Civilization IV

"A refreshing strategy game!"

Intro: Civilization IV is one of the most refreshing and interesting strategy games I have ever played. You can play as many rounds as you want as each round will take about two days, depending on the level of difficulty. Maps are fully customizable so each round is different!

Graphics 9/10:
The graphics get the job done and everything is easily distinguishable, but they're not nearly perfect. All the units you control all look great and very similar to their real-life counter-parts. Weapons all look good too, with the exception of arrows which just look like colored blocks. Also, some battle animation is a little jerky in how it reacts when an enemy is attacked, but nothing very serious. Scenery is fantastic it really draws you into the environment and its a great experience.

Gameplay 9/10:
Civ 4 is not your average strategy game, I'll describe a game from beginning to end in brief so as to give you an idea of how it works. When you begin a new game you get to pick the difficulty, how many civilizations are in your world, what your world looks like, which real-life empire you play as, the sea level and more! Once the game has begun you start off with a settler and another basic unit. Using your settler you can set up your first city, which will be your capital. You then must build up a civilization around you using very basic tools as the game starts in 4000BC. As the game advances you will get access to better technology and things will start to become more modern. At the beginning you get warriors with clubs and by the end you get Bombers, Machine Gun, Radio Towers and a hundred more things! You must also get along with, or destroy, other civilizations. Some will be friendly towards you and you will co-exist peacefully; while others will be aggressive and go to war with you. You can make trade with other civilizations and decisions you make can make another leader hate you or love you. Civ 4 is a turn based game and you can use a unit once per turn. However, even if you had 100+ units you can still move all of them in just one turn. At the end of a turn, press the button, time advances, early on in the game time will go forward by up to 40 years! But by the end, each turn will only be 1 year at a time. There are 6 different ways to win Civ 4 such as, defeating all other civilizations, controlling the majority of world mass and population, having the highest score if time runs out and that's just the easiest few. You can also play multiplayer mode over the net, email or LAN with your friends or others you haven't met, however the main focus of the game is on 1 player mode.

Sound 9/10:
Nothing amazing here, but once again it gets the job done. Background music is soft and soothing in general and also suits the environment very well. Sound effects are very good. Soldiers getting attacked, movement and sailing all have some top sound effects to them.

Replay Value 8/10:
You won't get sick of the game for a very long time as I said before each time you play it is fully customizable and each time will be different, the sky is the limit! Also, there is a hall of fame in which your greatest exploits are recorded and you can keep trying to improve there. Even after all that you could go on line and have the greatest challenge against other players.

Overall 8/10:
Civ 4 is a fantastic strategy game that will keep you interested for a very long time. It has been very well put together and there are virtually no faults to it if this is a genre that interests you. Even if you only have a vague interest in strategy games you, at the very least, need to rent it out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/06, Updated 06/11/08

Game Release: Civilization IV (EU, 11/04/05)