Civilization IV

a.k.a. Sid Meier's Civilization IV / Civilization 4 / Civ4

published by 2K Games in 2005-10-25, developed by Firaxis Games, running on Windows

type: turn-based, simulation, manag./econ., strategy
genre: 4X
series: Sid Meier's Civilization
perspective: bird's-eye
player options: single player

game engine: Gamebryo
languages: chi eng fre ger ita jpn spa

4.2/5

Personal review

If the idea of good game is to have inconsistent controls for the same action in different situations (right click works to remove all other items from build queue except the last, which you can only remove by the minus key in keyboard, not the numpad minus mind you... delete would've made more sense and it's actually more commonly used in other games) and forcing the player to choose an action from "help" dialog instead of ignoring it (I suggest you disable the advisor pop-ups which are on by default, since you must take the advice), then Civ4 is truly master of it. I can't imagine what drove them to so brilliantly disregard simple user friendliness. Mostly it works well, though, at least if you can ignore the problems it has. For me, these are aggravating shortcomings in the simplest things a game of this kind can have are too much. Unfortunately they're present in the final patch and Warlords/BtS expansions as well, so maybe I'm alone in this grievance for surely it would've been fixed otherwise.

Sanguine # 2008-07-29 20:01:38

Official description

Civilization IV comes to life like never before in a beautifully detailed, living 3D world that elevates the gameplay experience to a whole new level. Heralded as one of the top ten games of 2005, Civilization IV is a must-have for gamers around the globe.

FEATURES
-Faster-Paced Fun – Gameplay has been streamlined for a tighter, faster, and more compelling experience.
-Greater Accessibility and Ease of Play – An easy-to-use interface will be immediately familiar to RTS and action game players, and newcomers to the series will be able to jump in and play.
-Tech Tree – Flexible Tech tree allows players more strategic choices for developing their civilizations along unique paths.
-More Civs, Units, and Improvements to enhance and grow your empire.

-Multiplayer – LAN, Internet, PBEM, and Persistent Turn-Based Server (PTBS) offer players all-new strategies and ways to play when competing or cooperating with live opponents.
-Team Play - Whether playing multiplayer or single player, team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances that result in shared wonder effects, visibility, unit trading, and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.
-Civ IV comes to life! - Beautiful 3D world with dozens of fully animated units (including culturally unique units), and totally customizable armies. Cities and wonders will appear on the map. Wonder movies are back!
-Mods and Community Tools - Designed from the ground up for modability, the game contains a powerful map editor with XML and Python support.
-Choose Your Leader – Most Civs now have 2 leaders from which to choose, with each Leader having traits that provide various bonuses to the player.

-Civics – With the discovery of new techs, civic options can become available. Freedom of speech or slavery? Hereditary rule or open elections? This creates endless government choices and possibilities!
-Religion – Now there are 7 religions in the game that are unlocked through researching. When unlocked, the religion spreads through a player’s empire allowing them to use the religion to help manage happiness, gain gold and create Great Prophets.
-Great People - As the player uses specialists they gain Great People points in the city that is utilizing the specialists. Great People include the Artist, Tycoon, Prophet, Engineer, & Scientist. They can be used to get free techs, start Golden Ages, or join a city to increase its output.
-Promotions – Each unit has a promotion path that emphasizes specific unit traits. Promotions include bonuses to Attack/Defend on specific terrains/features, movement bonuses, sight/visibility bonuses, and increased withdrawal chances.
-In-Game Movies – Civ IV will have over 70 in-game movies.