Sid Meier’s Civilization IV Game Review: World Domination On Your Computer

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Ever look at all the problems in our world and think to yourself, “I can do this better”? You can’t just snap your fingers and inherit Godly powers like Jim Carrey in the movie Bruce Almighty, but for $50 you can pretend on your computer. Gaming legend Sid Meier‘s simulation game, Civilization IV, allows you to rule throughout time and create your own legacy as you guide your civilization from the dawn of man through the space age and beyond.

New Ways To Win

This latest installment takes the critically acclaimed Civilization franchise to new heights with the addition of new ways to play and win. Just like the Tears for Fears song says, “Everybody wants to rule the world”, but how will you rule your world? Like Gandhi or Hitler? It’s up to you. Will you implement new technologies and conduct diplomacy or just wage war and become the most powerful leader the world has ever known (enter Dr. Evil). Civilization IV allows you to win the game in a variety of ways including diplomatically, war or culture.

Progress Through The Ages

The game starts you off with some caveman-like warriors and a small clan from with which you can settle a small village. As your city grows and prospers, you can gradually invent agriculture and pottery, build cities, roads, and factories, explore the planet, train armies, form governments, all culminating in the invention of space travel and the George Foreman Grill.

Fun Play & Elegant Interface

This latest installment takes the critically acclaimed Civilization to a beautifully detailed, living 3D world that expands the gameplay experience. Combined with new tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy to use mod capabilities and various multiplayer modes and options, it just makes the game easier to play and more fun.

Key Features:

Some Key Features of Civilization IV:

• Faster-Paced Fun: Gameplay has been streamlined for a tighter, faster, and more compelling experience.
• Greater Accessibility and Ease of Play: An easy-to-use interface will be immediately familiar to RTS and action game players. And newcomers to the series will be able to jump in and play.
• Tech Tree: Flexible Tech tree allows players more strategic choices for developing their civilizations along unique paths.
• Grow Bigger Empires: More Civilizations, Units, and Improvements to enhance and grow your empire.
• Multiplayer: LAN, Internet, and Play-By-Email offer players all-new strategies and ways to play when competing or cooperating with live opponents.
• Team Play: Team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances. This results in shared wonder effects, visibility, unit trading, and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.
• Beautiful 3D World: Sid Meier’s Civilization® IV comes to life with a beautiful 3D world. The game features dozens of fully animated units (including culturally unique units) and totally customizable armies. Cities and wonders will appear on the map.
• Mods and Community Tools: Designed from the ground up for mod-ability, the game contains a powerful map editor with XML and Python support.
• Choose Your Leader: Most Civilizations now have two leaders from which to choose, with each Leader having traits that provide various bonuses to the player.
• Civics: With the discovery of new techs, civic options can become available. Freedom of speech or slavery? Hereditary rule or open elections? This creates endless government choices and possibilities!
• Religion: Now there are seven religions in the game that are unlocked through researching. When unlocked, the religion spreads through a player’s empire. This allows the religion to help manage happiness, gain gold and create Great Prophets.
• Great People: As the player uses specialists they gain Great People points in the city that is utilizing the specialists. Great People include the Artist, Tycoon, Prophet, Engineer, & Scientist. They can be used to get free techs, start Golden Ages, or join a city to increase its output.
• Promotions: Each unit has a promotion path that emphasizes specific unit traits. Promotions include bonuses to Attack/Defend on specific terrains/features, movement bonuses, sight/visibility bonuses, and increased withdrawal chances.

Civilization IV = Highly Addictive

Civilization IV is probably one of the best turn-based world simulator modeled after real-world cultures. Personally I’ve spent countless hours and admittedly, even an all-nighter, playing Civilization IV. So buyer beware. This game is very addictive!

The Civilization IV Warlords expansion pack has gone to gold master. It will ship to North America on July 24, 2007.

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