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Civilization stands the test of time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: January 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing Civilization since it's initial release, and each version has only improved on the last. If you have time to dedicate to a game (4-6 hrs or so - broken up) and love history and strategy, this game is a must. Hell, even if you don't love history or strategy, you'll still be enthralled.

Best Civ game yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 32
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is absolutely amazing. The grahics, gameplay, and narration. It is ten times bet than the civ III. I love the reduction in mircomanagement, so much for time for expanding my empire. But the best is also my favorite, Spearmen aren't defeating Tanks anymore!!!!!!!!! The new combat system rocks. If you love startegy and don't buy this game...well, just buy the game. Its worth it

Possibly the best game ever made!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 39
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have been a Civ since the first release in 1991. Every version has taken the game to new hights and exceded my expectations. This newest release is no exception. To all you married arm chair emperors out there- You will be up all night much more than your emperess would like.

May as well burn a 50 dollar bill

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 36
Date: November 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game has so many bugs that most of the people I know cannot play it! I will never buy another game from Firaxis. Civilization had a great reputation, and Civ 4 has ruined that forever! Google around and read the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of complaints relating to this game. Save yourself 50 bucks and don't buy it, or if you really must try it, get a used copy from eBay or some other place... there's lots of guys trying to sell it and recoup some of their money. What a sham!

CIVILIZATION IV IS FULL OF COOL SURPRISES - BUY IT NOW!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: December 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Civilization IV is a tremendous PC game. Those new to the Civilization game and fans of Civilization will become addicted to it. There are so many cool upgrades to the graphics as well as important changes to the strategy of the game itself that you'll spend hours (or days) learning all of the details. Having said that, what does Civilization IV offer that previous versions did not have?

-- New Nation and Leader Features --

You have a choice of eighteen Civilizations and twenty-six different leaders within the game, making it one of the largest selections of playable nations in the series. I'm certain that when expansions are released, there will be even more. Each leader has two Leader traits that will give you a selection of bonuses, each one depending on the nature of the leader and Civilization he or she commands. Each Civilization also comes with at least one unique military or worker unit to add spice to the game. The list is impressive:

American
Unique Unit: Navy Seal
Leader: Washington (Financial and Organized)
Leader: Roosevelt (Industrious and Organized)

Arabians
Unique Unit: Camel Archer
Leader: Saladin (Philosophical and Spiritual)

Chinese
Unique Unit: Cho - ko -Nu
Leader: Quin Shi Huang (Industrious and Financial)
Leader: Mao Zedong (Philosophical and Organized)

Egyptians
Unique Unit: War Chariot
Leader: Hatshepsut (Spiritual and Creative)

English
Unique Unit: Redcoat
Leader: Elizabeth (Philosophical and Financial)
Leader: Victoria (Expansive and Financial)

French
Unique Unit: Musketeer
Leader: Louis XIV (Creative and Organized)
Leader: Napoleon (Aggressive and Industrious)

Germans
Unique Unit: Panzer Tank
Leader: Frederick (creative and philosophical)
Leader: Bismarck (expansive and industrious)

Greeks
Unique Unit: Phalanx
Leader: Alexander (aggressive and philosophical)

Incans
Unique Unit: Quechua
Leader: Huayna Capac (Aggressive and Financial)

Indian
Unique Unit: Fast Worker
Leader: Ghandi (industrious and spiritual)
Leader: Asoka (organized and spiritual)

Japanese
Unique Unit: Samurai
Leader: Tokugawa (aggressive and organized.)

Malinese
Unique Unit: Skirmisher
Leader: Mansa Musa (Financial and spiritual)

Mongolians
Unique Unit: Keshik
Leader: Genghis (Aggressive and Expansive)
Leader: Kublai (Aggressive and Creative)

Persians
Unique Unit: Immortal
Leader: Cyrus (Organized and Expansive)

Romans
Unique Unit: Praetorian
Leader: Julius Caesar (Creative and Expansive)

Russians
Unique Unit: Cossack
Leader: Peter (Philosophical and Expansive)
Leader: Catherine (Creative and Financial)

Spanish
Unique Unit: Conquistador
Leader: Isabella (Spiritual and Expansive)

-- New Religion Features --

Another new feature is Religion, giving it greater importance over the previous versions. As you progress through the ages you can unlock a total of seven religions. When unlocked, the religion will spread through your empire allowing you to influence your people to create great prophets, make more money and be happier in general. Each religion has a special unit, the Missionary. The Missionary has the ability to venture off to other nations to convert them to your religion. But beware -- enemy nations can and will try converting your people to their religion. One important note is that all religions are equal with each other and don't have bonuses, which is a good thing as this could upset some people. Overall the religion aspect is a very nice addition to the game and it gives those who like that extra milestone to conquer the opportunity to try converting everyone to your religion. Here's the list of religions:

Name: Buddhism
Discovered: Meditation
Wonder: Buddhist Temple

Name: Christianity
Discovered: Theology
Wonder: Christian Shrine

Name: Confucianism
Discovered: Code of Laws
Wonder: Confucian Shrine

Name: Hinduism
Discovered: Polytheism
Wonder: Hindu Shrine

Name: Islam
Discovered: Divine Right
Wonder: Islamic Shrine

Name: Judaism
Discovered: Monotheism
Wonder: Jewish Shrine

Name: Taoism
Discovered: Philosophy
Wonder: Taoist Shrine

-- New Wonder Features --

There are approximately twenty-eight Great Wonders of the World and around twelve Small Wonders. Wonder Movies make a return and fans of Civilization II will be happy to hear this after their conspicuous absence in Civilization III. The new Wonder movies have great detail and are fun to watch.

The Wonders include old favorites such as the Apollo Program, The Great Library and The Hanging Gardens, but will also include new wonders such as Broadway, Hollywood, The Kremlin, Notre Dame, The Spiral Minaret, Stonehenge, The Taj Mahal and Mt. Rushmore.

-- Leonard Nimoy --

I was thrilled to hear the one and only Leonard Nimoy narrating famous quotes about each new advancement that I successfully researched. It was a magnificent surprise! Who knew Mr. Nimoy was a Civilization fan!!

There is so much more in this game to talk about, but I'm sure Amazon has a limit to the length of these reviews.

BASICALLY, IT'S FANTASTIC SO BUY IT AND START PLAYING IT RIGHT NOW!

Misleading on "ships within 24 hours"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 28
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Just so you know, if you're ordering this from Amazon... I placed my order on Dec 1st. It still has not shipped. Don't be mislead by "usually ships within 24 hours" in this case.

Works well for me--if I play low levels & small maps

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 14
Date: December 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Having played this series since Civ2, I pre-ordered Civ4. To make it playable, the only new hardware I had to buy was an ATI graphics card. Although I have the minimum 256MB of system RAM (instead of the recommended 512MB) playability is fair.

Civ4 has more difficulty levels than did its predecessors. Chieftain was hitherto the easiest; now it's the 2nd easiest. Warlord, previously 2nd lowest (& my preferred level) is now 3rd. I started my 1st Civ4 game at Chieftain on a Standard map; after game year 1800 it ran rather slowly. So I've played at the easiest level (Settler) & on Duel or Tiny maps ever since, & don't bother with Large or Huge maps. Playing at Settler also enables me to start with technologies Agriculture, Mining & The Wheel, no matter which civ I play. I can more easily found all the religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam & Taoism), secure a monopoly (or near-monopoly) on World Wonders (Pyramids, Colossus, Sistine Chapel, etc), & avoid wars.

ADDITIONS/REPLACEMENTS: Whereas in Civs 2 & 3 I had to clean up pollution spots that would pop up constantly during the Industrial & Modern eras, these have been replaced in Civ4 with a Healthiness/Unhealthiness concept that applies throughout the game; I like that. Settlers & workers no longer subtract from cities' population points, but cities do stop growing while producing them, & they take longer to build than they used to, especially early in the game. I miss the ability that I had in Civ3 to join settlers & workers to existing cities when I no longer needed them. Military units also take longer to produce during the early turns, & I miss the ability, when disbanding them in cities, to convert them to production of whatever those cities are producing. However, I do like how maintenance costs for a given city's individual improvements have been consolidated into one expense for the entire city. This whole-city expense also replaces the wasting of 99% of production & commerce in far-off cities, which gives me more incentive to expand than just to grab land before my AI opponents do.

THE UNITED NATIONS: In Civ3, whoever was elected Secretary General automatically got Diplomatic victory. But here the UN is more developed. I like how I can vote on other resolutions, including single currency, free trade, banning nukes, & globalizing civics such as Universal Suffrage & Free Religion. The downside is that I always fall a few votes short of Diplo vic, so I've never been able to win Civ4 this way.

I also have never won Conquest vic in Civ4 because I've never aimed for it. I tend to work too feverishly on religion & Wonders to bother with military aside from defense of my own cities. But I do often win Culture or Space Race. (One of my Culture wins happened to be in 2005, the very same year that, at this writing, it is in real life!) I even got one Time vic (which I never could in Civ2 or 3 because I'd get one of the others LONG before 2050 AD) & one Domination vic without firing a shot. (Even then it was on a Duel map, & Domination vic in Civ3 almost certainly required warmongering.)

This Special Edition's bonus material (which the regular edition doesn't have) includes a soundtrack CD that's playable on any CD player. Among my favorite tracks are "Malaguena" (Isabella's theme) & "Baba Yet" (the game's opening theme).

All in all, I have enjoyed playing this game. I experience few of the technical problems that others have complained about, as long as I stick to lower difficulty levels & smaller maps.

Good game -- and stable on my system.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: November 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I read several reviews complaining about game crashes. I just wanted to mention that this was not a problem for me. I've now played for a total of about ten hours, and have yet to have a crash, despite running other programs in the background and frequently switching apps. The only glitch I've seen is that one of the "wonder movies" didn't play properly -- but it didn't halt game play. However, my case is a bit odd since I'm playing on a brand new laptop with decent stats (2 gHz centrino, 1 gig of RAM). There may be more problems on older computers, or computers that have picked up a lot of spyware.

As for the quality of the game, it's terrific. There's a lot more options and depth. If I'm recalling correcly, there are six civics categories (counting religion), with five options each. That allows almost 16,000 variations. Add to that the variety of civilizations, and you can really give each new game a different flavor, just by varying those things. Also, the diplomatic behavior of foreign civilizations makes much more sense this time around. In Civ 3, foreign Civs could be manipulated in ways that just didn't make sense, but they also could never be counted on. This time around, you can create much more meaningful alliances and much better diplomatic strategies.

If you're a fan of the military aspect of the game, you'll really need to set the game to "epic" mode. Without that, time passes so quickly, and economic and scientific progress happen so rapidly, that if you try to run a major war you'll soon find your troops are obsolete and 500 years have passed. As such, you need to focus on cultural and diplomatic domination in the "standard" mode, with lots of emphasis on research. However, Firaxis is to be commended for putting this in the user's hands -- if you prefer 15-hour-long games, with an emphasis on the military, simply change to epic mode. If you're looking for a four-hour game where diplomacy and a race to scientific discoveries matter, try the accelerated games.

One change I'd like to see is for the time mode to be adjustable -- that way you could move the game along swiftly, then switch off to epic mode when you were ready to run a war. It would be a minor programming patch, and would really help. That way, if you know that you're not going to invade until you've developed gunpowder, for example, then you can fly through a couple hundred years in an accelerated mode, but then slow down when it's time to fight.

Works for Me

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: December 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't see what the big deal is... I bought this game and then was afraid to open it after reading numerous posts here about how it doesn't work, full of bugs, etc. I have a nice system but nothing outrageous (HP Pentium 4 @ 3 GHZ, 1 GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce FX5200)... It installed fine (although the discs appeared to be mislabeled - not an uncommon occurance according to the posts here) but I did download the patch immediately just to be safe. At first I hated the game - you have to understand I was a complete CIV3 addict when I used to play that game and I just didn't like all the changes at first and hated the new graphics. However, after about 3 hours of play I was like OK I love it this rocks I am hooked all over again.

DOES NOT WORK ON 90% OF SYSTEMS

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 23
Date: November 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Firaxis will be broke by the time they've paid all these people to write "hey it works on my system" over and over again! DO NOT BELIEVE A SINGLE BIT OF PRAISE FOR CIV4!! The game is INCOMPLETE and Firaxis knows this!! IT WILL NOT WORK ON ANYTHING BUT THE LATEST $5000+ COMPUTER! The company does not care about the normal men and women, just that small 10% who can afford the absolute best PC. If you must work for a living, YOUR PC WILL NOT RUN THIS GAME.

After trying 4 times to install it, I got a "please insert disc 2" message every time... Well, I finally realized that "disc 2" is the disc labeled "play"... The idiots at Firaxis LABELED THE DISCS WRONG. How lazy, its just plain sorry and LAZY. Installing the game is a nightmare in itself. You "play" the "install" disc... I've never in my life seen such plain, disgusting laziness in a video game company, ever.

After the installation nightmare, I wait 10+ minutes just for the game to load, then when it finally starts, what do I get? A black map and a George Washington who's nothing but eyes and teeth... Wow, our ancestors sure had it hard! Then guess what? After THREE turns and FIFTEEN minutes of waiting, I'm suddenly staring at my desktop... AWESOME JOB FIRAXIS!!

I am so angry and so disgusted. I've seen sorry games and lazy video game publishers, but Firaxis has taken the cake. This joke of a product has killed my love of Civilization 3. I will never purchase another Civilization, not after this disaster. This is a lawsuit-worthy joke.

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