Civilization III

"It's 4000 B.C., and your people have invested absolute power in you to build a Civilization that will stand the test of time..."

Introduction:

Whether you pick an ancient behemoth like Rome or a modern superpower like America, your task is to rule over a civilization from the Stone Age to the Digital expand your empire to every inch of the globe.

Gameplay: 8/10

You start off very modestly, with a settler to create your capital city, a worker to build roads for better transportation, mines to increase the production, commerce, and food you get from land, colonies (to get valuable resources such as wines and furs to keep your citizens happy, irrigate land to get food, clear forests that can delay some production. and later fortify your territory with fortresses and upgrade roads to railroads.

Once you get your city, you can build more settlers to build more cities (that is, if you have enough citizens in your city to afford them migrating away), more workers, and military units. You'll probably start out only being able to build permeative warriors. They'll are fairly weak units, but should be sufficient defense for your developing civilization early in the game. But, as you discover new technology, you'll be able to build superior units, such as various tanks and fighters.

Of course, the stronger units have the advantage, but don't assume a unit will win just because it's more advantage and has higher attack and/or defense. There are various factors that income the outcome of a battle, such as the terrain. For example, attacking a unit in a mountain less have a lesser chance of success than in flat grasslands. Once you defeat every unit guarding a city, the city is yours. Once you capture and/or destroy all the cities of opposing civilizations, you win.

Besides units, you can also build city improvements, each serving a separate function, such as storing food and increasing production. They can range from simple granaries, harbors, marketplaces, libraries, courthouses, and such, to massive projects such as the Pyramids and the Forbidden Palace. If you manage to assemble the needed parts for a space shuttle, you can launch it into space and achieve a Space Race Victory.

The more improvements in a city you have, the higher it's culture is. When a city's culture reaches certain points, the city's borders and it's surrounding territory increases. Culture is key to another form of victory: Cultural victory, which occurs if your culture reaches a certain point.

An important factor in the game is managing your income. Every turn, your civilization generates money which you can send straight to your treasury for future use, entertainment to keep your people happy, and scientific research to discover new technological, social, economic, and political developments. These range from Bronze Working which allows you to build the Colossus, a city improvement, and Spearmen, an early defensive unit, Gunpowder, which lets you build Musketeers is you have saltpeter, Currency, which lets you build Marketplaces and increase commerce, and several forms of government, such as Democracy and Communism.

The only bad part is that the game can get tedious, especially late-game if you have to manage a large empire, since it can get slow and hard to do exactly what you want.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics are pretty good, though a bit outdated. However, the actions are simulated. If you send a worker to build something, you'll see him working on it, with different tools and movements for each action.

Sound: 6/10

The background music of this games reflects music from the various ages you're, thought it has little variety. There are also some sound effects such as in battle, but nothing special overall.

Replay value: 10/10

I'm reluctant to give anything a perfect score, but this comes pretty close. You can customize your map to alter the type of land (Pangea, Continents, or Archipelago), the amount of water, frequency of barbarians, age (which decides how concentrated the land type is), climate, temperature, and size. In addition, the game will randomly create the map according to your customizations so that no game is the same. Therefore, there is an almost endless possibility of maps to play on.

In addition, every civilization has a special unit it can use. For example, the Romans have their legionaries, the Greeks have their hoplites, the Japanese have their samurai, and the Germans have their Panzers. Also, each civilization has a different combination of two different "bonuses". Industrious civilizations like America produce things quicker, Scientific ones like Greece can get a free scientific development during the beginning of each new age, and Militaristic civilizations like Rome can produce mighty armies and Great Leaders faster. There are a total os six different bonuses a civilization can get.

As a result of this, no game will be alike, and the replay value is about as flawless as it can get.

Overall: 9/10 (not an average)

This is an addictive, excellent based-turn strategy game with outstanding replay value. Though, it can be a bit tedious and requires patience.

Final Recomendation:

It's a great game that you won't be able to beat renting for just a week or so, so I'd suggest you buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/27/05, Updated 04/28/05