Slashdot Mirror
Super Mario, Civ IV, Katamari Hands-On Impressions
The first day of the E3 show is netting hands-on impressions of some of the most anticipated games of the upcoming year. 1up.com is offering up impressions for the New Super Mario Bros. title for the DS, and We Love Katamari for the PS2. Gamespot has a hands on with the upcoming Firaxis/2K title Civilization IV. Feel the Sid Meier love. From the article: "Civ 4 will finally update the series to a 3D engine. Firaxis is using an updated version of the Gamebryo engine that was used in last year's Sid Meier's Pirates. And yes, the early screens looked a bit muddled, but the game looks a lot cleaner and more beautiful now and in person. You can zoom out and see the entire world (presented as a rotating globe) and see continents, mountain ranges, and forests."
They seem to have done a 180 on the issue of corruption. It wasn't like the players were begging for more corruption in Civ3, _they_ were the ones who thought it was a necessary play element. Not having to deal with corruption and pollution will be less annoying, but do they have some other means to address the issues those concepts were originaly meant to correct? And what happens to all the tech and structures that dealt with pollution? Are they just being removed as useless now?
I'm not sure what i think about the inclusion of religion. I have to admit that religion has had a very important effect on most periods of history, but i'm not sure i want to deal with it.
The government part sounds a bit like Call to Power but more complex. Especially the bit about slavery.
"The tech tree has been completely rethought and is no longer broken up into eras." ie they're going back to the way it used to be? :) And it sounds like they're reworking things to encourage you to do exactly what the eras concept was designed to prevent, skipping around the tech tree to get to "the good stuff" :)
"Great People" sounds pretty much like the leaders in MoM and MoO2. Not that that's a bad thing.
I'm a little confused as to how the combat change is an improvement. From the description they've gotten rid of the health bar only be giving every unit a pseudo health bar of three HP. Unless they've done something else to change the combat there's going to be a sudden increase in Phalanxes wiping out Battleships again.
Being able to see wonders and such on the main map sounds really cool though :)
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Sounds like they are adapting some of the unit customisations that made Alpha Centauri such a replayable game. As well as the modular government model that made that game so much better in that area, than any of the Civs.
Woo Hoo.
But I'm always a bit concerned when they say they're going to 3D... 3D can be really good, IF ITS DONE WELL. Case and point is Lords of the Realm II vs III. I prefer the second one, even with all it's problems, over III because it has, imho, a really bad 3d engine interface. For some things 2D does, in fact, work BETTER (I prefer SMB3 vs Super Mario 64 or Sunshine, but I digress)
:P
The rest sounds really cool, and I trust they won't screw over a beloved franchise like Civ... but... I'll reserve judgement when it's released. If I have to constantly change the camera because the Pyramids are blocking me from seeing the invading army all the time I'll be pissed
Is anyone else wishing we would see something new?
If they're fun to play, who gives a crap?
Bryan R.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
The thing that always got me about Civ was the level of absolute control: every building, every unit, every city, every road, every movement was absolutely up to you, and your orders would be followed without delay or question.
Now imagine if corruption in a remote province meant that payment to the garrison was skimmed, and your soldiers there weren't getting payed. What if those disgruntled soldiers decided to back a renegade province that had been looking for a way to secede? In Civ, this sort of thing never happens. Civ3 added cultural influence, but it was laughably predictable. I'm not looking for a super-realistic nation-sim, but golly, how about a little advancement in the state of the art?
I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
I don't see how a 3D engine will help Civ. Unless they change the gameplay significantly I can only imagine it will detract from the game. For a turn based strategy game like Civ you need to be able to assess the board as a whole easily, this is best done with flat 2D, unless of course the 3D aspects of the terrain become that much more important.
I just hope that I'll stop losing elite ironclads and cavalry to veteran galleys and spearmen.