"The all-time definitive strategy game in existence."

Strategy. What defines strategy? Is it the fast paced real-time decisions by the player? Or does it revolve around complex formulas and ways of defeating opponents? Civilization II is by far the best example of a game that defines strategy to the next level. Civilization 2 places you as the leader of one of many different civilizations or races, and you must lead them to be the most powerful nation in the world. While this sounds simple in a sense, it isn't. Not only do you have to build up plenty of cities, and expand your boundaries, but it is a necessity that you balance out your military, cultural, and diplomatic powers. Managing a nation is harder than it looks on paper. Using science to discover future technologies, tax rates to increase your treasury, and city improvements to assist people - Civilization II is the best combination of in-depth strategy and pure domination a game has to offer.

Graphics [8/10]
Back in 1996 when Civ 2 came out, the graphics were pretty good. The game is primarily played from an isometric view, similar to an overhead diagonal position. The world map is split into tiles, much like a grid on battleship. Each tile is inhabited with lush terrain such as plains, deserts, ocean water, and forests. Tiles are very detailed, and certain ones that have special resources are noted with an object over them. A tile with oil will have a black detailed oil spot, while a silk forest is detailed with a beautifully woven spider web. While animations aren't quite as great since most units don't really animate, the detail put into each one is a noticeable feature. Riflemen have their rifles raised in the air, and warriors have grimy hair complete with a sword and shield. Units are very detailed, and cities grow with more viewable buildings as the population increases. Microprose did a great job in making the Civ 2 world much like one would have seen it years ago.

The best feature of the graphics has to be the easy-to-use interface. Every time you click on a city, a nice interface opens up showing the resource tiles around the city, complete with the amount of happy, sad, or content citizens. Whether you're looking to see how much revenue is produced by the city, or what type of improvements it has, everything is listed in a nice format. New users to the game will understand how the entire system works thanks to the excellent menu organization. Whenever wonders are built, small movies will pop up showing the wonder in good detail. This really gives the gamer a feeling of accomplishment after building the Eiffel Tower. However, there are no special battle sequences, or action packed graphics. For the most part, Civilization II utilizes the technology well, and makes it easy to run on slower computers.

Sound/Music [9/10]
Surprisingly, Civ 2 excels well when it comes to the sound department. The key factor that made this strategy game stand out from the rest was the huge amount of MIDIs that were included in the game. Nearly every different civilization has their own little ''theme'' song as you would say. The Sioux have an Indian beat, while the French tend to have those trumpet sounding devices. For the most part, each race has their own respective musical ballad, along with little toots and horns. Music during the actual gameplay is not repetitive, and gives the gamer a more imperial approach. While the quality is only that comparable to a MIDI player, songs are composed with their ups, similar to that of a Roman song. For the most part, the music will get the job done.

Sound effects are simply amazing. Nearly every single unit in the game has their own attack or grunt sound during battle. Legions dishing it out during battle make some heroic yells while a stealth bomber makes a wooshing sound of a bomb. Even alarms go off when a nuclear missile is coming towards a city. Civ 2 really creates an environment of its own, using sound effects and music to full capacity. During diplomatic negotiations, if an opposing civilization likes what you did for them, a sort of appraising sound effect will go off. If they resent your actions, you'll almost hear a shouting ''Boooooo!'' sound. With so much variety in the gameplay, you're bound to hear plenty of interesting and entailing sounds.

Gameplay [10/10]
This my friends is the true masterpiece of all strategy games. As stated before, you assume the role of a race and must build their power to be the greatest nation of the world. Unlike other games which require that you destroy the opposing force, Civ 2 concentrates on multiple objectives at the same time. Your gameplay style determines how your civilization will play out. The two main ways of winning involve military domination (destroying every opponent on the map), or space exploration (being the most advanced, and colonizing the Alpha Centauri system). However, you have to understand the basic gameplay elements of Civilization II. To start off, the game is played turn-by-turn from an isometric view on a tiled map. The main way of increasing the size of your country is by building more cities, and this can be done by building settlers to colonize more land. Each tile on a map has a specific terrain type, whether it be desert, forest, plains, or water. Basically, wherever you build a city, the terrain surrounding it affects how the city will develop. Establishing a city in the middle of a desert is not going to yield much food.

However, most of the gameplay is built around establishing more cities, building a stronger military, while being able to balance out your science discoveries. In order to build better and more modern units, the gamer must learn technologies in the future. Depending on how much you dedicate to science, it will determine how quick you can advance technologically. Eventually, you'll progress from a nomadic tribe composed of spearmen to a world dominating power filled with tanks, howitzers, and tactical nukes. However, your opponents are other civilizations. They will be trying just as hard to accomplish what you're doing. Often, you'll find opponents who may desire war, peace treaties, or exchanges in technology. Threats will be made, and diplomatic negotiations are a must. Your military power is by far one of the more important aspects of the game. If you don't have a unit to defend a city, then the city can be invaded at practically any time. As you can see, Civilization II focuses on that you can balance all of these elements at once, and be the strongest nation in the world.

But you must not forget about the people. If the people are not happy, then you will suffer. Riots can be broken out, and mass confusion will overthrow your government. If you don't build entertainment centers, and provide happiness to the people, then you are nothing more than a worthless dictator. Civ 2 challenges gamers like no other strategy game before. It is the perfect example of how to manage a nation, all in the power of your measly hands. Controls are quite simple as most of the work is done using the mouse, and buy clicking/dragging units to what tile you want them to go. Combat between certain units is a simple chance of who has better attack/defense powers, and terrains alter these abilities. There are plenty of things in Civ 2 like Wonders of the World, and support resources. Quite frankly, if you've been looking for the challenge of a lifetime, this is the ultimate game.

Fun [10/10]
This game provides so much entertainment that time will fly by like toaster strudels. Once you assume control of that nomadic tribe, and vow to turn them into a world power, you have assumed the role of a leader. Civilization II puts so many tasks on your shoulders at once; this is what makes the game so fun. Never have we had a chance to manage so many different aspects of a strategy game. Unlike some games which focus entirely on battle scenes, or money monopolies, Civ 2 focuses on them all. The rush of technology, constant threats from your enemies, and risks to be taken are all worth playing for. Maybe a risky expansion to an unguarded town could backfire, or preparing to go to war with an opponent, either one of these situations provides a thrilling experience. Enemies will challenge you in every way possible, don't think of this as a walk in the park.

Replayability [10/10]
The second you play your first game, you will probably never see the daylight again. This is by far one of the most replayable games in anyone's collection for the simple pure fact that there are so many variables. To start off, game modes are simply outstanding. You can start off on a random map, and indicate which size you want it to be. There are also downloadable maps, and even pre-made ones like the real Earth, or the Pacific Islands. The game is featured with a map editor to help create your own maps if you're in dire need. With so many varying terrains, and over twenty civilizations, this game is surely to keep you busy. There are literally hundreds of units you can build, and they're all based on how fast you can advance in technology. Expansion is a must priority since you don't want to be confined and surrounded by opponents. Wonders of the World are special buildings that provide outstanding effects, and bring your race back to life. Diplomacy can be your way of war, or your way of desperate needs. Just about every single thing that you could have ever wanted to do with your own nation is in Civilization II.

Difficulty [9/10]
Don't underestimate your opponents - this is a very difficult game. To start off, just about every option in the game is editable. You can set how many opposing civilizations you want, the level of barbarian activity, even your own name/race. Computer AI is very smart, and either aggressive or conservative based on their race. Personalities are random meaning that the Zulus aren't always ruthless warriors, and the French aren't always cowards. The biggest factor that makes Civ 2 a difficult game is the fact that you're not only competing against your opponents, but you're also facing yourself. You could dominate all the other races if you wanted to, but this would come at the cost of the happiness of your people. If you can't solve every element of your nation's success, then your downfall is imminent. Very few strategy games challenge the user in numerous ways as Civ 2 does. Plus, the fact that there are over seven different difficulty settings, just expect one heck of a challenge.

Final Factor [10/10]
If you look back for the best strategy game of all time, most of your leads will trail back to Civilization II. To put this in quick and painless terms, this is the best strategy game in existence. No longer do games focus on one aspect of strategy, but now they expanded to multiple hemispheres. Sid Meier was an absolute genius when he came up with a game plan for his masterpiece. This is by far one of the must have games that any gamer should try or own. If you've never played it, download a demo. If you have played it, keep doing so. Praises should go out to developers who create classics like this.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/03, Updated 07/26/03