by Matthew Chase 11/03/2005
"The Earth was without form, and void." So says Leonard "Mr. Spock" Nimoy in his quintessentially emotionless narration of Civilization IV each time you start a new game. And then the map generator finishes filling in that void-and you take your first steps into an ancient world that threatens to leave you sleep deprived for days. Civilization-the brainchild of legendary game designer Sid Meier-has stood, for 14 years now, as one of the best and most addictive turn-based strategy series ever to grace a PC screen. Trying to innovate such a venerable game is a tall order, but Civ 4 brings a host of top-notch additions to the fore. From Stone Age to Space Age, you now get a lot more options to help you build your empire. So, yes, Firaxis has done it again.
Civ 3 junkies should quickly key in on the overhauled government system, which now gets divided into five civic subcategories. These civic mechanics allow for a mind-boggling matrix of possibilities in regard to how you run your kingdom, which include adopting slavery, allowing a free-market economy, or enforcing a state religion. Although the new religious system feels overemphasized at times, it adds some great facets to gameplay that range from ambient espionage undertaken by local zealots (allowing you to spy on your opponents) to motivating your troops as they fight to defend a holy shrine.
And therein lies the crown jewel of Civ 4: the new combat mechanics. Instead of providing straight attack/defense values for your units, the game relies on a deeper RPG-style experience system. Your units can specialize and improve in all sorts of tasks as they level up, such as the amount of collateral damage they inflict and bonuses they receive when fighting in specific environmental conditions. This system conveys a real sense of attachment to your units; you'll definitely feel a tug at the heartstrings when you lose your favorite swordsman unit who had become especially adept at raiding cities or your marines who spent countless battles training to become the best veteran jungle fighters in the world.
Welcome to the jungle
All of these civic and strategic enhancements are clinched together by a brand-new layered 3D world environment. Where in previous Civ games, each tile on the map contained only one specific category of terrain, the various topography types in Civ 4 can overlap: You'll find forested hills in the plains, loamy grassland valleys, and numerous combinations in between. The map generator uses a more tightly variegated mix of tiles-which initially feels inferior to Civ 3's more geologically accurate map output, but ends up working very well with the new terrain overlapping physics in terms of balance. As an added visual touch, you can now zoom out to view the world map as an actual globe-provided your civilization possesses the technological aptitude to understand that the Earth is round.
A lot of other staple Civ features find themselves simplified?for better or for worse. Resistance against a hostile invasion now just shuts down a city the way that civil disorder used to in Civ 3, and unhappy citizens become deadbeats who up and refuse to work. Oddly, you can actually just ignore both of these situations without any serious economic setbacks. Civ 3's unpopular mechanics for governmental corruption and waste get replaced with an upkeep fee, and a city's numeric health rating thankfully eliminates the need to manually deal with pollution.
The rationale behind most of these simplifications revolves around alleviating tedium and lessening the overall barrier to entry, but not everything that got changed necessarily needed to be. Let's put it this way: Civ connoisseurs who think of Civ 3 as their favorite label of fine wine might find that Civ 4 tastes a bit?off. It can't be called an artificially flavored grape drink in comparison, but more like a chardonnay to Civ 3's cabernet sauvignon.
Tech support
A few technical oversights sour Civ 4's vintage ever so slightly. The option to abandon an unwanted city no longer exists, and the logic behind the tech tree seems less salient and more arbitrary-although this doesn't detract too much from the gameplay. The game fatally responds to Alt-Tabs, too, which gets frustrating when you need to multitask or take a break. Gamers with ATI videocards should prepare for some strange issues and occasional crashes (definitely upgrade your video drivers before playing). Oh, and your eyes aren't playing tricks on you: The "Install" disc is the one you need to play the game-not the erroneously labeled "Play" disc. Fortunately, these gaffes only mar the experience by a very small margin-and have hopefully been corrected by the time you read this.
Like a good game of chess, Civ 4 teaches you a thing or two about strategy, but also so much more. It acts as a wonderful history lesson, and the wealth of information in the game's comprehensive Civilopedia makes learning fun. If you harbor any interest in strategy games and want something with more depth than the average mindless RTS, then you would do well to immerse yourself in Civilization IV and let it soak in. Sure, it might steal away hours of your time-but it's one of the rare games that can genuinely enrich your life while doing so.
It's good to see a sense of humour in the forums -- exactly what we all need to cool our heels.
