"Replay Like None Other"

Civilization II is the second in a series of three games, being preceded by Civ I and followed by Civ III. The second game in a series often decides whether the success of an initial hit can be built into a solid franchise, or whether the series will fall into ignominy. As the ''keystone'' game of this franchise, Civ II did a great job maintaining the good points of the original, while also incorporation new features to keep up with the times and attract new followers to the series.

In Civilization II, you play the leader of a tribe from the earliest stages of human history, to the modern day and into the future. Not only do you control the society in war, but you guide its technological advances and regulate its economy to place it first among the civilizations of the world. You guide your civilizations through revolution, and rule both as a despot and a democratic leader. How will history judge you--as a great leader of your people, or as a dismal failure? Only your final score will tell.

As in most strategy games, you will carry out warfare through your units. The combat system is fairly simple; there is an attacking unit and a defending unit, and they keep fighting it out until one or the other is destroyed. While some units have special abilities--for instance, with the development of the Marines unit you will be able to attack from the sea--most units have just a basic attack and defense rating. Still, as you acquire sea and then air units, you have the opportunity to put complex strategies to use on both defense and attack.

However, your role extends far beyond that of military leader. First, in order to access the best and strongest units, you must direct your nation's scientists to progress through dozens of Civilization Advances, beginning with technologies like ''The Wheel'' and ''Bronze Working,'' all the way to ''Stealth'' and ''Genetic Engineering.'' Moreover, the complex flow connecting the Advance offers numerous paths of research; the choice of which path to take will influence your civilization's personality and have a great impact on its success. You will also need to establish trade routes within and outside your country, and conduct diplomacy with foreign leaders.

The graphics of Civilization II are icon-based. The world map is nice looking, clearly indicating important terrain features without going overboard. Some of the units look a bit indistinct, especially the planes, but others, like the Elephant, are extremely well drawn. The games menus look nice too; also, they are efficient, which is important in a game that is so menu-driven. Both mouse-button commands and keyboard shortcuts add convenience to the menus. The only huge flaw I would point to is the ''View City'' function that allows you to see an overhead view of the given city. This is ugly--when you build a City Improvement, it just pops up in a given place on the View city screen. Plus, a city of 20 million people appears to have maybe thirty houses in it, at most. However, this is more than made up for by the game's excellent multimedia collection. For each of the Wonders of the World your civilization build--there are 28, spanning 4 eras--you get to see a little movie about it. It's good to see that Sid Meier's production team didn't skimp, and made full use of the CD's space for the game.

The sound of the game is limited and the lack of music is definitely a weak point. There are sound effects for the attack of different units, and other sound effects for various events--when you establish or capture a city, etc. Otherwise, the sound of the game is pretty thin. While the game is weak from an audio perspective, it doesn't detract from other aspects of the game--you'll only notice it if you're listening for it.

The editor installed with the game is perhaps the best feature of this game, allowing for almost infinite replayability. While it will take a long time to master the regular game enough to beat Deity mode, the basic game can eventually get boring. That's why the producers made room for scenarios and mods. Whether you just want to make an interesting map or an entirely different game, you can do so with the editor. Not only does it give you the chance to change the maps, you can then use the map and the provided ''cheat mode'' in the regular game to make a scenario. Full access to game files allows you to alter the rules, and even the appearance of units, cities, and terrain.

Many scenarios and mods are available for Civ II; all you have to do is search the internet. Scenarios can place you in any situation; for instance, the game comes with a great WWII scenario in which you could lead a number of different factions to victory. However, there are many other mods out there which take the time to change units, advances, and structures to create an entirely new world. Most of the great science fiction and fantasy worlds have excellent mods available, as do many of the great events in human history. The ease with which mods can be created is one of the leading pros of Civ II.

Variable difficulty and the opportunity to pick your own style of play make Civilization II a game anyone can enjoy. Plus, it offers loads of replay value that make it an excellent purchase. Civilization III is now out on the market, and I will assure you that it is a worthy descendant of Civ II, but if the thought of paying 40 some dollars for it daunts you, go out and buy a copy of Civ II--I've seen it as low as $9.99--and take the opportunity to experience one of the great series of all time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/02, Updated 04/10/03