"The best game ever invented! What else is there to say?"

Who out there likes strategy games? Can a see a raise of hands? *Raises hand* Good. Well then, you have two choices. You can either A) not play this game and continue on with your pointless existence, isolated from the greatest game ever made until ultimately you die alone, shriveled up in a corner or B) rush out, grab the game any way you can (heck, steal 'em if ya gots ta!) and play it, which totally engross you and force you to isolate yourself from the rest of the world until you ultimately die alone, shriveled up in a corner whimpering, ''Please... just... one more... turn! Ugh!''

GAMEPLAY: 20/10

In Civilization 2, you are the leader of a country. You start off in 4000 B.C. and make your way through history, destroying enemies, making allies, and advancing technology as you go along. *Sarcastically* Best of all you can learn all about interesting things like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or the development of mathematics. Please contain your excitement. But seriously, you do have to appreciate all the information and research that went into this game. The encyclopedia in the game gives you detailed information about ancient warfare, the development of gunpowder, and lost wonders of the world, which surprisingly, actually make history interesting.

Civilization 2 is a turn based strategy game. OK, don't start panicking. Just because it's not in your face, don't blink or you're dead action packed, doesn't mean that it isn't interesting. Believe me, you NEED time to think out your strategy in this game. This game is the ultimate ''just one more turn'' game. Time flies when you're dominating the world. You control every aspect of your country, from building marketplaces and airports, to fortifying tanks and cavalry. You plan cities and watch them grow. You lead troops into battle. You tax citizens. You research scientific breakthroughs. You make alliances with other countries or spy behind enemy lines. Good strategy will decimate your foes. Bad strategy will leave you squashed like a bug. And believe me, it feels good to watch your tanks roll over piddly nomads with spears.

There are millions of decisions to be made in this game, all of which will affect your future. Should I build a coliseum to make my citizens happy or should I build a battleship to defend my coasts? Should I give those aggressive Russians a gift to win their favor, or should I get the British to attack them from behind? There are literally millions of ways to play this game coming from many different strategies.

The game has improved much over Civilization 1. There are much more technologies, military units, structures, etc. Civilization 2 improved on every aspect of the first, but still retains the same great gameplay. There's even a council to give you advice on how to shape your country if you're a beginner.

GRAPHICS: 7/10

Okay, so the graphics aren't top notch. Who cares? As far as I'm concerned, I could be commanding black and white dots around a checkerboard, and I'd still have a great time with this game. The graphics are adequate. While you probably won't be saying, ''Ooooh... Ahh...'', you will be able to distinguish your nuclear missile from your opponent's musket. The advising council is real video, but even that is blocky.

SOUND: 7/10

Nothing special here either. The background music isn't bad, but it will get old easily. The most interesting sounds come from when you make a structure or your units go to battle, which will result in various sounds, depending on the situation. Actually, what I usually do is just pop one of my music CDs into the CD drive and just listen to that instead.

REPLAY: 20/10

If you played this game a million times, you'd never get the same game twice. Multiple difficulty levels will continue to test your skills. You can randomly generate different maps of the world. You can even make your own maps. There are so many different ways to play this game. You could decide to focus on expanding you cities and boundaries in one game, whereas you could focus on becoming a military power in the next game. Eventually, you'll find the strategy that fits you the best, but there will be times when you'll have to change it in order to adapt to the situation. You can even activate the cheat menu and mess around in the rare cases that you become bored.

OVERALL: 10/10

If I could give it above 10, I would. This is my favorite game of all time. I'm even writing a FAQ about it. So I urge you to play this game if you haven't already. And if you have, chances are that you agree with me.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/00, Updated 06/12/00