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Game will not install

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 26
Date: September 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I recently bought this game expansion, but because of an install error have not been able try it. I have been a fan of the Civilization series since version 1. Until now I've been a happy customer. However, after spending hours trying to get this expansion pak to work I'm frustrated with the current company that develops the game.

Here's a brief overview what I've tried. After a number of attempts to install the game and getting install errors I went to the Firaxis support site. I reported the error and ran the data collection tools suggested on the site and sent that information in as well. I got an automatic repsonse saying I should hear from them in 2 working days. A week later having not heard from them, I again sent a follow on message asking for help. Again they did not respond. Finally I tried a third time two weeks after my initial attempt. I never did hear anything from Firaxis. In short, they have NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

The disrespect and arrogance display by this company is astounding. If I treated customers like that in my business, I would be broke and on the street in a very short time.

I have since explored some of the Civ fan sites and noticed others have had similar problems and they too apparently don't get support from the company. Some of those who have been able to install update patches (to get BtS to install) then report that their base Civ games stops working correctly.

In close, buyer beware seems to be an appropriate warning if you are considering buying "Beyond The Sword."

Frankly ... I expected More :(

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 50
Date: January 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game is great but i never try any civ game before so from what i heard about civ 4 i expected something better than command and conquer something more action not only order all of your unit to do something and then press the red turn button . It's like CHESS game with some addition .

The Idea of choosing a famous leader at the begining is great but they actually do nothing to the result of the game . They just ask for techonlogy , help and War .

The fames stopped working with me many times allthough my laptop is new and very good one .

you can start this game and finish it without killing any unit which is furstrating because there is 6 winning scenarios . One of them is Time winning (if you reach 2050 with the highest score you are winner).

When you attack a city with a large army only one unit can fight at a time . Imagine that i lose about 6 cavalries to one maceman ...

Near the end of the game you can creare air craft . Some of the are useless .

The bottom line : I don't recommend this game to any one who like action strategies game like command and conquer but if you have heart deases or health problem you can buy this game because you adrenaline will never rush :)

install issues

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 17
Date: March 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you have window's vista do not buy this game. civ 4 gold edition is required to play civ 4 on windows vista. beyond the sword, however, in incompatable with civ 4 gold edition. during the install it says there is a newer version of civ 4 available and attempts to download. this always ends in an aborted download and install. after 6 months of talking to the support staff for this product i've given up. i am cosidering consulting a lawyer concering this product. they are falsely advertising it as compactable with window's vista and civ 4 gold edition. do not buy this if you have window's vista. it has been out for over a year and firaxis/take2games has done nothing to address this issue.

If you have a Dell, beware of this expansion pack

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: July 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was a Civ IV fan through Warlords, but when I tried installing "Beyond the Sword" on my Dell Inspiron it wrecked the whole game. When I inserted the second installation disk, the computer locked up instead of finishing the installation. When I rebooted, I discovered that I couldn't remove the incomplete "Sword" expansion -- it didn't show up in the programs to uninstall -- and I couldn't reinstall it either (whenever I put the disk in it, it tries to start playing the game and then crashes). And now I can't play the earlier Civ games either because it just crashes. Since I've lost the original Civ IV installation disk, this means that I've spent $20 for the privilege of wrecking a game on my computer. If I could give it a minus star, I would.

Don't waste your money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: August 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The company sent out faulty disks that don't load. I've tried three different cds and all of them were useless. I'm tired of exchanging bad disks for more bad disks, this game is going in the trash.

Didn't work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: August 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game didn't work. Tbe second disk was bad. Contacted the company and they wanted me to send it back within a designated time. I couldn't do that. I live to far from town to justify the trip just for a game.

Now With AI Cheating Built In!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 35 / 44
Date: October 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is like going back to Civ III. The combat system will have you pulling your hair out in much the same way as III. The espionage system will quickly grow uninteresting. I just turn it off at this point. So, here's the main problem. You basically need 99% odds in your favor to win a fight. 50% odds means a 100% chance you will lose. Anything below 80% (allegedly in your favor) means you will likely come out on the short end. Other irritants are things like enemy catapults and cavalry retreating with success nearly 100% of the time. Here's how espionage works: spys come in and blow up a mine. So you go fix it. You can blow up a mine and your opponent will go fix it too. They can poisong your wells or foment unrest. You can do the same. Most of the time spies get caught in the late game and not much gets accomplished by way of secret agents. An espionage standstill develops. It doesn't add much. Corporations do little other than give a small financial boost. You still cannot negotiate for trades with any real frequency, let alone build a strategy around trading. A majority of the time your negotiation screen with any AI civ will show only a column of red text, meaning they are not interested in trading anything. Just go it alone. In conclusion, this is no real improvement upon Warlords. The fighting odds make NO sense.

There are points in favor of this game: the new units are interesting; new buildings also add a new layer to gameplay; the new wonders are also abundant and give you a chance to at least grab a few of these key structures if you are struggling. If you are a Civ fan you will buy this game regardless of its flaws. If you are on the fence, just be aware that not all change is good. Sometimes it can just be downright annoying. I've been playing Civ for four years and typically look forward to each new Civ product, but this is a pretty big let down.

Beyond belief

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I liken this strategy game as being similar to the way you used to play monopoly in the good old days with some friends/ family. And about half way through the game you discover that all the other playing are 'unofficially' ganging up to force you out. They give each other free passes, advantages, whilst you are constantly trying to fight for your life. With some nasty players whose seemingly only object in the game is as a "griefer". I.e. As long as you lose thats all their interested in. Now when you do win that kind of game its a real accomplishment, but most of the time you just get very frustrated because the same rules don't apply to all. At heart the problem isn't so much that you have to fight in exasperating conditions as you don't really get to play the heart of the game and it degenerates to a grudge match.

For example it's next to impossible on the normal/advanced level to win an early victory like an Alexander the great or a Julius Caesar might. Either the opponents you play just keeps on producing archer after archer (and other equally mono defensive units )or you go bankrupt even with a modest army/ empire trying to finish the last enemy city. Go beyond 4 cities and your penalized. Go beyond 5 units your screwed. Which means you are forced into long boring middle games, I liked the previous civ games concept in that you could occasionally go for broke and risk it all to gain an early victory.

The AI cheats as well, it knows which square will produce a given resource even before it appears. It will trade techs between itself very easily but wont trade/swap yours. If it does trade you are again penalized/ short changed . It loves to randomly attack, even if you don't provoke a war. Hence Tonight as I was playing ALL the five other civs attacked during the middle game, ( it was 2 at a time minimum throughout the beginning )The whole lot aggro'd at once at critical stages. Note I was broke with a small army and 6 cities, but the the other civs had no problem with 20+ towns and producing wave after wave of 10 stack units, every second turn !!

My main problem with the game is that it doesn't so much out think or
out strategize's you, it has a simple plan, but merely penalizes your units/cities so that it can win. Especially at the higher levels, the AI doesn't get smarter, as it just gives itself more and more huge breaks. Not exactly value for money, having one AI fit all.

Graphics are good and has some nice concepts, but no real depth in thinking for things like diplomacy, spying or trade.

I enjoyed the CIV 2 & 3 games , as you didn't have to necessarily manipulate the game parameters in order to win at the highest levels. But in this expansion set I don't see how to get pass the AI except by doing the same cheating tricks it plays on you

It's only OK...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Folks,

This game is simply blah. It is a boring, slow-moving game. BTS looks and plays about the same as Warlords, which played about the same as vanilla Civ4. Nothing earth-shattering here.

The game STILL goes out of sync when you play multiplayer. Get a life Sid. Fix the darn MP please. I mean, really, go play Company of Heroes, BF2, even old Risk II, or Monopoly online, and you will not go out of sync...EVER.

The Random Events feature are always (at least for our family) a BAD thing.

The Quests feature has never worked for any family member. It always says we fail a quest, even though we meet the requirements of the quest.

There are only three things which BTS is an improvement on:

1. Spy system is pretty cool, though most things are way too expensive for the spy to do, so you end up doing petty crap like steal the town's treasury, which is usually a pittance.

2. Random Personalities: You can mix and match a leader to the country of your choice.

3. Corporations have their own suite of options, like Civics.

All in all, a rather bland, boring game, no matter how many ways you play it.

Regards,

JohnYoga

Great Graphics But Wheres The Beef

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: February 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

All in all, Civ IV is very very fun and, as with all others in the series, extremely addictive. The graphics are top drawer stuff. I love the Nuclear Explosions from ICBM's. I was rolling in a Gladiating Dictator sort of way. Imagining all the bits and pieces of my mortal subjects scattering in the extreme radioactive power surge, screeming in agony from the intense heat of radiation and ...sorry. If I have one bad thing to say, (and it is a very big downside to this game), it is the lack of the scenarion editor that spoiled us in CIV III. A confusing World Editor is there but its limits are extensive and frustrating. There is little to no guidance as to what can and cannot be done. On a positive note, if you want to have Oil, Coal, Uranium and/or Gold, and you want it now, simply save your game, open the World Editor, add the bonuses to your current map. Once saved, exit back into the game and whalaa, there they are ready for use. Unlike CIV III, when scenarion changes were made, (It's weak too on guidance),you'd have to start all over again and again and again until you had your custom scenario just right. Now changes can be done on the fly which is very good, ONLY theres not near the depth of modifications that made CIV III (IMO) much better than this edition. For graphics, fun, and addictibility, I give CIV IV 2 thumbs up, For the depth it lacks in customization as compared to CIV III, 1 thumb down. I recommend the purchase unless the scenario editor is a big deal to you then I wouldn't buy this cause it essentially doesn't have one.

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