"An Excellent Game, with a few flaws."

This is the next step on the Civilization series, and quite frankly, it's great. It is what you have come to expect from the series. It has a lot of new features as well.

Graphics:8/10
The graphics are not bad, far from it actually. The units move and have victory dances, and death scenes. The workers,a new feature, move and build. There are better graphics out there, but not for a game like this.

Sound 9/10
The music is now background-only, and has to do with what era you are in(IE Medieval, Industrial, ect.) and the units have sound affects. Sound has never been a major part of the Civilization games for me, and here is no different. But, it adds a bit of flavor to the game. However, it would be a bit boring if there was no music at all, in my opinion.

Gameplay 9/10
This is where it shines. The basic concept, if you don't know, is to begin in the acient era and make your way to a modern-day world power. Other civilization exist, all real(IE Germans or French) and may be your best friends or your worst enemies. You use settlers to build cities for your civilization. In turn, the cities collect resources, build improvements for themselves, and create Wonders of the World, which give your entire civilization a large advantage. These cities also produce military units, for defense and for war. This game CAN be a wargame, but it doesn't have to be. You can win diplomatically, by winning the U.N. election, or be sending a spaceship to Alpha Centauri. However, there all a couple flaws. First, The resource system is a bit confusing, and the learning curve can be a bit steep. Also, sometimes shoddy A.I. detracts. The most talked-about problem is the unit balance. If you have played Civilization 2, you know that a number called ''Firepower'' allowed more modern units to win. This has been removed, so it is now possible for a spearman to defeat a tank in one-on-one combat.

Controls 10/10
There is nothing wrong with the controls at all. They are smooth, flawless, and are easy to find and understand. The buttons placed at the bottom allow you to see the avaliabe functions of the unit you have selected.

Overall 9/10
An excellent game, worth your time. A few minor flaws do exist, but they may be corrected with patches in the future. If you are a fan of Turn-Based Strategy, or want to try it out, this is a game for you.-MVWilliams

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/01, Updated 11/30/01