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Pity My Wife, the Civ II Widow

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: February 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Satanically addictive, this is the Big Kahuna, the Be-All-End-All of the God games. I strongly recommend this game for the PC gamer who is more of a thinker, plotter, a closeted tyrant than the ubiquitous kill-'em-all shooter. I caveat this hearty recommendation with the very serious warning that if you take to this game, it will alter your time management and your approach to your free time. No, I don't live to get home and hit the Civ II, but my playing of this game has been a significant part of my free time since I picked it up in 1995.

The basic concept is to explore the world, develop your civilization, undertake and endure challenges, and eventually either conquer the world or successfully escape to Alpha Centauri. This is how you "win" the game.

The game itself is somewhat complicated, despite the tutorial and available pop-up helpful hints. Sit down and read the manual a couple of times before you get seriously into the game. The manual itself is a bit rambling, and to my mind poorly organized. Both the table of contents and index do not lend themselves to quickly finding comprehensive answers to questions that arise as you play the game. There is also a large-format fold-out poster describing units, terrain, and civilization advances. This poster is helpful, but only once you have really begun to understand the more esoteric workings of the game.

There are some surprisingly sophisticated nuances to the game, such as submarines being able to carry cruise missiles, and the ability of spies to bribe units/cities, and to repel the espionage attempts of enemy diplomats and spies. To my mind, the capabilties of settlers and engineers are a bit limited, especially in terms of capabilities to modify terrain, but this is certainly not a reason to reject the game.

The graphics are very good, but there are no serious action bits to wow you. The characters/units move in rather unspectacular fashion, and the battle engagements are characterized by the units moving together and then being obscured by "dust" as they duke it out. The audio is quite good, with various bits punctuating events, such as crowds cheering for the building of certain city improvements. Here's some extremely esoteric trivia about Civ II audio: the game's sound of the ancient battle engagement is a modified recording of the battle sounds from the fight between the Black Knight and King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Listen to the audio, then check the movie, and you'll instantly see the connection.

The rewards for achieving the various Wonders of the World (The Colossus, Eiffel Tower, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, etc.) are excellently developed full-motion video clips, complete with original music. The "Leonardo DaVinci's Workshop" is a personal favorite.

The beauty of this game is that it is always different, and always challenging. There are a number of difficulty levels which allow you either to be seriously challenged (that is, see your civilization wiped out very, very quickly) or so ridiculously unchallenged that you conquer the world in no time at all. You can modify the rules and a number of parameters to vary the game, as well as play live online. There are also a number of add-ons and a toolkit which allow you to seriously modify the games you put together.

This is a fantastic game for the thinker, the schemer, the planner. If you enjoy Risk, chess, or other strategy games, this one will very much make you happy.

The II in "Civilization II" Does mean twice as good.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: November 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

If you have played Civilization and loved it like I did you will not be able to stop playing this! There are so many more options and strategies to do. When you get this you have to try the different scenarios like "After the Apocalypse" and "Atlantis". There are about 26 different scenarios. There are now many more Wonders of the Worlds. You have to try this one.

Hard to get bored of this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: January 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing Civ since 1995, when I first managed to get a copy of the original game.
I like to compare Civ with the movie The Godfather. I think Civ was to strategy gaming what The Godfather was to gangster movies. However, Godfather Part II is a more epic movie. Well, so is Civ 2. A much more complex game, that fully beats Civ!
I've been playing for 9 years, and I still enjoy one whole night playing a Civ 2 game.
Civ 2 has changed me so much as a game, and I would rank among the best ones.

P.S. Godfather Part III wasn't so good, so isn't Civ 3 mainly because it is slow. Civ 2 goes right into the game right off the bat.

One of the best computer games made ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 05, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This is without any doubt one of the bast computer games made ever. And I don't just mean one of the best strategy titles, but allround games. I played Civ I for over 3 years! and I was very sceptic about this new version of the game. But I must say that this game is soooooooo mush better that the first one. Buy it, and be preparred to lose you sleep from now on... (for at sci-fi version of Civ II look up Alpha Centauri)

Civilization 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Civilization is by far the greatest strategy game ever created. I have never been so transfixed by any video game like this before. Since the first time I saw the very first Civilization I was hooked. I love this game....creating and controling your very own civlization......what could be better. To anyone who likes to play strategy games, I highly recommend any and all of the Civilization games.

Think you can do better than other leaders? PROVE IT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: November 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is so awesome! It takes the original Civ, and makes it better. The graphics are crisper, you have more control over your cities, and you have a group of counselors who tell you how you are doing. The only downside is that (GASP!) you might actually learn something about history! The diplomacy screens give you so much more control than the original. Plus, while you try it out, or after you beat it, you don't have to go searching for for codes, it has a cheat menu available. Some of the graphics are super intensive (like the Heralds), so unless you have a Super Kick-Ass system, I would seriously suggest just turning them off.

The only strategy game that ever mattered.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is THE word in strategy gaming. I find it hard to believe that anyone who has been playing war games for very long has missed this one. In my opinion, this is the best game ever made, for any platform. Civilization is based on the original game "Empire" by interstel. In "Empire" you controlled armies that invaded foreign lands - discovering as you conquered. In Civilizations I and II, you build an empire from the ground up. Political, economic, scientific, military, and social issues abound. If I were to encounter an alien who did not understand anything about human culture, I would give him/her a copy of Civ II with a Pentium 300 and check back with them in 3 months.

Unfortunately they would probably have taken over the world by then....

Shawn

Best of the Best - Worth 10 Star Rating

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 18, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I love to play strategy games, and I truly enjoy Sid Meier's games. But of his creations, Civilization II is tops. Even compared to his latest Alpha Centari, Civ II is still the best. The 'best' rating could change with the new Civilization III, but we'll have to wait and see on that!

8 years later, still playing...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: July 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing this game regularly since 1996. Somehow I never grow tired of it.

Sometimes I feel like spending more time developing a productive civil society. Other times I want to destroy everyone else and kick [back]!

If you're into SimCity, this is a great game. If you're into history, this is a great game.

Civ 2 stole my life

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I cannot even estimate how many hours of my life this game has consumed. I fully blame my less than stellar grades in chemistry and physics on this game. It sucks you in and won't let go. I'm happy to say I've been Civ-free for about 4 months now, but I must admit just writing this review is firing up my cravings. Oh man, maybe I'll play as the Japanese on Deity difficulty. I don't believe I've ever beat it on that level. So hard, the computer civilizations just spread like viruses! Ok, I gotta go before this gets out of hand. Suffice to say, this game is absolutely incredible, and it never grows old. I also highly reccommed playing the expansion to this, which involves the Midgard scenario. Good luck!

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