ic-games Review - Civilization IV - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox, PS2, Nintendo and N-Gage

ic-games Review - Civilization IV - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox, PS2, Nintendo and N-Gage ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,PS2 and Gamecube

Civilization IV (PC)

Civilization IV

Information
Reviewer: Andrew St.Denis
Developer: Firaxis
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: PC
Genre: Turn-based Strategy
UK Release: 24th Oct 2005
Article Date: 10th Nov 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Price: £34.99

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 99%

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Pros

The most enthralling title ever! (probably)

Great music

Vocal talents of Leonard Nimoy

Cons

Little sluggish at the end of turns

easy to accidentally cancel city build instructions

Screenshots

15 of 16

Ever since the first edition of Civilization hit the computer way back when, the chance to take control and shape a nation throughout the different ages have enthralled many people. Now into its fourth incarnation can Civilization keep up the high standards?

Things have changed a lot from the last title; indeed everything from the ground up is new from the aspect of Civilization. The Gamebryo engine was used in Pirates so we know things will look very nice, it will be just a question how the engine will cope with a turn based game. There is a tutorial narrated by Sid Meier himself, which puts you through the paces, showing you what you need to play. Although the options shown will just get you started in the game, there is a lot more in Civ IV then what you get from the tutorial. It is worth running it though, even if you have played previous titles, since there is a lot more to this game then anything before.

The one thing that those people that started from the very beginning will immediately recognise is the homage to the very first Civ, the screen and music that is shown during the world building. Although this time you get the dulcet tones of one Leonard Nimoy running through the ‘In the beginning’ text. It is a shame however that the graphics for this intro section is artwork, rather then some nice FMV.

Once you start a game however you will see the level of detail that Firaxis have placed in Civilization IV, unit animations and the game world are highly comprehensive. Unit types have increased to, with the possible discoveries increasing to cover the newer unit types. Battles zoom in close to the action giving you an isometric view of the fight.

The way that units battle it out as well as the way they gain experience has also been drastically changed. Instead of attack and defence attributes you now just get a single strength modifier, depending on which unit you have, from 2 (Warrior) to 40 (Modern Armour). On top of this strength you get bonuses based on experience. For each leap in experience you can give you r unit specialist abilities, i.e. city assault/defence or bonuses against certain unit types. Which is another change implemented, each unit fits into a certain class, so an axeman or swordsman unit is a melee unit (up close and personal fighting).

New unit types have made it into the game while others have been overhauled and on top of that the upgrade paths of several units have been moved about. So instead of the Spearman being the defensive route they are now in the melee group and archers can gain defensive bonuses before the usual gunpowder group appears (Riflemen etc.). Another set of new units are animals which roam about and, depending on which difficulty level chosen can be either useful for early experience or something to fear. The barbarian troops are still out and about but now they can create cities of their own, which can cost a lot in troops lost or could be seen as an easy way to expand your boundaries.

As we mentioned earlier, the whole game has been beefed up, this includes the governments of the earlier Civ titles. In their place comes ‘Civics’; five different routes (Government, Legal, Labour, Economy and Religion) to improve, either by discovering new technologies or in the building of certain wonders. Each different Civic adds something to your Civilization and it’s up to you what kind of rules your people live under. There is just so much to this section however that it is impossible to go into detail about.

Religion is another new adition, with seven major religions included (in no particular order); Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Now which religion you choose doesn’t make a huge difference, but bonuses are awarded if you have your choice in all cities. The ‘Civic’ of Religion also makes bonuses available throughout the five levels, ending with Free Religion where there is no state religion.

For the first time multiplayer is built into the game, and in numerous different ways, through Gamespy, Direct connection, LAN, Hotseat and even play by email. The gameplay in multiplayer is very similar to single player, however if you team up on the same side maps, technology advances etc. are all shared. The civilopedia graphics and the FMV for wonders are not included though, but that doesn’t really impact that much on the gameplay. Leonard Nimoy, still provides narration for the advances though.

Victory conditions are about the only things that haven’t altered since Civ III. The space race to Alpha Centauri is still the ultimate goal, while diplomatic, cultural, conquest, domination and if there is no clear winner by 2050AD then it comes down to score.

The Gamebryo engine has really elevated the 3D world above anything seen before in the franchise. Units and cities look really nice whether close up or at distance and little touches like zooming out to maximum shows a vast area with little detail for units but cities still show and all swathed in clouds adding that little something to a very polished title

It’s not just the graphics that have had the overhaul though, sound and music is now way better then before. Indeed for probably the first time in any game it actually got turned up! From the tribal type music on the menu screen to the country specific tunes you get when you are zoomed in close to cities, as your civilization advances the music doesn’t change, but the quality does. Indeed with the advance of music discovered you will be played music by some of the world’s greatest composers.

Now there are a few problems with Civ IV, the Gamebryo engine does struggle a little with everything going on at the finish of each turn, meaning you have to wait a second or two before you ‘end turn’, as well as being able to clear build orders with a single click in the wrong place without any warnings so care must be taken in the city screens. Considering however that these are about all the problems there are, congratulations must go out to Firaxis for actually creating a title that doesn’t have major bugs at release.

Firaxis have, without a shadow of a doubt, created a monster hit. Civilization IV will stand head and shoulders above all other turn based strategy games, probably for quite a while to come. If you have played any of the other titles you will simply love this game, if you are new, well this is certainly a perfect time to join in the fun. I’ve said it before (for Pirates!) and I’ll now repeat it. All hail Sid Meier, he is surely a gaming God, hmm, maybe that can be a new religion for the next Civ… Meierism?… Anyway, lets just say as a final point that if you have read this review (or more likely just skipped to the end) then you should go out and buy this game it really is as simple as that.

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