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What good is an expansion pack if the original game will not play on your machine.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 20
Date: January 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Due to the uninstallablity of the original game on my machine, the expansion pack is still in its original shrink wrap. Maybe my next computer upgrade will allow me to get to know this version, next year or so, maybe.

Obsolete Piece of Software

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 23
Date: September 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU ALREADY OWN BEYOND THE SWORD! All the core game changes, including wonders and civilizations, are included in Beyond the Sword. Only get this game if you want to have the scenarios that were included in Warlords.

Gouge me some more....I like it

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 17 / 20
Date: October 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First, let's establish one thing here. There is nothing in this expansion pack that shouldn't have been included in the original game. The only reason why I bought it, is because I am drawn to real-time and turn based strategy games like a fly to a bug zapper.

In my previous review of Civilization IV I mentioned that there was a problem with the AI not being aggressive and that certainly does not change here. The problem is that war is primarily driven based on the characteristics of each individual leader (Montezuma is still the best- I think he is a manic schizophrenic with bi-polar disorder), while this is a unique challenge to face off against people who have individual strengths and weaknesses it is not very authentic towards the real human civilization, which goes to war over some of the stupidest reasons. (If you don't believe me turn on the news sometime.)
Personally I think it would be fascinating to have the Civilizations go through different phases, expansionist, reactionary, pacifist etc and have their military policy follow accordingly. Rather than have the same thing over through out the span of history.

The prospects of winning by conquest of domination is extremely difficult, because the larger your empire gets the more it tends to bog you down and your production and science suffer. Usually during any given military campaign you can pick off a city or two and be all right, but long term conquest is out of the question. During a campaign in which my mighty Russians were devouring the Greeks and Spanish, I rarely could afford to keep my science production above 60%. As such after awhile I no longer had technology I could trade with the other CIVs. By the time the Twentieth century rolled around I was so far behind that I was still fighting with calvary and grenadiers, while CIV's like the Egyptians, (Who had not fought a war) possessed Tanks, Infantry and artillery units, thus making any further expansion impossible.

There is really nothing in this expansion pack worth paying $25.99 - $29.99 for. The Warlord Unit was a great addition but it's not phenomenal. The Vassal state feature is supremely useless as enemy civs will never willingly capitulate themselves to you, even if you are by far superior to them. In fact you don't even get the option to propose it as it is always unselectable in red font. Although it should be noted they will willingly capitulate to another AI CIV.

Upon reflection this is major another gripe I have about CIV IV. Diplomacy ain't what it used to be. Unless a fellow civ is in love with you, you are rarely ever allowed to table trades as they are almost universally redded out. In CIV III, even though a civ did not like you, you could still trade with them providing the deal was right. Now you can't even table or propose trades such as to stop trading with someone or to trade a resource or technology. The AI will almost universally bug you about stuff, in a recent game I don't know how many time the stupid Mongols demanded that I stopped trading with Rome-even though Rome was my closest ally and I had told them no three times already.

Personally, I still prefer CIV III and its expansions to CIV IV. CIV IV while it is a good game has many flaws from making it a great game. That is to say I won't play CIV IV again, I can see myself playing it occasionally in between games of CIV III - up until I get zapped again and pay $49.99 for CIV V, maybe even $79.99 for the collector's edition.

A mediocre expansion

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

While CIV IV is an excellent game the expansions are not so great. Sure the added content is always nice and the new game play really makes for an interesting and fresh take. But the increase in the AI cheating is just too much. What a shame because I would recommend CIV IV to anyone, it is just that good of a game, these expansions take it down a notch.

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.

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.

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.

Good little sparks, but nothing THAT innovative

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: February 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Although after buying this expansion, the Ottoman's have become my new favorite tech, the expansion overall doesnt add much. Vasssal state feature is cool, but hard to attain, and pointless most of the time. I do have to say that my favorite new feature is the special buildings - I think it adds an excellent new strategy to choice of civ.

If you are crazy about civ 4, then definitely get this expansion, but if your just an occasional player, then you'd be fine just sticking with the base civ, and using the $30 getting an extra tank of gas instead.

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.

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.

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