"Is it still the best TBS ever created? Damn straight it is!"

Civilization 2 was released in 1996 and it was pretty much a smash hit. It's been dominating PC Gamer's ''Best 50 Games of All Time'' chart for years. It has thousands of fans and an active community who still root for it today, and to be quite honest, it's still the best damn TBS ever.

Graphics: 9/10

The only gripe I have with the graphics is the fact that units are not animated, but for a game from 1996 that's way more then acceptable.

Other wise, the graphics are great. The units are well drawn and they have heavy detail (not to mention there's several dozen of'em). Cities and city views look great and for that matter, so does the surrounding territory and the overall map. In a few short words: The game looks great: As good now as it did more than 8 years ago.

There are also some very nifty wonder movies that depict pictures off all kinds of wonders that appear in the game: A simple but lovely touch.

Sound: 6/10

The sound barely passes as anything more then Adlib quality.

The sound effects of many of the units are all the same and so are the sounds of the cities and some of the ''anthems'' of the different nations in the game.

Speaking about music, this game has very little of it and, safe for the Wonder Movies music, all of it sucks.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay in Civ 2 is pretty much perfect, from the economical side of things to the war making mechanics.

The basic setup of all Civ games is... well... basic. The purpose of the game is to win by either conquest or by sending a space ship to Alpha Centauri. Civ 2, unlike Civ 3, does not make an exception to this rule, in any way. So pretty much you can either kick everyone's ass or be a tree-hugging pacifist and hope no one kicks your ass before you get to send a ship in space. You of course research technologies, advance your race, build better military, improve economically, etc. through the course of the game.

Each of these elements are perfectly intertwined and implemented within the game. Never will you actually feel overwhelmed, or lost, because you won't know what to research or what to do. The game starts you off by giving you either 1 or 2 settlers that can build cities, roads or irrigate the planes for you. From the moment on you begin the game; the strategy is seamlessly interwoven in the engine.

Choosing a favorable start location, where you have access to food, water, rivers, resources and production is crucial to your advancement, but at the same time it's not a do or die decision that will make you think 2 hours before choosing a place to settle. After you settled you get to choose what to build or what to research first. You can now change taxes, governments (if you researched new types of government) or just explore the map, make friends with everyone, and just plain simply sit there until the game finishes. That may not necessarily be fun, but this game lets you do it if you so wish too.

Granted when you begin to pursue some kind of victory, you will find out why Civ 2 is so good. From the moment you research Iron Working you can build swordsman and invade your neighbors, meanwhile back at home you build cities to increase your amount of gold that you receive from taxes or the amount of scientifical bonuses each turn. From the ''get go'' the game flows seamlessly through 3 ages (ancient-medieval, industrial, modern) and at least 100 technologies.

Which gets me to the best part of Civ., research. The acquisition of another advancement is such a fulfilling achievement, that after you get it in the game, you wont stop playing for hours at an end. Techs. allow you to build more and better troops, wonders, and improvements. Change your type of government, improve the terrain, or many other wonderful things that technology brings (like pollution). Tech. takes time to research; city improvements such as Libraries, Universities and Research Labs increase the amount of science income each turn. So does adjusting taxes or increasing the population of your cities.

City building is another important aspect of Civ 2. Cities can be improved by building wonders (special buildings that give you special bonuses and can only be built by one nation), regular city improvements (such as aqueducts, barracks, granaries, libraries), and defense structures. Cities also harbor trade networks, they produce different goods and require others in exchange, and thus you can build expansive trade networks within your own borders or between you and your allies.

Trading is an essential part of Civ 2, it produces gold and gives cities that can't produce enough food to support themselves supplies so that the citizens don't starve and die. Trading can also be used to complete wonders faster or to improve diplomatic relationships with your neighbors. Trade can only be conducted through caravans, which is ultimately both a plus and a minus as the computer has the irrational tendency of destroy all caravans that cross their borders at war, totally disregarding rules of engagement.

Of course in human history the most determining factor is, was, and always will be war... and it's pretty much the same in Civ 2. In Civ 2 war is as much fun as any other part of the game. Chances are you will engage in some kind of warfare in any type of Civ game you play, and if you do you should feel very, very happy. Why you ask? Well because Civ 2 has a huge amount of units. It also offers a stupendous simulation of the tactics used in any war, modern or ancient.

Units each have 3 attributes: Attack/Defense/Movement (ADM). All of those statistics are influenced by the type of terrain they sit on, for example: A unit on a mountain has a higher defense when attacked and a better attack when attacking, but it looses all movement once it moves off the mountain. Combat units also get defense and attack bonuses in other situations, such as when guarding cities or attacking enemy battalions in rivers. Units also range from Stone Age rock throwers to modern nuclear bombs and the game even takes in account the implications of starting nuclear warfare or the expenditures of maintaining an army.

What would combat be without worthy opponents though? Well, not too much fun that's for sure, and it's safe to say that the AI in Civ 2 is challenging enough. However its no Civ 3.

Government is also an important part of Civ 2; each government type has it's own benefits, for example: Democratic governments earn more money but can't just go around declaring war; they must get Senate to approve the actions first. And no folks, there's no 90-day rule in Civ 2, if the Senate doesn't approve war, well you'll be witnessing the AI building cities in between yours and taking away all their food. On the other hand if you decide to be a Communist you can declare war whenever you want, but you can only set that taxes to a maximum of 80% and you get less money from your cities.

Diplomacy is also an important part of Civ 2, it's a little on the skimpy side, but it does the job. You can sign any treaties from Trade Agreements, to Cease fires, to Alliances, or even create NATOs against whoever's stepping on your nerves. You can exchange both maps and tech with the AI if it so decides or if you want too. The problem here is that the AI doesn't want to do anything of the sort most of the time. It's stubborn, and it must have its demands met, even if you're armed to the teeth and the only thing it has are swordsmen and pikemen.

However the gameplay is not perfect. Among the other problems the AI has it doesn't take advantage of trade routes or food supplies, which means that it will have lv. 16 cities by the time you have lv. 40 and growing cities. Also the AI doesn't know how to react well to an expanding player: If you keep on expanding, by the Middle Ages the AI won't be much of a challenge. Other than that though, the gameplay in Civ 2 is the closest thing to perfection that the genre has ever witnessed.

Multiplayer: 9/10

Both hot seat, email, and Gamespy games are great granted you can find anyone that is willing to spend 4-8 hours on a game, which is just about the only fault of the multiplayer... it's way too damn long.

You can end up spending 2 or 3 times as much time while playing a human than when playing by yourself. On the other hand, human players are generally way better than the AI on any difficulty.

Overall: 9/10

The biggest question that centers on the Civ series is weather or not Civ 2 is: a) the best TBS ever-created b) better then Civ 3... I think I can safely answer yes to both questions.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/04, Updated 04/04/05