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Don't Buy Unless You Have A Brand New System

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 26
Date: November 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Don't buy Civ IV. From what I've read, Civ IV is supposed to be a great game. However, because of the new 3D graphics features it will not run on systems more than a year or two old. I've spent days trying to upgrade my Dell Dimension only to discover that it cannot be done. From what I've seen elsewhere on the Net, quite a few people are having similar technical problems. I also had issues with the game crashing repeatedly. This game is not ready for prime-time, and the graphics are too demanding for most computers. I've already wasted $150 on upgrading my system trying to play. Please learn from my mistakes.

Wait to buy it

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 17 / 24
Date: November 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Game testing apparently isn't something the makers decided to try. There are literally so many bugs and problems that running this game as intended is nearly impossible. I'm sure they will eventually fix it but save your money now and wait until the designers have fixed a few of the issues.

Very disappointing.

This game has many known serious bugs.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: November 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is unplayable for a large percentage of users - I recommend visiting the CivFanatics forums (one of the largest Civ sites around) at http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=143 to get a sense of the disappointment many users are experiencing at not being able to play what otherwise seems to be a fantastic game.

The ideas, graphics etc are all great - if only they would work for most people. Graphics and audio are known problems, and while the recent patch (1.09) has helped some, the majority have had no or negative benefit.

You may be lucky and have no problems - but it seems about 20% of players have major (ie, you pay A$90/US$50 and get a game you can't play) and 50-70% of players minor (some issues, crashes to desktop etc).

I recommend being really careful purchasing this game - I'd wait until a couple more patches have come out - and then, it will be a great game.

What a Mess!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 33
Date: January 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm having the same problem as B.Denning, catastrophic failure on disc 2 on my second set of discs. Tech support hasnt answered e-mail after 4 days, and the online civ forum either says: a) bad disc or b) recommendations for upgrading my HARDWARE to make the game run, despite the fact I meet all the system requirements. You better be lucky and/or have a Ph.D in computer science to make this thing work. All this for $50 bucks!

It's not all that

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: April 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This isn't a kid's review. I just didn't feel like creating a profile.

I've been playing Civilization from the beginning and had high hopes for IV. Had.

I had to return my first purchase, bad disk 2. Got the second to install and downloaded the patch. Everything runs fine.

I've been thru 10-12 games so far and have no complaints about the interface. I like the new graphics (which is why I gave it 3 stars overall). My complaint is regarding the AI. I have yet to see one conputer controlled civ attack another computer controlled civ. If I happen to be in an inferior position they are quick enough to turn on me. But to get them to attack each other, never happens.

I've completed a couple of games that went the duration WITHOUT ANY WARS WHATSOEVER! How realistic is that? 7 civilizations living side-by-side for millenia and no conflicts!

In previous games you could always count on war, somewhere, between someone. You could side with the dominant one to carve up the underdog, or side with the underdog to bring the big boy down to size, but you could always count on there being a war.

Every game that goes the distance (where I'm not wiped out early), is just a space race. Every game becomes a land grab and a tech race. Unless you want to be the agressor your military is only there to keep you from looking weak.

I'll give Civ IV one or two more shots, maybe disable some victory conditions or change a mod or something. Then I'm uninstalling and going back to III Conquests.

Do not buy this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 23
Date: November 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Please do not buy this game. It is full of software problems(bugs) almost like BETA software. I've tested BETA software that is completely functional where this software game is not.

On dialing the customer service 866 number to obtain support, a recording says your call is very important to us and please continue to hold, but you are placed on hold for about 5 minutes then the recording says all lines are busy and try again later or send email. Then you are HUNG up on !.

I could list all the bugs I've found so far but what is the point. The game is basically unplayable.

A Disaster -- Not Ready for Prime Time, or Anytime

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 21
Date: February 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Despite having read numerous reviews regarding installation difficulties with Civilization IV, I decided to go ahead and purchase it (immodestly believing that my considerable computer skills would allow me to succeed where so many others have failed). It was a huge mistake. This game should never have been released in its current form. It is nearly impossible to install in a Windows XP system that easily meets all requirements.

After several failed attempts, numerous reboots, and various tweaks and changes, I at last got the program installed after shutting down virtually all other functions using the task manager (including the firewall, virus protection, anti-spam, printer spooler, etc.). I then updated the XML parser on the recommendation of several user forums, and undertook numerous other esoteric changes as well. Despite these efforts the program will not load; everytime I work through one error message (and another hour), I only move on to the next one. Even after all this effort, the most recent patch (a massive 45 Mb, indicative of how many problems there are) cannot recognize the installed problem to update it, even though the program is installed. To add insult to injury, I was unable to uninstall the software when I at least gave up my effort.

Don't buy this program unless you are willing to spend 5-10 hours trying to install it, and enjoy wading through numerous user forums, all of them filled with frustrated would-be gamers. Save your money, and your time.

Nice Job, Sid

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: November 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I thought I was doing something wrong. My system met all the requirements. Yet I could not get it to launch. My self-doubt turned to rage when, through trial and error, I realized the "install" and "play" CDs were misprinted/ reversed. My rage turned to molten lava when I could hear the sounds of the game, but could not see any graphics. My molten lava went through the roof when I read up on the game online and found that four out of five players are having the same problems. Do not, do not..... DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.

Very bad software

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: November 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the worst game I have ever bought. It simply does not work and my computer is way above the requirements! Save your money and don't buy this. It crashes regularly causing the computer to reboot or shutdown completely. Also, when it does run, you better save your games often, otherwise it'll crash and you'll lose some turns. This game was a big disappointment for me. Sid Mierer and Civilization is a legend. That legend ended with Civ 4. I sold my copy on eBay at a great loss :(

Very Expensive

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: December 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid Civilization fan. I had no qualms about purchasing Civ IV($50) on October 28, 2005. After all, my system met the minimum requirements:

2.4GHz Intel P4
1GB Ram
64MB GeForce4 MX420 AGP Video Card

Part way through the tutorial the game would present a blue screen with wording that my system was going to be rebooted. Several times the game just appeared to hang. This behavior became more frequent the longer I played the game.

Installed a new 256MB GeForce 6800GT OC AGP Video Card($350)

The Wonder video clips still run somewhat herky-jerky but all and all the game now runs reasonably well even though I have not applied any patches(If it works, don't mess with it).

My advice would be to wait until the price of Civ IV gets to around $19.95. By that time, you will have purchased a brand new computer with a video card that isn't even manufactured today and Firaxis/2K Games will have had some time to fix their buggy software.

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