Civilization III

"Let's do the time warp again"

Civilization III, after two rounds of Civilization you may start to wonder why we need a third one? Well Civ 1 and 2 really in all reality, were not that different. So Firaxis (Which was formed by former employees that made civ 1 and 2 at Microprose) decided make major changes and yet keep the same formula that has made Civ one of the greatest series in the pc world.

-The Story-
After centuries of wondering around on this Earth your little nomadic group decides to build an encampment and settle down. This builds a city that will be your capital of your new empire. When you build your city you notice that the world is full of black unexplored squares. So after you build some defenses for your new capital its time to build an exploring unit and go see whats out there. And that is the first hour or so of the game. As you play your capital will get bigger with more people and city improvements, while at the same time adding more cities to your empire (which makes it easier to expand). Dont forget to raise an army and defend yourself or you'll find yourself on the bottom of somebody's shoe.

-The Gameplay-
This is where the Civ series has always shined. You have to be aware of ''civ attributes'' before you even start the game. If you play with an industrious and religious civ, you'll start the game with faster workers (who improve terrain) and the ablity to make cheap places of worship (which will add to your culture and help your empire grow). Gone are the days of being able to plop your city down and work the 21 squares right from the start. When a settler builds a city (Oh by the way , thats all a settler can do anymore, workers now do improvments to the terrain) you can only work the first 9 squares around your city. To work more you have to build more culture improvements. So you might be asking ''whats up with culture thing anyway?'' Well culture is kinda like your reputation for being a ''kick butt Civ'' Culture is actually a combination of historic, religious, public works, art, and music. Or in laymens terms, It's what makes 1 civ different to any other civ. Culture is reflected in your borders. So the bigger your empire, the more culture you must have. Culture is actually one of the ways you can win the game. (You can even ''absorb'' other civilization's cities into yours if your culture is bigger then theirs). The units have changed too. Gone are the Diplomats, Spys, and Caravan units of the last two civs. Now all that is done with menus and negotions. Fighters and Bombers actually reflect ''patrol units'' where you dont actually click and drag them to the cities you want them to attack. Oh and every civ has their own ''unique'' unit they can build, that no other civ can. Romans have Legions, Egypt has Chariots, and America Has F-15s. But the biggest change has come from trading. There are 3 types of Resources. terrain bonus (gold, extra food, cattle, etc) Luxuries (Gems, Dyes, Spices, etc) and the Economic/Unit resources (Oil, Horses, Uranium, etc). Nobody starts with everything and because Economic/Unit resources are soo important you will have to find a way to trade for them. It really makes a more realistic world.

-The Graphics-
Civ games have never had the best graphics but Firaxis managed to impress me with Civ III. Units move and act like the units in Alpha Centauri. When a unit isnt doing anything it still moves (like a board person stuck working, you know that feeling). When units fight it out the loser has a cool death animation that finally makes the battles feel like major wins or loses. Colors are nice (not like Alpha Centauri) this time and even the oceans have different depths which even effect gameplay. Im not very happy with the look of the mountains and coasts though. You've seen these graphics before but atleast they dont subtract from the rest of the game.

-Audio/Video-
The audio on civ games well, im going put this bluntly, has really sucked in the past. Civ III really hasnt changed my opinon too much, BUT and this is a big but, Civ III actually does something a little different this time around. For each epoch you play in, you hear the music going on in the back ground. The ancient era has drumbeats in the air with birds in the background. The Dark Ages has medieval tunes going on in the back ground. Basically Civ III has ''background'' music now, which gives you an idea what the poor locals would have to listen to when they were alive. Videos are nice but they tend to last for 5 seconds. The Intro to the game is ok.

-Replay-
The game has finally taken care of generating really bad maps. Although the game ships with a map/scenrio tool. Civ III has always had tons of replay coming out of its ears. With 16 different civs (and each civ unique this time) there are 16 different ways to play the game and 16 different stragies to try out. This game will take you a while.

The Final Tally
Story: 10
Gameplay: 10 (enough has changed to keep things fresh, and yet enough has stayed the same so you dont get lost)
Graphics: 9 (You've seen them before, but not in a civ game!)
Audio/Video: 8 (interesting way to go about music with it being mostly in the background now)
Replay: 10 (No two games are the same)
Final Score 9.5 rounded to 10
GameFaq score 10

The wait for this game was diffently worth it. The idea of Resources being a double edge sword works very well. (WWII with Japan anyone?) Diplomacy has seen the most changes and they are all very good. The only problems with this game are some of the menus dont alawys make a lot of sence, so mistakes will probably be made, but thats the fun of games isnt it?

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/01, Updated 11/03/01