Civilization III

"Whatever happened to classic, addicting TBS's such as this?"

Civilization III... what's not to like? Nearly everything about it is great. Smooth control, excellent gameplay... but let's get into more detail.

Gameplay

Gameplay is a broad topic to analyze. Let's take a look at the smaller subtopics of gameplay.

Control

Not much can be said about the control. Fairly easy to master - you may manually move your units around with the mouse, or you can use the number pad. Everything else is mostly done with the mouse, although there are many keyboard shortcuts you can take advantage of if you find that easier to do. Overall, simple, yet adequate.

The Meat of the Game

There are countless things you can do in Civ III. Many units to choose from, many ways to govern your civ, many ways to expand your territory, and many ways to win the game. This is not a kind of game where you rely on lightning reflexes, or a kind of game where all you need to do is overwhelm the enemy with a horde of troops. This is a Turn Based Strategy game - you move your units and make decisions. After you're finished, the computer does the same.

At the beginning of a typical game, you start with a meager amount of troops, and all you can really do is found your capital city, and start expanding by building structures and roads. Cultural influence of a city develops over time as you enhance it with various structures. You can build harbors, and then ships to discover new land. You can connect luxuries to your city to make your citizens happy. You can build wonders in your city to expand the cultural borders of it, and there are various troops you can train as you move on through time (beginning at 4000 BC). You can research technologies to bring you more options, and you can trade with opposing civilizations. As you can see, there are endless possibilities, giving you much freedom in how you play, and essentially having every game you play completely different from the last.

Customization and Options

The games you play differ not only because of how you play, but because of how the map is set up. You can choose how the continents are shaped, how old the land is, the terrain and the climate of the earth. There are many different nationalities you can play as - The Persians, with you as Xerxes, the Americans, with you as Abraham Lincoln, etc. Each nationality retains certain traits that affect how it plays - Expansionist, Militaristic, Commercial, etc.

Story

Story? What story? This game doesn't really have a story - besides the fact that you are the ruler/leader/king/whatever of a certain civ, and you propose to expand it to win over the computers trying to do the same. This type of game doesn't require a story to be good, though.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are surprisingly detailed, even on low-end computers. Your units move around swiftly, and battles between two units are represented in a nice way. When trading with other civs, the portrait of your ally is very detailed and realistic, along with the general landscape of the world. The colors are nicely applied, allowing the player to easily see different buttons, units and whatnot.

The sound, like the graphics, are also nicely applied. A nice background music is really all there is though, except for the clashing of weapons, or the sound of oars rowing through water.

Replayability

This is one of the reasons why this game is so good. You can play it over and over, and it never gets old. If you are bored with the options you have, you can always download scenarios designed by other players from the Internet, or you can make your own! Also, if you are able to purchase its expansion pack, ''Play the World'', you can play online with your friends.

Buy or Rent?

Definitely buy if you have the cash. Try to get the expansion pack as well, but the game is fine as it is. Just remember that this game will steal hours away from you every time you decide to play.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/03, Updated 05/26/03