you need to combine a cat whisker with a mason jar to bypass a skeleton guard to get to this new content, but it is more challenging than you might think.

Read more
3 Xbox Game Pass games you need to play this weekend (May 3-5)
Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Another weekend is upon us, and you're probably looking for some games to kill time with over the course of it. We're in a bit of a lull right now ahead of a flurry of releases starting next week, so it's a great time to dip back into the Xbox Game Pass catalog and check out some games that you may have missed. There are three games in particular that I think you should check out this weekend if you're looking for something to play.

One is an unsettling adventure that's getting an Xbox-exclusive sequel later this month. The next is a finely animated roguelike indie that recently made its way to Microsoft's gaming subscription service. Finally, there's a relaxing adventure that gives players a lot of freedom, yet is short enough to beat in a weekend. If you're having trouble deciding what to play this weekend, give one of these games a shot.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Read more
3 underrated PS Plus games you should play this weekend (May 3-5)
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra have been around for almost two years, and during that time the subscription service has established itself as an ample competitor to Xbox Game Pass. That means there is a wealth of great games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners to check out if they're looking for something to play this weekend. I think PS Plus subscribers should be looking toward some of the more underrated games in the subscription service this weekend too.

I have three particular picks in mind. The first is an enjoyable Metroidvania that came to PS Plus' game catalog when it launched just a couple of weeks ago and deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. After that, there's an action-platformer that pays homage to series like Ninja Gaiden that you should check out before it leaves the catalog. Finally, there's a PS2-era Star Wars game that fills the niche a recently canceled game would have.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Read more