Civilization III Is Out, And It Rocks

ruebarb writes "At 5pm last night, I proceeded to unwrap my shrinkwrapped Civization III box (purchased at EB) - I had spent the last two weeks broke and playing the old Civ II just for entertainment, so I've got the experience of that fresh in my memory. I went to bed at 3am 8 hours later...yikes." I've attached his review below - I've been playing it, and it is amazing. Not a revolutionary change, but definitely a big evolutionary change. First off, this game is a major change in structure and feel to the Civ. series. Quite honestly, this is probably a good thing. All too often, updates or sequels to a game system are one or two more bells and whistles that justify a $49.95 price tag. Civilization II was such a flexible system to begin with. Dozens of websites with hacks, special units, mods, and changes created a game system that could pretty much be changed into any type of game out there. (I even saw things like X-Com mods where you were soldiers fighting X-Com Aliens) In order for this to maintain it's consistant high level of quality, some changes were required at the fundmental level.

Your cities with the cultural borders now work a lot more like an actual country, and not just a collection of city states. This is nice...I was always less then impressed with having cities and colonies scattered across the globe with no detrimental value. The changes to the Trade system require networks of highways and roads/harbors to cultivate commerce, so it's in your best interestes to keep those things close together...Finally, we're dealing with an entire culture instead of just city-states. And if you're a real monster, you can use the gigantic maps and pull up all 16 civilizations.

Armies can be more decentralized, and wonders of the world are useful, but there are fewer "Killer" wonders that can completely upset the balance of the game. For example, in the previous game, The Sistine Chapel created a cathedral in every city, which made it a prime target for large civilizations...now the advancement simply increases the effects of cathedrals, which forces each city to get off it's butt and develop it's own resources.

Espionage and Trade have been abstracted. Trade and Commerce are now dependant on roads and resources and money comes from trading with other civilizations. And no more of that horribly unrealistic plan of sending the spy in to destroy city walls before the invasion. (I mean, come on...destroy city walls?)

My favorite new aspect is the cultural assimilation of other cities. For example, if you have a strong cultural identity (basically, borders) - and you are close to cities that don't...they may rebel and join your side...much in the way that several cities/territories that once belonged to Mexico joined up with the U.S.

I haven't finished a game yet...I made the mistake of getting my spies busted one too many times...First one country declared war on me...then I attacked and a second one with a Mutual Aggression Pact came at me. Then a couple of them started trade embargos against me, then a couple of turns later the other two guys around me declared war, just like Russia and Germany did with Poland. I got beat up pretty bad and chalked it up to a learning experience...

I have a couple of minor issues....most of the menus are relocated and are kinda hard to find. And I never liked those advisors in the first couple of games..and now they're intergrated...but overall, it's been a long time since I've been pleased with a game like this...This is the game you feel like telling the /. community is worth buying a copy of Win98 for.

Comments

ugh! windoze!

[Cap'n Fishy]

will it run under WINE...that's what I want to know

Re:Let me get this straight...

[HCase]

Wouldn't spending our time angry, unhappy, and mourning show that the terrorist did win? At some point one needs to move on with their life. If spending your days "watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating a bowl of Shreddies" is how someone wants to spend their time, then there is no problem. Should we run around mad and unhappy forever? No one here is forgetting about what happened, but many of us refuse to let the attacks control us forever. You're right, games, legos, and a lack of nerf wars at work aren't incredibly important on a world-wide scheme, but time keeps moving and the "little" things in our lives do pop up. This is news for nerds, if you want to see more news for the masses go to a different news site. We visit them, so can you.

Re:Racism

[humantraffic]

Rubbish. I've ordered it off Amazon a couple of weeks ago for delivery to the UK.

Re:Can't Count :-)

[BlueMonk]

Except they have no 0 so... ?

Re:Racism

[slutdot]

Too bad there isn't a (-1, Idiot) moderation...

Re:Racism

[yobtah]

So, uh... anyone living in the UK is a member of a different race from those in the US?

Re:What I'd really like to know...

[rm-r]

considering the +mods for the parent comments (I hate Windows, MacOS/Linux rox!- very insightful...) I can't disagree with you, it's a shame this place is becoming so lame...

Re:What I'd really like to know... (VPC)

[rm-r]

What can I say, you didn't mention Linux 15 times- obviously not interesting enough on this lame site

Re:What I'd really like to know...

[the_2nd_coming]

being quite good is good enough for PHBs m friend...crist look at win nt4

Re:Racism

[isorox]

* We're sorry. This item cannot be shipped to your selected destination. You may change the shipping address above to an eligible address. Or you may delete the item from your order--just change the quantity to 0 and click the Update button below. *

That happens with a country of "England", "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom"

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Toys, Games, and Video Games

Something tells me "Manufacterer restrictions" are in play, namely they'll sell it in the UK for twice the price, a month after the US

Re:What I'd really like to know...

[rm-r]

Is being quite good enough for the PHB enough to satisfy your professional pride? Linux would hold computing back as much as Winows has if it were in a dominant position- enough with blind dogma, use your brain- it is what its there for

Re:What I'd really like to know...

[the_2nd_coming]

I realy think that Linux would not hold back computing just for the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of people with access to the code. this access allows people to make additions to the technology. there will always be people that are not satisfied with the current system. this will ensure that linux will always get better in quality. and when it aproaches the point where there is no technologicly compelling reason to do somthing, they will begin to audit the code to make it perfect.....when a new tech comes up it will get added.

Hey Hemos

[brer_rabbit]

isn't civ so much better with a blue neon light case?

rofl

[Wise Dragon]

That's just funny.