Civilisation (or, as those over the pond call it, Civilization!) was one of the most important computer games ever released. It took the management / simulation genre onto a whole new level. Instead of managing a company or whatever you took on the role of leading a whole civilisation of people. What is more you didn't just control it for a while but for centuries or even millenia - if you could keep your people going. You were in control of everything from food production to trade relations and warfare with other tribes, stealin or sharing technological advances, as suchlike. Along with Bullfrog's excellent game Populus (where you controlled a diety in a battle to make your people the world rulers), this created a whole new breed of games.
And then there was another Civillisation game…
Civilisation – Call to Power by the incomparable Sid Meier's is one hell of a game. I can't remember when the original Civilisation came out, or how many add-ons / sequels there've been to it. But I saw this going to a tenner when I was visiting York, and thought I couldn't really go wrong at that.
But to be honest, I was wrong. I couldn't have gone wrong at four times the price. This is one of the most absorbing games I've ever played.
Complex? You don’t know the half of it…
It's a vast game (and I haven't even tried the multi-player game yet!), and incredibly spans 6,000 years of human history! You start of with a mere 2 settlers (a settler builds a city), and from there you must go on to create your civilisation. You must build city improvements, decide how much of the workload to allocate to gathering food, production, gold, science or happiness. You create transport networks, trade routes (both in your own civilisation and others), defend your cites or attack others, negotiate diplomacy with the other civilisations… and the list just goes on and on. There is so much to do in this game that you couldn't possibly find time to get bored with it.
And you need to concentrate, too; I was doing quite well the other day, decided to concentrate all my resources into scientific research, failed to notice my gold reserves depleting rapidly, couldn't pay my workers for one turn, and suddenly half my cities revolted and I was all but finished! So not a game for that idle ten minutes! If you want to do well in this game (without cheating!), you need to be a dedicated player. Apparently on higher difficulty levels the computer itself cheats to some extent, so you might as well cheat on those… Personally I don’t think I’ll ever be able to play it on the highest levels anyway, so it doesn’t matter much!
Interface
The interface is fairly simple - you click on a unit or city, and from there you have more options to define what you want it to do. For instance with cities you can build new buildings such as grain-houses and the like to improve your people's working conditions (and thus make them happier) or increase productivity. Cities can also be put to use for building units. These units (such as troops or warships) can then move around, fire on or engage enemy units, or fortify your cities or strategic positions. Each unit has its own strengths and weaknesses, and some can only travel on particular surfaces. Of course, the more powerful ones take longer to create. Only settlers can build a new city.
You also have global controls over things like your subjects' pay, working hours, etc. If the subjects get too unhappy they may start to revolt and become independent. Building certain "Wonders of the World" can affect how your people feel.
Aesthetics…
The graphics aren’t fantastic but are detailed enough for you to know what’s happening on the screen, and stylised enough for the machines of each technological age to be instantly identifiable. As far as they go, the graphics are fine for this sort of game. The movie cut scenes (mainly used for describing the wonders of the world once they’ve been built) are a lower resolution than you would expect nowadays, but are still perfectly watchable. Sound effects are crisp and well chosen, while the music goes on a long time before it gets on your nerves… though it will do this eventually. Of course, you can turn it off…
System Requirements
Even with what I've said already this review only scratches the surface. If you like your games engrossing and taxing, this is definitely one you shouldn't be without. You do need a decent processor and a 3D graphics accelerator to play this game, though. The 3D card is a requirement and if your CPU is below about 300MHz I think the game will crawl, especially as your own, and your opponents civilisations grow in complexity. (And thus the diplomatic relations, trade negotiations, ecological conditions and map size (for you can colonize both underwater and space when you reach a high enough scientific level) also increase.) I would recommend, for a really good gaming experience, at the very least a 600MHz processor and a Voodoo 4 / TNT 2 3D card.
All hail Sid Meier's!
I've said it before and now I'm wrapping up this review, I'll say it again. If you like strategy / resource management games, this game is an absolute MUST! If you only like fast-action games, it’s not for you.
It might be an old game but you’ll be playing it for a very long time. And of course, that means you can get it cheap! (Which is always good).
This review originally available from Epinions by Captain Disaster of Darscom
