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Civilization 4
Sid Meier’s Civilization is a turn-based
strategy game that challenges players to build and expand an empire,
throughout all of human history and become the most powerful ruler in
the world. Choose one of 18 nations to lead and go head to head with
some of the most famous leaders in history. Each civilization has its
own special characteristics - some are fairly peaceful, while others are
expansionists and conquerors. You’ll battle your foes with a huge
arsenal of weapons, beginning with primitive archers and warriors, then
catapults, knights and frigates, and eventually with modern tanks,
submarines, mobile infantry, helicopter gun ships, stealth bombers, and
nuclear weapons. However, Civilization IV is more than just a great
combat game: you can also achieve victory through diplomatic cunning,
cultural or religious alliances, and technological dominance.
The Civilization series is one of the most defining and definitive
strategy games of the 20th century that is also the best work of gaming
genius Sid Meier. Originally the title started as a 2D strategy game
that gave the player the chance for world domination which started with
the earliest civilizations known to man to the final frontier... the
conquest of space itself.
Sid Meier bests explain the current
incarnation of Civilization as an elaborate board game that will have
you leading your people from the ancient times into the modern day and
age, advancing its culture, military, economy, and religion, while
fending off attacks and using cunning diplomacy to gain more influence
and territory in the world.
It should also be noted that Civilization 4 is not just a 21st century
port of the original game but has been redeveloped from the ground up
that contains a beautiful 3D engine, new multiplayer options and also
new gameplay modes.
Developers Firaxis have also done a
brilliant job at not only keeping the original elements of the series
but also evolving them into something unique. The tedious aspects of the
previous series have also been revamped or totally removed, that assists
in keeping the gameplay of the title quite smooth and exciting.
Governments, religion and city-ecospheres are the key improvements to
the title which also play a huge influence on your countries ability to
survive and prosper.
Gone are the fixed governments of the previous series that have now been
replaced by customized governments that are now linked into five
categories that include government, legal, labour, economy and religion.
Players can now mix and match between these categories in order to
create their own ideal of civics that can range from anything from free
markets, slavery, emancipation or free speech. As with the previous
titles, these civics are unlocked when the player researcher these
ideals and when researched, they can then be implemented into their
society. There are also a variety of new diplomacy options and also some
great attention to detail in your research areas such as creating great
works of art.
Another impressive feature of Civilization 4 is the advent of religion
that now plays a huge role in the game. Depending on your culture,
building the wrong churches or temples near the borders of your
adversaries may cause you to lose your cities. Buddhism, Christianity or
Islam... Civilization 4 has seven real-world religions for your own
delusions of grandeur. It would have been interesting if players could
create their own religion as with civics but I'm sure this will be
addressed in the next incarnation of the Civilization franchise.
Combat in Civilization 4 is similar to the previous title but units now
have the ability of over 40 different promotions that go a long way in
creating the basics of order in your civilization. By promoting the
right units to power, this will ensure that your cities are well
protected from resurgences and enemies. Although combat plays a huge
role in the game, it would have also been nice to have different battle
formations for your units, especially when you have a cross-match of
different units but apart from that, everything from Knights to jet
planes can be created in this game to protect your lands and also invade
neighbouring lands.
Graphically, Civilization 4 has received a much needed facelift as it
now supports a fully 3D gaming engine that allows you to zoom around the
gaming environment with some exceptional 3D graphics. There are also a
variety of special effects from Hollywood style explosions to realistic
lighting and water effects.
It should also be noted that Civilization 4
has a more real-world feel to it as maps are no longer 2D as everything
has a more spherical feel it, so zooming all the way out, above the
clouds lets you have a satellite view of the Earth. The ambient
soundtrack of Civilization 4 fits the genre perfectly and match that
with some realistic sounds and you'd be forgiven to think that you are a
god who is overseeing his or her people.
The title also features an impressive multiplayer option that gives the
gamer access to a plethora of different access options such as LAN,
internet and even e-mail play. Apart from your standard "Death match"
options, Civilization 4 also allows for team play that gives the player
the option of forming not only alliances but also their troops and
resources.
In conclusion Civilization 4 features some great innovations that almost
puts this game on par with the original game and if you're looking for
one of the best strategy games of this year and probably this decade,
then you better put this game on your wish list. Perfect gameplay,
beautiful graphics and a relatively easy to learn game engine,
Civilization 4 is a must have!
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