Sid Meier's Colonization

"A game that truly is a classic"

Colonization is a game which can, with out a doubt, be called an “old classic.” A masterpiece created by Sid Meier at Microprose, it was released shortly after the success of his other classic game, Civilization. The game takes many of the same ideas that made up Civilization, and focuses on the era of the discovery of America.

The game follows one of four countries: England, Spain, Holland, and France, from the discovery of this new world and through the Revolutionary War. While players of Civilization may be familiar with multiple paths to victory, Colonization is much more linear, and can only be one by winning the war against your mother country.

Most of the game centers around the harvesting, manufacturing, and trading of a long list of goods in order for the resources needed to explore and settle the new world. At first, you probably end up trading more basic supplies such as lumber or ore, and then as more colonists flock to the docks of Europe to travel across the Atlantic, you will encounter specialists trained in trades such as Distilling and Weaving. This widens production in the Colonies, allowing cheaper things such as cotton to be made into cloth, greatly increasing productivity.

The colonists you encounter will come in a wide variety of professions and jobs. You will encounter people who have no experience in any particular trade, Free Colonists, who can be put to any job, but aren’t quite as productive as their trained counterparts. You also will get Indentured Servants and Prisoners, who are even less productive. Back in Europe, you can also train a wide variety of people, for varying, but usually hefty prices, ranging from the inexpensive Lumberjacks, to the costly Statesmen.

As you explore the wilderness of the new continent, you may encounter several tribes of Native Americans. Depending on how you like to play the game, you can interact with them in different ways. First of all, you can bring a Free Colonist or Indentured Servant to any friendly encampment, and have them live among the natives and be trained in a special skill. You can also send Missionaries to start a church in the camp, and sometimes you will have converted Native Americans come to work in your colonies. They are very adept at working agricultural jobs, but are very lacking in the skills for the more industrial jobs.

Over time, you will rack up more “Liberty Bells” and gain more members in your Continental Congress. For players of Civilization, these offer benefits like Wonders of the World. Some examples of this are Henry Hudson, who doubles the effectiveness of all fur trappers, or La Salle, who makes all colonies gain a free Stockade when they reach the population of 3. Liberty Bells also affect the amount of Rebel sentiment in the colonies. Over time, your colonies will lean more towards fighting for independence. Once the majority supports a revolution, you can sign the Declaration of Independence and fight the war for freedom. Your home country will send several fleets full of Dragoons, Soldiers, and Artillery. Defeat them to beat the game, or suffer their wrath as they take over each colony one by one and force you to surrender.

The graphics of the game is definitely one of the weaker spots of the game, reflecting the age of the game. However, I have found the graphics do not affect the enjoyment of the game, and it is still fairly easy to recognize things such as a colonist’s profession or an Native American settlement. Sound wise, this game is decent. There aren’t very many sound effects, but the ones that are there all fit. The music is very colonial sounding, and you can always turn it off if you don’t like it.

This is a game that can be played over and over. You can try your luck playing as any of the 4 countries, and there are 5 difficulty levels, so you can raise the challenge of the game if it ever becomes too easy. Every time you play it randomly generates the map, so you never have to be bored playing the same map over and over. In closing, this is a game, even if you don’t play it much, which is without doubt worth purchasing. Because of its age, you can usually find it for under $10. It is a shame they didn’t make sequels as they did with the Civilization series, as it is a brilliant idea that was very well programmed and produced.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/03, Updated 02/17/03