Galactic Civilizations II - Twilight of the Arnor | F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
Galactic Civilizations 2 - Dreadlords

---

Galactic Civilizations II - Twilight of the Arnor

• GameSpy
  5 out of 5
• IGN
  8.0 out of 10
• Sound 8.0
  Better music overall this time around. The sound effects are better than expected for this genre.
• Cheat Code Central
  4.9 out of 5 Music/SFX/Voice Acting The music is more varied than the last expansion pack. It's rich and orchestral. Very classy and epic. The sound effects almost rival those of Star Wars. The explosions sound as good as they look.
• X-Play
  5 out of 5

-top-

---

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point

• Voodoo Extreme
  F.E.A.R. Extraction Point wins "Best Audio" award from VoodooExtreme.com's 2006 Game of the Year awards. Audio, I'm pleased to report, is fantastic. The game uses all of the latest EAX effects and the choice of music was superb. Voice acting was more of the same, and some characters from the original are back from the grave to keep you company. There is very little dialogue, though, to go along with the whole no-story thing, so generally the only voices you hear is from occasional radio chatter.
• Gamer Within
  Sound: 9.0 Graphically and audibly, the game retains its standards, and once again what you do not quite see and what you hear behind you remains the title's strong points. Play it in the darkness at night, and you have a very immersive experience.
• Ace Gamez
  Sound 10/10 The scare element of the original F.E.A.R. is maintained in this expansion, and the supernatural foes theme takes a nice twist with demons that you eventually fight, making for a scary battle or two as they are invisible and consequently you can only see their eyes. In order to heighten the suspense, the supernatural element is nicely complimented occasionally by accompaniment from another character, as if to prove to you that what your character is witnessing is real. The soundtrack is also superb in complimenting this, with music either pumping or eerie in order to perfectly match your surroundings. The scare element of the original F.E.A.R. is maintained in this expansion, and the supernatural foes theme takes a nice twist with demons that you eventually fight, making for a scary battle or two as they are invisible and consequently you can only see their eyes. In order to heighten the suspense, the supernatural element is nicely complimented occasionally by accompaniment from another character, as if to prove to you that what your character is witnessing is real. The soundtrack is also superb in complimenting this, with music either pumping or eerie in order to perfectly match your surroundings.
• Games First!
  The sound is great, as well. The voice acting, when it's there, is just as well done as in the first game. And your guns still have the same visceral, deep sound as before. Firing up the minigun rocks, and it's just as scary to hear one key in to your position from across a room.
• Video Gamer
  Truly scary moments aren't that regular, if only because by now you'll know that they generally arrive after your headset receives some kind of garbled noise, but Extraction Point's atmosphere is still superbly eerie.
• Game Shark
  Extraction Point also delivers the same kind of horror filled atmospheric gameplay you loved the first time around using decent lighting techniques, ultra effective atmospheric sound and the game's stellar A.I.
• Game Zone
  Sound: 9.0 Extraction Point features the same sound effects that made the original just so damn creepy. Music plays more of a key role this time around, with musical cues giving the game even more of a cinematic feel.
• Gamers Temple
  In its favor Extraction Point does do a good job of delivering atmosphere through good use of lighting and audio effects. You'll certainly have some of those "jump out of your seat" moments that you enjoyed so much in the original game.
• GameSpot
  Sound: 9/10 This is still one of the creepiest games that you can play, thanks to incredible atmosphere. Excellent sound and lighting. Extraction Point is an exceptionally creepy experience. The game continually messes with your senses, and you'll see and hear things that will raise your hackles. Sound is incredibly effective, as each little noise can send you spinning, ready to start blasting.
• IGN
  Extraction Point's sound really reinforces the visuals too, especially the power down and up effects when popping in an out of slow motion. Sound 9/10 From the electric flitting of your transmitter to enemy screams and chatter, the audio is engrossing.
• Firing Squad
  Sound and music effects are also on a par with the original F.E.A.R.
• Worth Playing
  Extraction Point also makes the same great use of sound that F.E.A.R. did. Listening to the world around you is necessary in a few cases, particularly making sure you listen to hints the Replicas drop about their course of action or how badly you've ransacked their squads. Gun battles are deafening things, where and explosions.
• GameSpy
  …the audio is pretty stellar, with all sorts of spooky sounds to keep you on your toes even when no one else is around.
• Cheat Code Central
  Sound 4/5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting Creepy music and voices combined with loud machine guns and explosions make for a solid audio package.
• Game Revolution
  The sound is just as high quality, following the time lapses perfectly, and a variety of good tunes back up pivotal fights, underscoring their intensity.
• X-Play
  Ambient noise is spot on. All the creepy atmosphere of the original game is recreated in XP. The expansion pack developer, TimeGate, has managed to make this new mission an almost seamless addition to the main game, and they clearly have the skills necessary to make effective use of sound, light (or more accurately, the lack thereof), and tension. Awesome action, intense atmosphere, fantastic audio work, gorgeous graphics, and plenty of blood and gore make this a worthy gun fix for gamers who still have the original game installed.

-top-

---

Galactic Civilizations 2 - Dreadlords

• Game Chronicles
  Sound 9/10 A good soundtrack is something that is often overlooked in gaming, so it's always nice when you get one. While Galactic Civilizations II presents a very limited selection of tracks, what is there is gorgeous, very much in line with Halo or Advent Rising in terms of sort of nebulous haunting vocals and orchestral back up. It does a wonderful job of setting the mood. Each species has its own theme, which plays whenever you go to talk to them. It gives just that extra spot of personality that is necessary since there aren't any voice actors, and, honestly, I'll take good background music over bad voice acting.
• IC-Games
  Feb. 2006 Sound and music - 90%
• Ugo
  Feb. 2006 Sound and music - B+
• Next Level Gaming
  Feb. 2006 Sound 10/10

-top-