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The Gold is Tarnished

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 39 / 41
Date: May 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Let's get this straight right off the bat: Civilization II is one of the best games ever spawned. I bought the Gold edition because I expected my enjoyment of the game to be expanded by the new stuff. I also assumed they would have fixed the minor-but very annoying-bugs from the original game.

I was wrong.

The "advantages" of the Gold edition are the following: --Multiplayer options --New scenarios --Expanded options for creating your own maps and scenarios.

I have not tried the multiplayer options. They may well be wonderful. Please note, however, that a "multiplayer patch" for Civ II is available on the net. For FREE.

Some of the new scenarios are decent. Many are annoying. However, they were not worth the extra money.

The map editor is identical to its original. The expanded scenario-building options are nice, but beware: it will take HOURS to properly prepare a scenario.

The bugs, which are obvious and glaring, were never fixed. Here are the bugs I noticed: --Units which you send to a location more than 1 square away (via the shift-click method) will sometimes go the opposite direction. Other times they will simply move back and forth between two spots. --The game will occasionally crash. Save often.

If you already own Civ II, don't bother to upgrade to Civ Gold. If you do not own this game, I would suggest saving the $10 and buying the original.

INCREDIBLE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 20
Date: February 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Well, Civ 2 was just great! It was a great game. When Civ 2 Gold came out, I thought, "Great. Another upgrade." I thought it wouldn't be worth the money. I changed my mind real quick when I played it! It has all the great things from the oiginal Civ 2, and TONS more. Most noticable change: MULTIPLAYER! Great multiplayer mode, where you can play your own map, a scenario, or a regular game. There is even a "hot-seat" option for two or more human players! However, in my opinion, the best thing about this game is the incredible amount of scenarios. It comes with two scenario packages: Fantastic Worlds and Conflicts in Civilization. Fantastic worlds is great fun! It has 15 scenarios, with things like being able to play dinosaurs! Conflicts is great too, with battles like Desert Storm to act out with your friends or by yourself. Just like Civ 2 regular, it comes with a map editor to make your own worlds. However, in Civ 2 Gold, you can also make your own SCENARIOS. It is used like the still-present cheat mode, allowing you to edit units, towns, science, turns, everything! Put this together with cheat mode, and you can make your own scenario masterpieces! As for the gameplay, its great! the controls for multiplayer negotiating are perfect! This game is very challenging, for the newbies and the unexperienced. It features alliances, scientific progress, strategic military warfare, negotiating, building cities, trading, keeping track of supply and demand, and building wonders of the world! It also comes with a large fold- out poster of Advances and Unit stats! The well-written 275-page manual should leave all your questions answered, as it even gives you scenario descriptions. My conclusion: buy this game. Great game, two scenario packages, a map editor scenario editor, and MULTIPLAYER gaming up to 7 people. Get this game, it's one of the best games ever!

Such a wonderful game, such a horrible design

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 17 / 18
Date: June 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

There's so much to love here, you almost fogive it. Almost.

This is the best-ever Civ game (assuming you prefer Earth history to space-future; if not, see Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri); it truly is. At least from the stand point of what it tries to do. If you have a G4 tower and abt 256MB of RAM, you'll just adore it. You won't be able to get enough.

Unfortunately, most of us don't. I tried to play this on a 233MHz iMac. Oh Gosh! 48MB of RAM "recommended"? Hello! It ran, all right -- with 150MB of virtual memory (and in case you've never tried it, the trade-off in processor speed for running all that VM just ain't worth it). You might as well try to run Windows 2000 on a 286, or Mac OS 9 on a Macintosh Plus (if that were possible).

Again, if you have the processor, go for it: this is truly wonderful. But if you don't, just forget about it. All you'll do is kick the box it came in.

Great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 19
Date: November 20, 1999
Author: Amazon User

It's good. Especially the multiplayer part. My friends and I help each other fight opponents while researching and building an army. After we're all powerful we fight each other. It's a great game!

Icing on an already great cake

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: July 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Civ II is still probably the best strategy game in existence, and the Gold Edition only embellishes this. My favorite new feature is the scenario editor--while it still takes forever to build a scenario from scratch, the game parameter options allow to fiddle with the technology tree, units, and variables such as the chance of a trireme sinking in open sea. I've used it to make the industrial phase of the tech tree much more accurate and to eliminate the "goody huts," which ruin play balance for the early stages of the game. The added scenarios fall into two categories: the good historical ones written by Mick Uhl, and the crazed fantasy ones (which may be good too--I haven't tried them) where you control aliens, dinosaurs, elves, etc. Save this stuff for other games! I have a few small complaints: 1. (about the original) Whoever made the Europe map was geographically illiterate. Critical regions like Belgium and Italy are shrunken, and France and Russia are exaggerated. Not to mention the islands are all wrong and there was no attempt to differentiate between steppe and northern plain. 2. Old bugs have not been removed in the Gold Edition. I won't get started on how annoying this is. 3. The new music is HORRIBLE! That being said, I recommend the Gold Edition if you're new to the game or if you want more scenarios and wide freedom to tinker with the game.

Goood!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Good (sort of) graphics, fun concept I embarrisingly enough am just now trying to upgrade from my civ: I (the original game) Nobody liked the newer versions, but this one is awsome! (atleast compared to the original) Best of all for me, tis for mac. If you want a good, solid, empire-building game for mac, this one is a great choice

Thrill for the little dictator in your heart

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

We have all played Civ 2, because this is a winner of all the games so far. The Gold edition goes step beyond. Principally it hasn't changed, but it has extras, and a lot of them. I must mention a lot of different scenarios, possibilities to make your own scenarios (yes, not just maps!) and a huge manual, which describes virtually everything. We (Civ 2 fans)will again sit for hours in front of our gray boxes with red eyes and if anyone will look at us will shortly realize that we are completely insane. If I may phrase one famous cartoon character:'What will we do tomorrow night?' 'The same thing we do every night: Try to take over the world!'

Highly addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: July 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I found this game a few years ago, and my seminary career almost suffered a mortal attack of neglect due to the addictive nature of this game.

I am on a Mac G3 at home, which is fairly fast, perfectly adequate for this game. The game itself is a fascinating look at and convolution of history. This game has an element of learning in it (which shouldn't discourage you from trying it -- it is pure fun despite the educational element!), in that one must become acquainted with a general stream of history, and in particular, the progress of human history charted through technological acquisition; this takes two peripherally related tracks, that of military technology acquisition, and of civilian or societal technology acquisition. One must keep a careful balance of these two in development to be able to grow as a civilisation and be able to defend oneself against competing civilisations.

The various civilisation types (Egyptian, Babylonian, Russian, Chinese, American, etc.) have particular outlooks (some are militarily aggressive, some are not so; some can be trusted in diplomacy, other cannot be), and particular aims. To grow as a civilisation, one must either take over other civilisations or maintain reasonable relationships with them to avoid conflict. However, like most of history up to this point, sooner or later there will be conflict.

As history develops, too, one gets more options in the way a government can be run. Choices run between anarchy and despotism, monarchy, republic, communist, democracy, or religious fundamentalism. Each of these governmental types have advantages and disadvantages (for instance, who can do dastardly deeds toward other nations, even allies, as a fundamentalist regime, with impunity because it is expected).

The real action consists in the military conflicts, which can be as simple as two chariots clashing in the desert to full air/sea/land invasions complete with nuclear weapons and stealth fighters. Defensive technologies develop at a somewhat slower pace than offensive technology, so it is important from a defensive standpoint to be well-funded in research. Technology becomes critically important here -- one tank could overrun an entire horse-centred city, and a few stealth fighters can wipe out an entire early-technology civilisation.

Civilisation also includes the opportunity to construct Wonders of the World, which include ancient, medieval, industrial, and modern wonders. These wonders add special aspects to the civilisation that holds them (for instance, the builders of the Pyramids can forego building granaries in their cities). The effects of the Wonders lessen over time, and if the cities in which the Wonders are built are captured, their benefits accrue to the conquering army. A Wonder destroyed is lost forever, much like the real Wonders of the World.

Exploration is important in the beginning phases of the game -- the player can opt for a known world (in the form or Europe, or the Pacific, or the entire Earth) or for a unknown world -- these are more fun, for one has to discover the contours of the land and navigate the seas much as early civilisations had to.

The two ways to win the game are to create technology to build a spaceship to take settlers to a planet near Alpha Centauri Prime (which then can yield scenarios in the next Civilisation-based game), or to take over the entire world by being the only remaining civilisation.

With the CD-ROM enhancement, sound effects and video clips that accompany major developments, this is a real treat, and very addictive. Beware, and be brave!

Takes the great game play of civ 2 and goes 1 step further

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The civilization 2 gold does what most other gold eiditions do. Takes the game and makes a few changes and this one gives to a nice instrution booklet. In civilization you start with simple settlers and build a city. You must build units to protect those cities and city advangements to keep your people happy. Later in the game you meet other civilizations and can either become allies and trade technologies or enimies and try and take over your oppents teritory and cities. This is a game that I would recommend for everybody.

Lüv-Håt

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I love this game. I hate this game. I love that I hate this game. Civ II is the sort of game that smacks you around if you don't exploit fast enough and rewards you greatly if you manage to spread like a plague in NYC. Rules: keep your people happy, well fed, defended, and ever-expanding. Irrigate everything, cover the landscape in roads. Build a city every 5 world units. Use coastal locations, develop your government to monarcy first, isolate and destroy lesser cultures. Start colonies on every continent you can, and have them expand like a giant amoeba. Destroy anything that is in your way, isolate your continents for your use alone.

This game requires a keypad that you can press in 8 directions easily, so powerbook users must have a keypad they can trust if they don't want to use the bleeding imbedded keys.

All in all, one of the greatest games ever made, Mac or peecee.

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