hist's Full Review: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Gold Edition for Wind...
I have generally moved away from computer games, instead relying on my consoles for my video-gaming fun. The ever-increasing technical requirements for the latest cool-looking games just made it hard to keep up. One exception I've made to this, however, is Civilization IV, Sid Meier's and 2K Games' turn-based strategy game that I consider crack cocaine for the mind. In this game, the same as its predecessors (which I have not played, so those fans of the old games who haven't picked this up yet (and c'mon, it's been two years now) will be disappointed to see that I won't be offer any comparisons), you are charged with being the greatest leader of a civilization beginning in 4000 AD and leading it into the modern world. And beyond!
You can do this in a variety of ways, so you don't have to be bloodthirsty to win this game. You can win a "cultural victory," by having three of your cities become monumental colossi of culture (think of a city containing Hollywood, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Louvre…on steroids). You can win a "diplomatic victory" by having a majority of the United Nations declare you leader of the world (harder than it sounds, unless everybody else is just cowed by you). You can win a "space race" victory by completing all the necessary technology in order to build a starship to colonize Alpha Centauri before any of the other civilizations on Earth can do so. Or you can just be really basic and kick all of the other civilizations' collective butts. A "domination" victory results when you control a certain percentage of landmass on the planet as well as having a certain percentage of the world's population.
So there are many avenues to victory. What do you do? And is it worth it? You start out with a Settler and some other basic military unit on a small section of the world, with the rest of the world a black, unknown mass. Settlers can create cities, and it's imperative that you create your first city in the first turn or two, so you can start building things. The military unit is usually either a Warrior or a Scout. You use this unit to explore the surrounding area, checking for random villages that can give you stuff or for good places to build more cities, as well as resources that you may want to keep an eye on. You will also inevitably run into other civilizations that are doing the same thing. As your cities grow, you can construct various buildings or units in the city. Your cities will also begin to increase their culture rating, and when this rating reaches a certain point, the cultural boundaries of the city will expand.
The core of the game, however, is the technology system. Each leader starts out with two basic technologies ("Fishing," for example, will allow water tiles to provide food and commerce for your city, as well as allow you to build fishing boats), and then throughout the course of the game you will research more of these. The game comes with a very simple to use technology tree that will tell you what technologies lead to what other ones ("Mysticism" leads to "Meditation," "Polytheism," and "Masonry" for example). As you research these techs you are also allowed to create different buildings and units that will advance your civilization ("Metal Casting" will allow you to build cottages, which will help improve your economy, for example). The technology tree is extremely easy to use and helps you plan how you're going to grow your society.
You're not doing this in a vacuum, of course. Depending on the size of the game you set up, there are plenty of other civilizations who are trying to do the same things as you are. As you meet them, you will inevitably clash (not always militarily, of course) and you will have to balance your diplomatic relations with these cultures to make sure you come out as the winning side. Be prepared for war, as if you come upon a militaristic civilization (like Rome run by Julius Caesar), you better have an army tough enough to withstand an attack. But as long as you're prepared, you can go merrily on your way and attempt to win a non-violent victory. Diplomatic relations are key to the game, and I love the interplay between all the different leaders. It's always fun when one of the other leaders declares war on somebody else. And it's even more fun when one of those leaders then asks you to help them wipe out their vile enemies and you turn them down.
A vital aspect to a successful civilization is trade with these other leaders. You can trade resources (such as fish or ivory or corn), technologies, or even just gold. Occasionally, one of the more belligerent leaders will just demand something, but it's always fun to turn them down (though I did have Montezuma declare war on me when I turned him down one too many times). You definitely have to keep an eye on your economy to make sure you can pay for everything, as there are many factors to consider: how much each of your cities costs in maintenance, how much gold each city is earning and how much trade with other cultures is bringing in. Some buildings (like banks) will increase your cities' gold production, which is always helpful. The game does a good job of summarizing all this information so you don't need to know the extreme details, though very good players are going to be on top of all that information.
Thus comes the main "problem" with the game, if you can call it a problem. Like chess, this is a relatively easy game to learn how to play, but very hard to play well. There are so many things to keep track of that a beginning player can be overwhelmed at times. Thankfully, some of the beginning levels are fairly easy even for the inexperienced person, where you'll generally be left alone to build your civilization in peace. In those games, it's fun to build up your military and really go on a romp. The learning curve is quite large, however, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of beginning this game.
And why do I call it "crack?" This game is the epitome of "Just One More Turn" syndrome. Once you've started, it's very hard to stop. I found myself wanting to play a few quick turns before going to bed, and then looking up and realizing it's now 2:30 in the morning and I had to get up in 4 hours. The creators of the game realize how addicting this game is and offer you two things to help: you can display the real-world clock up in the status bar so it's always visible, and you can set an alarm within the game that will notify you when it's time to stop. Of course, the alarm isn't much help if you hear it and say "ok, I'm just going to finish this turn."
The combat system is fairly basic, but it has some depth to it as well. Units can gain experience through battle or through buildings within the city where they're built. The game avoids the infamous "spear-carriers killing tanks" problem by making the variation between the units' strengths quite large. Even with multiple experience points increasing a unit's strength, it's much rarer to see that sort of thing. Each unit also has special bonuses, whether it's +50% against mounted units or the possibility of a "first attack", where the unit gets an attack before combat odds are calculated. The cool thing in this game (I understand this isn't in previous versions of the game) is that you can hold your cursor over the enemy unit and press the "ALT" key to get combat odds, so you will know how good of a chance you have for success before you attack. I like how the combat system isn't that complicated for those not as interested in it, but it's deep enough that most others probably won't have a problem with it.
Graphics
The graphics for this game are stellar. The world is seen in a 3-D isometric view that can be zoomed in to an individual tile or out to see the entire globe. The units move in a fun manner, though the combat looks a little strange. The combat animation doesn't really represent what's going on, instead being more light-hearted than anything else. However, the world you inhabit is simply gorgeous. As units move through forests or jungles, birds will occasionally go flying from the trees. Tiles with animal resources (such as cows or horses) will have said animal moving around the tile a little bit. The terrain is lush and beautiful to look at. There's the occasional choppiness depending on how robust your system is, though it's not too bad. There are also small movies for any of the World Wonders that you can build, though your ability to run them without stuttering will depend on your system.
Sound
The sounds in this game are also lush. You can hear the cows moo, the tromping of your units moving down the roads, and if you are in the city view for one of your cities, you hear the hustle and bustle of the people in it. If you're in the more modern era, you can hear cars honking, for example.
Also, each technology that you research has a historical quotation attached to it, and Leonard Nimoy reads these quotes in his very recognizable and rich voice. There is plenty of music too, though the pieces you hear during normal gameplay are unobtrusive and don't get too annoying. These orchestral pieces can be civilization-specific too, as when you click on a leader to interact with him, you'll hear some distinctive pieces that will remind you of that leader. Rome, for example, will get some pretty militaristic music. And I love the horns that announce that somebody's gone to war with somebody else. It's all very immersive, and hardly ever irritating.
Multiplayer
The game does come with multiplayer options, whether it's hotseat (taking turns in front of the computer) or online, but I have never done them. From what I understand, most multiplayer games devolve into nothing but warfare, and that's not what draws me to this game (though I like the *option* of warfare, and have won a few domination victories). Thus, I can't really comment on the quality of it.
Overall Civilization IV is one of the most addicting games I have ever played, and I love every minute of it. It's probably the best strategy game I've played, easy to learn, hard to master, and just plain fun. I've never had a game that I could literally not stop playing for hours at a time. The turns at the beginning of the game go extremely fast, since you don't have many units or cities (thus making the "just one more turn" even more prominent) and the intricacies of balancing commerce, diplomacy, and military action during the middle and end of the game is also intriguing. Yes, it is possible to fall irretrievably behind, the other civilizations, to the point where you're never going to catch up, but that's when you just retire from the game and start a new one. This game will be on your hard drive for years to come (two years and counting for me, counting the two subsequent expansions).
If you have any interest in strategy games, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try.
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