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Most improved concept!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 16, 1999
Author: Amazon User

When Sid makes a game (or puts his name on one) you can be sure he has thought of gameplay! This game is no exception.

I loved CivII and had looked forward to this game since hearing of it's creation. However, I had hoped it wouldn't be merely Civ in space. Sure enough, many things I would have liked to see changed or enhanced in a turn based stategy game were addressed in Alpha Centauri. Customizable units, customizable land, multiplayer issues (true pacts and alliances) new story concept (not just spear thrower to marine), hot seat works great! I love this game. The only negative comment I have is that it feels too dark sometimes. Doesn't have a lush new planet feel to me! But the gameplay makes up for that in my opinion. If you like strategy games that keep you awake at nights for months at a time, BUY THIS GAME!

Completely Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My opinion of this game is basically this: wow.

I am confident in saying this is my favorite game of all time. When I started playing this game, I thought it was a war game and only thought of it as that. Even though I was TERRIBLY wrong, you can still treat Alpha Centauri simply as a war game and be 100% satisfied with it. However, it's so, so, so much more. I've been playing it for over a year now, and I'm still learning new features and aspects of the game that I never noticed. I like how if you are a beginner, you can set base production to "governor" and that will direct production according to your current priorities if you don't really know what you're doing yet. Also, there are multiple ways of achieving victory, not just conquest like most games. These include: conquest (conquer everyone), diplomatic (get elected supreme leader), cooperative (destroy enemies and share victory with allies), economic (monopolize the planet's economy) and transcendence (begin the next stage of human evolution). There may be one or two I forgot about, but as you can see it's more than simply a war game. However, like in reality, you will need to maintain a military to defend yourself against more aggressive factions.

I love how the game lets you customize certain things. Your government isn't limited to despotism, monarchy, democracy, etc... You get to choose how your government works on many different levels, such as values, economics, etc... Also, you get to design your own units. Want a swarm of fighters to intercept enemy aircraft without a huge support cost? You got it. Want a few units equipped with nerve gas that you can paradrop into your enemies terrirory just in case things get desperate? You got that too. There are so many combinations you can create, it gives the game more depth than most.

I suppose the biggest negative factors are 1)it's complexity and 2)it's similarity to the Civilation series. However, these are minor as 1)there are ways of simplifying gameplay and once you understand it's complexity, you only get that much more out of the game and 2)even though it is similar to Civilization, there are also many differences and I think this game is far superior to any of the civilization games.

I could go on and on about the game, but I highly recommend you at least download the demo and give it a chance. I am comfortable saying if you give it a fair chance to win you over, your time will not be a waste.

Don't believe the hype.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 11
Date: November 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Certainly, this game is by one of the best teams in the 4-X business, and it does have some wonderful innovations. HOWEVER, it is crippled by the decision to include Planet as a non-removable, non-controllable player. Even playing the greenest game possible, I find myself reaching a point near the endgame, where rather than savoring my impending victory and polishing my civ to near-perfection I am forced to a hurried ending. Why? 'Cause Planet doesn't like me, and 30-unit stacks of Mindworms start turning my cities to goo. Yay. How fun. This is the very definition of an addictive, stunning game that's crippled by poor implementation of (what could be) a clever idea - the idea of a semi-sentient ecology, capable of protecting itself. Too bad that ecology is "magic" and has unlimited units to crush whatever offending city it wishes, never mind that, compared to you, every other faction is an eco-hitler. Save your money, buy Civ2.

Don't play it unless you've got plenty of time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 26, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Which isn't a bad thing. The gameplay is extremely addictive, the graphics detailed and enthralling, the technology fascinating to read about and the mind worms truly worrying. You feel genuinely worried when you see another faction edging towards your least defended outpost, or when a demon boil edges onto your territory. Above all, the ongoing story encourages you to keep playing until the very end.

Alpha Centauri is sooo addictive it should be illegal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is without a doubt the game to end all other games. Once installed, you will not want to, or need to play anything else. I have lost years of my life to this game. In fact do not buy it, if you want to have a life too. Alpha Centauri will assimilate you completely. For more civ reviews: http://www.otterit.co.nz/games/games.htm

Brilliant

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 20, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Quite simply the finest strategy game ever. Taking the concepts behind Civilization II to a new level, Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier have combined to create a brilliant science fiction turn-based strategy game. I've been playing computer games since the days of M.U.L.E., and I have never seen such a perfect blend. If you have *any* interest in turn-based strategy and don't abhor science fiction, SMAC is going to be great--at least it has been for me.

If like Sci-Fi games or Civilization games, then you'll LOVE this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I don't really know where to begin, but perhaps a good place to start would be to discuss the in-depth story this game has. There is a SERIES of books based off of this game! Sid Meier's as a company in my opinion did not do enough to hype this game, because this game is SO MUCH BETTER than civilization!!! It's like civilization of the future! They should take this game and ADD IT to the Civilization as a future technology expansion, like have different planets you could zoom into and run. Isn't that really the next step for civilization anyways? MARS! ALPHA CENTAURI! THE MOON! Ect. lol There are a few things you have to get used to in this game, like for example, you can CUSTOMIZE yor units with different armor, weapons, ect. and they build fast/slower depending on how much they cost ect. So you see how it can get a little tricky, but you can leave everything standard if you want. Like I said this game has TONS of depth and in my opinion is BETTER than Civilzation 4 (which I have and am not happy with) Civ 4 is too much hype and not enough game play. It's fun, but Alpha Centauri just DOES IT BETTER. This game draws you in and keeps you telling yourself, 'Just one more turn'. Until 8 hours have gone by and you're thinking to yourself, 'Just ONE MORE turn.' lol I don't know what else to say about this game except I'm hoping to acquire the expansion pack and I hope that Sid Meier's gets a clue and makes a 2nd version of this game.

One of the best I've seen from Sid!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I am a long time fan of Sid Meier's games since the moment I played the first Civilization in 1991. From then on, I mostly bought all of Sid's games. I recently got Alpha Centauri and man is it incredible. The gameplay is good, the graphics are great, and overall the game is excellent. The only thing I don't like about the game is that I finshed in two days and now there is nothing more to discover about the game. Other than that, I loved this one from Sid. If you have played any of the other Civs or even any other game from Sid Meier, you will love this one!

Civ III?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Having played more games of Civ II than I care to remember, I was really looking forward to this game. Initially I had thought it was just more of the same and I should have saved my money and kept playing Civ II. Dozens of games later I can honestly say this game was well worth the 49$ I had paid and at the current price of 19.99$ it's a real deal. The game isn't a departure from Civ II in anyway and may fall short of other's expectations when they are anticipating Civ III but with any amount of game play they will be pleased. Is it the same game? Basically yes. Are there THAT many improvements? No. Is it better than Civ II? Yes. Just the little things like unit customization, new techs, new races, improved network play, etc. make it worth it in my book. I've had the game since it was released and still play on occasion and most likely will still play a year from now. If you approach this game not expecting it to be a huge breakthrough in the Civ series, then you won't be disappointed.

Entertaining time-waster with few improvements over Civ2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge fan of Sid Meier's products, and I enjoy AC very much. This game is largely Civ2 in space, with a couple of distinct changes that greatly improve the game play. First, the planet Chiron (or "Planet," as it is called) is much more of a character in the game than Earth is in Civ and Civ2. Your increased industrial development may result in environmental damage. Where Civ and Civ2 punish haphazard development with pollution, Planet strikes back. Xenofungus, the ubiquitous red-pink substance that covers much of Planet's surface, will wipe out your environmental improvements. Also, global warming may cause the oceans to rise, wiping out your coastal cities. In Civ and Civ2, your only responses to pollution are to build certain city improvements and use your settlers to eliminate pollution. In AC, you may build improvements, or you may also change your society's philosophy to "Green" to be more in tune with Planet. Also, you may change your geographic improvements from Mines and Solar Collectors to the more eco-friendly Forest, or you may plant more Fungus. Second, choices of various Social Engineering choices are more varied in AC, allowing for greater variety of societies. Third, the production queue and Governor function automate some of the more tedious aspects of the game. And the graphics for the units, the cities (each faction's cities look different), the Design Shop, and Planet's characteristics are a big stride over Civ and Civ2.

That being said, AC leaves something to be desired. Despite the changes and the multiple paths to victory, the game still gets a bit dull in the latter third when you've pulled away from your rivals. Resource management becomes paramount, and communication and interaction less so. There is a plot device in the prologue (the murder of the mission commander on the Unity) that goes nowhere in the game. It's also doubtful that some of the factions would be so aggressive militarily so early in the game: you've just landed on a new hostile planet, and you want to go to war over 50 energy credits? The AI also periodically places your initial units in a position where you have no chance whatsoever to survive 50 turns, let alone win the game, so rebooting is an occasional necessity. Unlike Civ2, the progression of the knowledge tree is a bit haphazard (but that's to be expected of a game predicting future technological advances).

The factions are very balanced, as demonstrated by the other reviews saying "I always win with X faction . . ." The movies for the Secret Projects and cut-scenes are wonderful, and the music and sound effects are first-rate (although there should be much more variety in the combat sounds -- there are two).

If you like turn-based strategy resource-allocation games (and you know if you do or not), buy this game. If you want an action-strategy game, get something from Blizzard.

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