What's more, as units fight and gain experience, they can be promoted, giving them extra individual bonuses (you can, for instance, have a particular unit which is good at guarding cities, or one geared towards fighting in jungle).Ĭiv IV in fact has slightly less combat units than were present in Civ III, pointing to a move away from the dominating role of war in previous games. Each unit then has various bonuses and special abilities - spearmen are better against mounted units, archers get a 'first strike', et cetera. Civ veterans will note that units' attack and defense scores have been replaced by a single 'strength' rating. Firaxis emphasized that they were making Civilization again from the ground up, rather than just taking Civ III and pushing out in new directions. In terms of gameplay, Civ IV is the biggest departure thus far from its predecessors. (That, and the ever-popular noises of battle.)
The only complaint I can muster about the music is that there is apparently not enough of it, meaning that every now and again one is left merely with the ambient sounds of the game world. Impressively, the score strikes a near-perfect balance between being enjoyable and remaining in the background - it enhances the game without distracting from it. Civ IV features an MP3-quality soundtrack made up of what I will tentatively call 'World Music' (liking it doesn't mean I know what it is). Music continues to be a strong point for the series. (Exciting too: wonders are now visible on the map.) Even if it doesn't match the technical brilliance and graphical intensity of leaders in other genres, Civ IV still goes toe to toe with them in terms of polish and just looking good. Wonder movies (axed from Civ III) are back, showing in seconds the evolution from blueprint to construction to finished product. The animated leaders, still cartoonish in style, but much more detailed, are in. Possibly the most novel aspect of the game's look, to my mind, is the ability to smoothly zoom out from an angled close-up on one city to a view of the whole planet - actually pictured as a globe!Īs promised, the look of the game has been enhanced across the board. What's more, there are animations now for the terrain and terrain improvements (not just for units), which really gives the sense of a living world rather than simply a very detailed map. The Gamebryo engine - used previously in Sid Meier's Pirates! - plants this epic strategy game into a beautifully rendered 3D world. The graphics, of course, are leaps and bounds ahead of those in Civ III. Everything has been completed to a very high standard, and everything gels together really well. And this is indicative of the game as a whole. The title screen is simple and uncluttered, but sports as a background an animating image of the globe which, if you show a little patience, changes quite spectacularly between day and night. In all, Civilization IV is designed to offer players a game world of unprecedented sophistication and realism, whether they aim to win it through warfare or culture.Ĭivilization IV is polished. More than one leader character is available for many of the traditional opponent nations, and the game will play differently depending on who is in charge of rival empires. The religion model offers more customization as well, and players can now better use the power of faith to spread their culture, or they can choose to have no state religion at all, boosting scientific endeavors.Ĭombat has been enhanced in Civ IV, to give more individuality to veteran units and to balance away occasional historical mismatches sometimes noticed in earlier editions of Civ. The tech tree remains the roadmap to scientific and industrial advancement, but there is now more than one path to milestone discoveries. Many of the most significant additions to this version of Civilization involve customization.
A true living legend of computer game design, Sid Meier invites strategists to conquer the world all over again, in this fourth edition in the influential Civilization series. From humble beginnings as a prehistoric tribe of hunters and gatherers, to a far-flung future of extra-terrestrial colonization, players lead their people to dominate Earth and beyond in this era-spanning game of empire-building.