Civ4 looks an improvement in most areas, but not all.
The Civ4 advisors are crap compared to their Civ3 counterparts, they're not even advisors at all. I really miss the old Civ3 advisor screens.
I also agree the tech tree is way too fast - particulary later on. I like actually getting to play each age without blinking before it's gone.
The civilopedia sucks compared to Civ3.
It looks like there are some units missing.
The Civics system is nice - but not great. I much prefer the Alpha Centuri system.
Im still waiting for a Civ style game to use Call To Power's combat system, which in my opinion is VASTLY superior. The stack system is getting outdated now, and for civ4 I was expecting something more here.
At least they've made a minor effort at combined arms, which is a step in the right direction, and the RNG doesnt seem so silly anymore.
All in all I like Civ4. It doesn't live up to the hype though. It isnt really that much different from the other civ games - just with a new 3d engine, religion, and some other tweaks. I didn't follow the development of the game, but based on the hype I was expecting a lot more.
Ill reserve true judgement for the game after the 'Oooh Ahhh' factor has worn off.
[For the record, my Civ4 runs perfectly stable, with minimal bugs, and a great framerate @ 1280x1024 everything high, 2xAA].
