User Reviews (1 - 11 of 271)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Strategy-gamers' heaven

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: July 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Why the ridiculously low three-star average rating for this fantastic game? Only because of angry one-star reviews from a minority of customers who have encountered technological problems, which have since been patched. I play Civ IV on a laptop and have had no technological problems whatsoever. Civilization is the greatest strategy series ever invented, and Civ IV has improved by leaps and bounds over its predecessors. Result: a gaming sensation, which is easily the best strategy game ever made.

The game is so good it is hard to know where to begin. The dynamic 3D graphics, soundtrack, presentation, interface etc are all absolutely AAA. You can zoom in and out at will, and the graphical detail is absolutely astonishing. The music is also great and atmospheric. It changes to match the era, catching the mood nicely. All that is absolutely top-notch, yet it isn't even the major reason why I would recommend this game.

Of course, strategy games stand and fall by their gameplay, and here too Civilization IV does not disappoint. If you've played any of the Civilization series, then you'll know just what an addictive, "one-more-turn" experience it is. And I mean addictive. It's all too easy for me to skip meals and sleep because I am so completely engrossed in planning my next strategic move.

This much is familiar from the days of Civilization II (which I spent literally hundreds of hours playing in the old days). I'm pleased to say that the latest installment has successfully captured all of the old feel of the classic Civilization. I say this, by the way, as someone who never got into Civilization III, which meant that I certainly had my doubts before getting Civ IV. These doubts were quickly dispelled. The new features which have been included in Civ IV, such as religion and great people, add whole new layers of strategy to the game. At the same time, they all combine elegantly with the basic game system of old.

What's even more important is the radical effort that has been made to streamline the amount of micromanagement. This was always the Achilles' heal of the previous versions of the game. I could find myself spending an hour on every move, painstakingly moving grains of corn from one tile to another in city after city, in order to avoid the waste that would otherwise occur. The great news is that the designers have at last woken up to the pointlessness and tediousness of most of this micromanagement.

For example, now surplus production points do not go to waste (as they used to in previous versions) but instead go towards the production of the next item you want to build. This "roll over" of production (which also applies to food, scientific research, etc) means that you can concentrate on managing your empire, instead of managing every single tile every single turn. At the same time, the cities have also become much smarter at managing their resources, and there is a nice array of options (all very easily accessible in the city display) which enable you to guide a city's production priorities. Whether you choose to automate, or pursue a more hands-on approach, it is all very easy to manage.

As a result of these changes, the game now moves along much faster, while still containing a more-than-satisfying amount of thinking and strategizing every turn. This means I can sit down to start a game and reasonably expect to finish it within a week or two of intermittent playing. Sadly, the same cannot be said for many other strategy games on the market, which are often so long and complex that they are essentially unplayable.

What else? As a veteran of Civ II, I was pleasantly surprised to see what a challenge the game has become. Now, an effective military is just as important for defence as it is for attack. If you are weak, the AI will show you no mercy, and it can mount remarkably effective invasions. In general, warfare is now much more challenging and realistic. Pillaging has become a far more effective strategy than in the past, which means that fighting no longer revolves entirely around the capture of cities as it used to. The added emphasis on combined arms means that much more thought has to be given to the composition and deployment of your armed forces.

Really I could go on and on lavishing praise on this lavish game. But what am I doing? Why am a wasting time writing this review when I could be getting on with my next move?

Turn based strategy at its best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: May 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Like previous Civilization games, Civ 4 is a turn based strategy game that gives you control over the development of your civilization. Without going into all the features, I will point out the strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:
While some will complain about this, the overall game has been redesigned. Unlike previous games which encouraged the building of as many cities as you could in the early part of the game, Civ 4 goes to a more strategic approach, but also gives you something to do each turn(instead of setting production and waiting several turns for what you want to build to finish). The game now eliminates the "corruption" system of previous games, and goes to a system where there is an expense that the city places on your government. So, you start with one city, and you need to build a bit slower, at least in the early game.

The graphics engine is now 3D, and with a decently powerful video card, you can see all your city improvements from the main map. You can zoom in and out as well.

Cultural boundaries are based on the culture output of your cities, and you can use culture as a way to expand your borders and capture border cities.

Religion is a system that allows the founder(s) of the different religions certain extras. If you are the founder of a religion, and you accept that religion as your "state religion", you can see all the cities that contain that religion. Religion can spread on it's own, or you can help it by sending out missionaries.

The game is open for mods, and there are many out there that you can download to tweak the game in different ways.

Replay value is high due to multi-player, as well as the random factor in map generation. There are some static maps, but there are also a number of random maps that can be adjusted based on your preferred play style. If you prefer there being only one continent, or higher or lower ocean levels, or a larger or smaller map, you can start the game with the settings YOU prefer.

There are also different game "speeds", which decide how long each game will take. A marathon game on a huge map can take over six hours, but you don't need to play on marathon.

Each of the AI civ leaders have their own personalities, with some being more warlike than others.

With the Warlords expansion, you have both unique units for each civilization, as well as unique buildings. These unique buildings and units replace a "standard" building or unit.

There are many more positives, but no game is without it's negatives, even though I don't really consider many of these to be real flaws.

If your video card does not support directX 9 in hardware, the game won't look as good, and you will need to turn off certain graphics options. That is due to the video card not being able to handle certain graphics features. Even with DirectX 9, if you have a low end video card, including integrated video in most laptops, you may encounter some graphics issues. Intel video tends to be the source of many problems, but older laptops with DirectX 8.1 or earlier graphics chips tend to be the source of many display problems.

Even with a reasonably fast machine, video, CPU, etc, if you play on a huge world with 17 computer controlled civilizations, you will find that you need to wait a bit between turns(as the AI civs get their turn). This can make it a little annoying, but again, the choice of playing on a huge world with an older/slower computer is yours.

The AI at times can be a bit...slow. This is why multi-player is a good thing, because you can play against other humans. There are some mods out there that help with this. The next expansion(Beyond the Sword) has improved AI as a feature.

If you prefer a game that lets you win or lose based on thinking, and less on reflexes, then Civ 4 should be seen as a great game. If reflexes and fast gameplay are what you look for, then Civ 4 is NOT for you. Warlords and the second expansion(due out in July of 2007) add(and will add) to the base game. There are also a lot of elements in Civ 4 that will appeal to those interested in history, since there are references in the game to real life leaders, cultures, and world wonders.

Don't believe the doom sayers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 18
Date: November 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I almost didn't get this game. I know the previous versions and as late as last year was I playing III - and being very happy. This is a great strategy game - and version IV adds even more dimensions.

However - while the game has expanded, so has the requirements to run it. And they're not in the low end ... and windows being windows, if you have it loaded with all kinds of crazy stuff, you may not even be able to play. Example, I (still) use HP drivers that thinks it's "ok" to popup a small window every other hour while it does it maintenance business. This behavior causes the desktop to appear - and the game stays minimized. I just click the game back into focus and resume from where I left it. So of course, I close those "background" programs. This recommendation goes for _any_ full-screen game. Close everything else running, or you're asking for trouble.

The game uses 3D a lot .. this puts high demands on the graphics card, and the requirements for display are also high. READ the specifications careful and make sure your system can handle it. Remember, there's more to computer power than CPU and memory.

For me - the game installed without hickups. The only "fun" thing, is the 2nd CD is labelled "play" but you need the "install" CD to play ;)

I've not used the mutli-user functionality. To me that counter intuative. If I wanted to out-think opponents, I would use my "Rome - Total war". Same concept and the battle side is out of this world. But Rome doesn't have as much on the strategy side. The religion and "specialists" just adds more dimensions.

If you're new to Civilization; this is where you should start! If you play on the easy levels, it's not frustrating. You'll easily catch on. Civilization can easily be used for teaching too - it describes what sociaty is built on; and how growth is achieved. It will show a student, that life isn't black and white - that there isn't always an easy solution to problems.

The game has been opened up to "mods" - I can't wait to see what comes out. This game could stay interesting for years to come.

GREAT JOB at (re)creating a GREAT game!

please read - important !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: December 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I realize that most of the bad reviews here about this game are based on technical problems with the game, mostly due to problems with graphic cards that cause performance trouble while playing the game.

I must say one thing:
I had bunch of problems when I first installed the game. The first patch brought out by the company already fixed all of them and I can play the game without any difficulties.

It is a beautiful game, done with a lot of love and you can tell easily that a lot of work and time has been put into the game.
Plus the design in my opinion is the best compared to all previous civ games.

Buy the game, update it with the patch & simply enjoy, it's worth giving it a shot !!

Classic game and nothing else.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: December 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Before I go into details on why I consider this game to be, IMHO, the best strategy game to be released this year, I feel it is necessary to damit that this is probably the best Civ released. It all comes down to the more accessible interface, ability to modify the speed of the game, more gameplay improvements like nation borders, and the game can modified to a greater extent.

I've noticed that a few reviewers seem to assume that the original games are better, but most don't provide any good reasons for this assumption, or none at all. The best I saw was the ability to paint units in Civ 2, something that would probably work better since Civ 2 is 2d.

I also feel for those who are having complications running the game, since they are seriously missing out.

It is an understatement to say this game is simply fun. It is enthralling, is easy to control (the numerous concepts are difficult to master however), and possesses an addictiveness that makes it almost impossible to rise from.

The game always starts out with you choosing a city, and assists the player by suggesting good locations for your city. Some may dislike this, but the assistance provides long lasting effects, particularly when the population grows later in the game.

The game allows you branch out on just about any path you choose and most civilizations start out possessing certain benefits, with leaders that possess specific traits. For instance, George Washington, of the American Empire, is financial and organized so plots with commerce get 1+ added to their commerce when rise about 2 or more commerce, and receives -50% civic upkeep cost and certain buildings are half off.

There are numerous building and technologies in the game that affect how a starting civilization may turn out. You can focus on militaristic develops if you plan on starting wars early on. Cultural bonuses ensure that you borders expand. You could focus on economics if you plan on ensuring your population is always happy, and growth to ensure that they are alway healthy (both of the last two generally ensure there is no unhappiness). The choices you make may dire or beneficial consequences in the long run. An underdeveloped military makes your empire easy pickings for a militaristic nation. Poor culture will ensure that your cities are captured by more influencing civilizations without any bloodshed. You can trade technology and lands with you opponents, or form diplomatic treaties that ensure trade or the ability to move through friendly lands without provoking war.
There are Great People in the game which can provide immense benefits to cities in which they are settled (if yiu choose to settle them), or provide other small benefits by continuously doing certain tasks. If things get out of control, you can have the game automate things for you. This can be especially helpful when your engaged in war.

War can be tedious and resource waisting. It also makes your citizens unhappy the longer the war continues. Units can receive promotions in order to better combat certain units, or to provide certain benefits in certain terrain. Certain units are better able to combat certain units, cavalry can crush archers, archers crush melee fighters, and melee fighters crush spearman. The a.i. isan't a push over in combat either.

The a.i. generally excels at playing on a level that constantly challenges the player, and makes for a shrewd, if somewhat artificial, opponent. It generally makes good deals, and generally assist it's allies when war calls (not always though).
Speaking of which, the games difficulty can be adjusted to suit one's preference. There are wide range of difficult levels that affect a.i. abilities, and general events that take place on the map, such as raiding barbarians. You can even give the a.i. an advantage at the start of the game. The game can either be too easy, or too hard. It all depends on you.

The sounds are pretty good, particularly the menu music, and the noises you hear when you zoom in or out during gameplay. The graphics are pretty good for this type of game I suppose, they aren't the selling point however. I haven't experienced any crashes or installation issues as of yet. Though it is odd that the second disk is labeled play, when the first is the play disk.

Just get this game if you love strategy!! You (hopefully) won't regret it. Hopefully my review was clear and concise (probably not).

P.S.
Sorry to those who will not agree since I didn't say the game was buggy (how could I), or didn't make the empty statement of labeling Civ 2, or 1 for the matter, as being more superior. I suggest you try the demo before buying the game if you are uncertain.

Here are some more professional reviews for those who feel inclined to know such things.

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/919352.asp

Download the Updates - Problem Solved

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: January 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've read the grossly out of date spotlight reviews above. The game crashes refer to a version of the game now two patches old. There are major memory fixes and some outstanding UI updates in the latest version.

Now, as to the game itself. If you've played the other Civs, you'll understand what I mean when I say that IV is the ultimate expression of what the other 3 versions made you want. It's absolutely engrossing, totally engaging, vast and complex ... in short, it should be rated E for EVERYTHING rather than Everyone.

I would make this 4.75 stars if I could, only because I miss the individualized Wonder Movies from some previous versions (this version uses the same 'building from scratch time lapse' movie for each wonder), and I would have hoped for a very slightly more detailed city view (you can't mouse over the buildings for their name, and some become indistinguishable from one another). But of course, these little items are not what the game is about.

As in previous versions, you will almost certainly kiss your free time goodbye the first few days (or weeks if that's you), figuring it out, starting over, getting new maps, all that good stuff. Your strategy must be layered and in-depth to win at any reasonable level of difficulty.

The UI is fantastic and easy to use, the zoom levels are smooth, the global view is a great addition, the AI is smart. And you have Spock narrating the whole thing. Could it GET any better? About .25 out of 5 better by my count, and that's pretty good.

Bottom line, if you liked the other civs even a little, then this is a must have. If you liked them a lot, prepare to be permanently preoccupied. And if you've never played them before, there's no better version to take the chance on than this one. If Civ IV doesn't hook you, then this whole genre of gaming isn't your bag.

And again, don't sweat those spotlight reviews above. The major issues have been addressed in the patches. Get the game, then get the patch, then get to empire building!
----------
Over the last few days more reviews have been posted. I'm especially puzzled by the reviewer with an Alienware experiencing crashing. I play this game, movie, sounds and all, all the way through to it's conclusion, on huge map, epic timeframe, 12 other civs. No problems. I repeat, no problems. And this is not an alienware. I'm on a simple P4 2.8, geforce 6600gt, 1gig RAM. Cobbled together from the remains of my old computers and some parts I bought. Maybe people have insufficient cooling systems or inferior brands of NVidia cards, though I doubt this is the problem for the Alienware reviewer. I suggest visiting the civfanatics.com forums and finding out if you are overlooking some simple fix. The game is worth it.

Newest Edition of the Greatest Strategy Game Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: May 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

For those who are new to the world of Sid Meier's Civilization video games, then you are in for treat. The game concept is fairly simple: you select a nationality (from American to German to Japanese to Aztec) and slowly build up a civilization through the course of history- braving wars, pioneering technology, expanding your territory through settlers, and eventually attempting to establish the world's dominant power culturally, militarily, scientifically or all three. However, the pursuit of this goal offers a large variety of options: which government to chose, which technologies to focus on, what do your military units specialize in, how many cities to found and where, what national economic policy? And the list could go on. For the first time user, these choices will seem very complex and the first game should probably be the tutorial version, which will quickly educate you in the basics of the game play. Once you've mastered the simple concepts, I highly recommend giving a full game on one of the lower difficulty settings a try. The most entertaining part of this game is experimenting with your own strategies and finding what works the best for you (there are several ways to `win' the game; military conquest, cultural preeminence, a space race, a diplomatic victory or the highest score at the final turn).

When engineering your society the nationality you choose dictates your choice of leaders, and the names of your cities. The leaders affect your society based on the attributes they inspire your people to achieve; and these attributes in turn affect how well your people work with science, economy, civics, religion, military.... For instance: Both Napoleon and F.D.R. inspire their people to build world wonders in a shorter time; Napoleon however, also excels at inspiring the military, whereas F.D.R. inspires the economy. So a French civilization under Napoleon vs. an American civilization under F.D.R. have fundamental similarities and differences that affect the game play.

Now, this choice is only the first you must make: your people demand many more. You will be deciding the degree of freedom; from serfdom to emancipation. The type of economy: mercantilism to free market to environmentalism is a choice as are the choices of political participation: free speech or fascism? Each of these choices determine the final product of your government, in stead of the old technique of choosing only "democracy" or "monarchy". This enables the player to have a range of democracy, or a range of communism (America today or Europe today? China today or the Soviet Union of yesterday?). I don't mean to focus on only democracy or communism, but they are two good examples.

Eventually you will also found religions (unrelated to the actual history of religion and its cultural geography). Again, different religions confer different benefits: each has a series of religious buildings to construct that help your society, although different religious have different prerequisites. For instance, Christianity requires more churches to build a monastery, than Hinduism to build their version of a monastery. Conquering a civilization of a different predominant religion is more difficult to maintain order in; and if you can evangelize your religion it can serve as a source of revenue and espionage- not merely the cultural and `happiness' value.

Both the elements of governance and religion depend on the level of technological advance. You won't have Islam until after Judaism and Christianity have been founded, most likely- and a true democratic government is not available until later in the game.

There are a slew of natural resources available to exploit: strategic, luxury and health. Some resources are required to build certain military units (iron, coal and steel); others are required to build wonders (ivory, marble, stone) and/or greatly speed production of certain city improvements. If you have several cities in flood plains, or other areas that confer a health penalty, the health resources become much more essential to your culture to prevent the spread of plague and disease. Once your population expands, you'll need luxury goods (wine, silk, gold) to appease your burgeoning metropolises. Again, technology will expand and contract the list of available resources: ivory and whale oil will become obsolete eventually, and wine is not available until the requisite tech is researched. Some resources, modern media, are not available until world wonders are constructed, and if you do not build the wonders first you'll end up having to barter for the "hit songs" or "movies" of your rivals.

Now, if that description doesn't perk your interest in Civ4, then it may be that you won't like this game. However, if you're starting to think how you would rule your Roman Empire, or how you'd take the Sioux to outer space first, then buy this game now. I'm fairly confident that my review thus far has provided a reasonable expectation of what the game is about. But if it is the complexity that scares you, don't worry- after a few games you'll be hooked, and even an experienced player will learn new things later on- after many, many hours of fun.

For those who've played all the game editions since the early nineteen nineties, Civ4 is a success that adds to the legacy. It continues to round out some of the nuisances of before (removing civil disorder riots and pollution squares altogether), while adding new angles and perspectives to experiment with. Unfortunately the diplomatic options have a tendency to lean toward: You versus the World; especially later in the game. I think this stems from the programming that makes the computer chose one of the various options for victory and then pursue that end relentlessly. In the real world civilizations will play to win, but there is no "end of history" that we can achieve. In the game, the computer knows that if it lands on Alpha Centauri first, the game is over- and once you hit the space race you'll not have much luck trading techs with an opponent bent on that victory path. You'll enjoy the new "great leader" concept greatly, as well as the new terrain management options. There are even more new features, but this review is getting long. Just know that the improvements are solid and numerous; but not complete. There will still be another (at least one or two) Civ game before perfection is reached.

One critique that I'll add is this: for the first time, the newest version of the "Civ" series requires a fairly medium-high end computer. I purchased the game and play it on my one year old laptop: Centrino 1.4 GHz, 512MB Ram, no extra video acceleration. But it is a very slow process of loading the game up, and in the later turns when the world is vastly populated with units, the time between my turn and the computer's is agonizing. I've adjusted the graphics and sound accordingly, and the slowness persists. Maybe I'm just not a computer wiz enough to get the program to max efficiency- in any case, make sure you understand that the game is very graphics intense. This provides a beautiful game display at the cost of some slow turns. Now, if you have a brand new computer or one that is high end on game play stats, then don't worry.

There is an expansion coming out this summer that looks very interesting: I've read that it will add the possibility of creating `vassal states' as opposed to just conquering completely. Could add a lot to the game, since there are times when I realize that even if I sign a treaty I'll only delay the inevitable conquest of my aggressive and annoying neighbors. There will also be added nationalities and some other interesting options. So- you'll soon be afforded the opportunity to purchase more Civ. It might be better to bite the bullet, wait and get a `packaged deal' with both the original and expansion if you're playing on a budget.

In any case, Civ4 is a game you can play again and again, and you'll find yourself to start considering rationing your time on the game- so that work, school, and social life are not neglected. Well worth the money. Enjoy.

(*****) Great Graphics
(*****) Great Sound/Music esp. Leonard Nimoy narration
(****) Good Interface
(n/a) Story is up to you- the course of human history at your fingertips
(******)Excellent Replay value

A new patch...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: December 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

With the newest patch (as of late December), Civ4 runs fine...at least for me. You'll be so addicted to this game you won't even care if it crashes on you -- you can just go back and make less mistakes! It still freezes a bit, but you'll need the breaks to go get some air. Leave your firewalls on, but for best preformance try closing extra programs like gAIM, Firefox, mIRC, or whatever you might have running. You don't even need to run WinAmp, just throw your mp3s in the game's mp3 folder.

Civ Won Best Game of The Year

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: December 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game lived up to the Best Game of 2005 Award that multiple gaming sites gave this game. This game allows you the freedom to create a culture, unique identity, and become the country that you've dreamed about. Do you want to reincarnate the Romans, The Huns, The Napoleanic Area, the US, anything is possible with this game. This game is best game I've played in my 29 years of gaming. If you don't like to think and just want to run around mindlessly with a gun, this game isn't for you. If you have some substance and imagination, you will love this game.

Great graphics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome compared to the other versions.. just taking a little getting used to the differences ..but the graphics are great, the music is great.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions