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A no brainer...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 58
Date: July 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you like Civilization games, you're going to love this expansion pack. It's as if they read your mind. Whenever you were playing Civ IV and thought "Boy, I wish I could do ...", well, now you can. Those of us that wish for more and more power will be pleased. This is the ultimate power trip. Of course, if you don't have Civ IV, pick it up pronto - awesome game.

another fine example of the "genius" of sid meier

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 51
Date: July 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Civilization Warlords is the expansion to Civilization 4 which is pretty much the universal PC game of the year for 2005. With the term expansion you expect the game to expand and you would be right it does expand the game but not much. The core gameplay sees the least amount of changes,(gameplay n. style of playing a game or manner in which a game is played), it's the other things that expand. To begin with three new wonders; the one thats gotten most of the "pre"-release hype is the Great Wall which does everything you'd think; but there are two other wonder introduced; the Temple of Artemis and the University of Sankore.

The Temple of Artemis functions like a kind of "super" temple, however the University of Sankore pretty much makes your religious buildings into seminary schools with added resarch per turn. The new wonders are not the only inclusion in the pack; the item with the biggest reprecussions is the new great general, which appears after enough combat. It can be used in three ways: first as a warlord to direct a unit(s), second to construct an academy in a city, and 3 to be a general in a city and add exp to new units.

Among the new items are two units Trireme, a kind of upgraded galley, and Trebuchet, think upgraded catapult. The cities themselves have changed there are now new buildings, each civilization in the game can now build a unqiue building for their civilization that grants benefits to the civilization that builds it.
Also, new is the Stable building which adds exp to new mounted units and the Monument which replaces the Obelisk building from civilization 4, the Obelisk is now the unqiue building for Egypt.
New leaders join the exsisting civilizations England gets Winston Churchill, Rome gets Augustus Caesar, Egypt gets Ramesses II and Russia gets Stalin. There also three new
leader traits: Protective, Imperialistic, and Protective.
Which brings me to the brand new civilizations that
"join the fray"; in order they are:

Carthage
leader Hannibal
unit Numidian Cavalry
building Cothon (replaces the harbor building)

Celts
leader Brennus
unit Gallic Warrior
building Dun (replaces the wall building)

Korea
leader Wang Kon
unit Hwacha
building Seowon (replaces the university building)

the Vikings
leader Ragnar
unit Berserker
building Trading post (replaces the lighthouse building)

the Zulu
leader Shaka
unit Smpi
building Ikhanda (replaces the barracks building)

Finally new scenarios, unifiying China, Alexander, Rome, the Vikings, Genghis Khan, Omens(ficitional), and Barbarians(fictional).

In all this is a worthy addition to (not only) the civilization 4 game, but the civilization franchise in general. If you don't have Civilization 4 Warlords pick it up and if you don't have Civilization 4 pick them both up they are by far among the best games you can own.

It's decent, not great...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 81 / 105
Date: August 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you like Civilization like I do then you'd probabally buy any expansion pack. And if you are I wouldn't suggest skipping this one, it does at some content, but if you aren't a hardcore Civilization gamer, I'd go ahead and skip it. The scenarios are okay, but after you've played most of them once you won't want to go back and do it again. (The only exception might be the Chinese Unificiation, in which you might want to try a few of the Chinese States). And it adds very little to the actual core game, just a few civilizations, unique buildings, and a very buggy vassal system. Again, if you are a big fan of civilization, then go ahead and get it, if you're a casual civver, then skip it.

Pretty useless upgrade

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 134 / 166
Date: August 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I feel a bit scammed, once again, but I knew what to expect when I bought this expansion. It's pretty much what Conquests was to Civ 3. Some new civs, some game tweaks, and some scenarios. All this is great, but the fact of the matter is though, that all of this could have been released with the original version of the game instead of making us pay $30 more. My advise is to pass this over unless you are a hardcore Civ fan. I was hardcore for 3, but 4, although superior to 3 in almost every way, has left me a bit unimpressed.
So there's a handful of new rulers and Civs - but unless you kept finding yourself saying, "Gee, I wish I could play as the Ottomans," during the initial release, there's not really any point in buying it. There's also the Scenarios. If you played Conquests(Civ3), you know that Scenarios just don't work too well for Civ. The same goes for this new batch. All in all, Civ 4 is a lot of fun to play but pass this expansion unless you've got money to burn.

Also worth noting is that they changed the attributes of some leaders from the initial release. Napoleon for example, now has completely different civ traits, and no character has the combination of traits he originally possessed. So if you want to play as someone with that combo you'll have to fire up the original.

Definitely gets you out of a rut

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 21
Date: August 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Personally, I probably would have purchased the expansion even if people told me there was a 25% chance it would delete my entire hard drive and really upset my cat, because I was extremely excited to get it. There really isn't that much new here, but it is overall a solid expansion with some neat stuff. I wouldn't call it a must own, but I have enjoyed it.

I wasn't crazy about the civs they chose to include, except for Vikings and Celts, and would have much preferred they add the Byzantines or the Holy Roman Empire instead of Ottomans and Zulus, but that's a personal problem. The new leaders for the existings civs are nice, and I really like the addition of unique buildings, though a few do seem a bit strained or of limited use. These additions have made me want to branch out and explore playing civs, leaders, and tactics I have not used before. The scenarios, which are not usually my favorite thing, are pretty good, too. I really liked the Viking scenario, but some of them are just too hard to be any fun.. The Alexander one was impossible even on Settler level. I haven't played them all yet, however.
I think the biggest flaw in the expansion is the vassal state system. I was really excited about this in the anticipatory stage, but it's kind of disappointing in the actual game. Even if you can aquire a vassal state, it would be better to just crush them and take their land. About all you can really do with it is force them to give you a resource they wouldn't trade you.
Overall, I give it four stars. It's solid for what they set out to do, but it doesn't change enough to get five. I hope they do another one soon.

Hold Out with Civilization 3 Complete Instead

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 12 / 23
Date: August 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The biggest problem I have with Civilization IV: Warlords is that it comes off as such a cheap shot. Granted, there are some new features, but in all, you will probably find yourself asking, "Why didn't they just include this in the original?

For example, in the original Civ 4, you recall the Great People: scientists, artists, prophets, engineers, and merchants. Lo and behold, we discover that one crucial Great Person is missing: the Great General. I think this unit and concept should have been included in the original rather than being used to formulate a "new" product, such as the Warlords expansion pack.

Another example are all the buildings that are civ-specific. That is, Warlords offers a few more civilizations and leaders to play, with a few more personality types. This might seem like you have struck a gold mine in terms of features, but consider this: (A) they only added 6 new civilizations; (B) each new civilization got a new leader, so that means that 4 new leaders were created for other civs; (C) there are only two new leader traits (personalities); and (D) now each civilization has a unique building for itself.

Big deal! THIS is supposed to enable a full expansion pack and another $20-$30 expenditure? Well, no... Firaxis decided to add a new game interface that seems pretty cool until you get into it. They finally fixed most of the bugs, too, so trying it out offers a more fair critique.

That is, they came out with the Vassalage system. The primary additions to this interface are diplomatic: (1) when you are whoopin' on someone, they can now offer themselves as a capitulated state to your empire (or a "vassal") - this means that they essentially become your ally and are tied to diplomatically, for better or for worse; (2) when a civ is your vassal, you have more control over them.

Well, this might seem cool to some of you, but when you check out this new feature, you quickly realize the inherent flaw: when a civ capitulates to your overwhelming hordes and armies, and you decide to make them a "vassal" state of yours, immediately your friends have a problem with this. That is, if you are teamed up with another civ against another, and then you take on the foe as a "vassal," your friend - who had been fighting with you all this time - now has a soured relationship with you because you took an enemy as your new "ally!"

In other words, the Vassalage system sucks. I am also not so sure that it could not have been included in the original game - it seems like a basic, diplomatic concept.

So Civ 4: Warlords is just a shameless marketing attempt to get Civ fans to drop extra cash on a worthless product. What makes it shameless is that the developers are relying on their most diehard fans to be their biggest victims. Obviously they can't win over new fans with this kind of expansion pack. They should indeed be ashamed.

My recommendation for Civ 4: Warlords is a suggestion system: Either

1) Do not support the Civ 4 franchise until it is done being expanded so that it is less of a cheapshot then. But "Civ 4 Complete" for $30 or less. Or,

2) If you really want all the Civ 4 titles and expansions, buy Warlords individually for $15 or less. (I recommend it at $9.99.) Or,

3) Give yourself a 100% savings discount and do not support Civ 4 at all. There is a great game out there called Civilization 3 Complete. It is fully expanded and costs about $20. (I have seen it for less in bargain bins.) It is as good as - if not better than - the Civ 4 franchise. Civ 3 Complete allows you to actually modify your scenarios to allow you sweet customization. Civ 4 doesn't even have a map editor, and trying to figure out all the XML and Python programming language stuff will require you to have an advanced education simply to alter things like technologies and governments (seriously).

So my true recommendation is that you go for Civ 3 Complete instead and forget that Civ 4 was ever released, unless Firaxis comes out with a powerful, easy, and fully customizable map editor that even you and I can use. Until then, Civ 4 is a rip-off, and Civ 4: Warlords is just another example of how bad a rip off it really is.

A Necessary Expansion

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: August 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Civilization IV is great, and Civilization IV: Warlords makes it even better.
It adds 6 very good civilizations: the Carthagian empire, Celtic empire, Korean empire, Ottoman empire, Viking empire, and the Zulu empire.
The new leaders in this game are Hannibal, Brennus, Wang Kon, Mehmed II, Ragnar, Shaka, Winston Churchill, Augustus Caesar, Ramesses II, and Josef Stalin.
In addtion it also includes several more amazing scenarios, new buildings, 3 new leader traits, and the very helpful 'Warlord' unit.
This expansion adds many more ways to enjoy the Sid Meier's Civilization series, and is a wonderful thing to have.

Get my goat

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: August 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

OK- this game is a great improvement graphically over CIV III- and still has the great fun factor as well. The only thing that I don't like in this game is the comlexity?!? In Civ III, I would wind up winning a space race in the mid 1500's- in CIV IV- however not until the early 2000's. Another thing that annoys me is the AI- In the beginning of the game I struggle to maintain money while trying to do full research with 3 cities. The money goes down quick and I have to start doing 70% research- now the AI at the same time has 8 cities, like 12 military units in each city- and is researching me head over heels. On game I tried to build as quick as the AI with 7-8 cities, can't even come close to what the AI was doing- money per turn is way negative, so I have to cut research times in half, thus taking forever to research. How is it that the AI can do all of these things-(mega military, mega cities and fast research- all of these costing mega gold) but I can only do one of these 3? I am not by any means a civ rookie- and this is on the third lowest level- warlord I believe. If your focus is on gaining money first before buidling settlers, forget about that as they oversettle your area and leave you with no land- often times I am stuck with 3-4 cities for a very large portion of the game.

A very good game gets a little better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: August 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The best part about this expansion pack is the scenarios. Having played them all, I can say that they generally are fun, although a couple of them (like the Settling of America) fall flat. Most fun is either the Genghis Khan scenario or Barbarians. The Warlord unit is useful, but perhaps not as powerful as i would have expected. Overall, a good buy.

bugs spoil expansion

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: August 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Should have been part of Civ 4 from the beggining.
Bugs spoil the expansion and no patches available yet.

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