Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> Sid Meier's Civilisation IV

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Review:

16th November 2005:
Sid Meier's Civilisation IV
All the ingredients are there, all that remains is to rise a great leader to guide and nurture to create a Civilisation.
Posted by Chris Snook - PC - UK and Europe

There are very few games I would consider taking to a desert island with me. One of those games was the original Civilisation quite possibly the best world building simulation ever, with a keen eye for detail, simple enough interface that can be used without a manual and simple, easy to. Plus it ran on a 286.

Now a significant number of years later and an equally significant increase in processing ability come the latest version of that venerable game, Sid Meier's Civilisation IV has sprung forth out of the chaos of the universe to once more strip us of any social life that we may ever have had.

It is that good. It really is.

As ever the premise of Civ IV is to take a fledgling society, recently throwing off the shackles of a nomadic lifestyle and wishing to make a go of becoming a settled people and ultimately the dominant force on the globe. You have been elected supreme leader to guide you chosen ones through the building of cities, creation of armed units and the discovery of ever more complex technologies. All the while expanding your influence and might around the globe. Ready for when you come face to face with another race, descendents of anther tribe a second civilisation. From here it is up to you to decide whether to be peaceful and trade or gird for war and send you mighty armies to crush one another in a battle of attrition.

Civ IV comes in a weighty slip case that at first sight looks a lot like a double CD case, that is until you look more closely and find that there is a hefty manual packed in with the single DVD that the game comes on. This is the first impressive part, the comprehensive manual, with details on all the things you need to get started with your civilisation building, the similarities with past versions, the differences, some of the early technologies and ways to govern are also expounded on, for whilst it is comprehensive it is not exhaustive. That honour once more is given to the Civlopedia, the trusty virtual tome that allows you to find out all you need about practically everything in the game.

The learning process is further boosted by the excellent tutorial. Hosted by a virtual Sid Meier it provided the first taste of the new game and is an easy to get into guide to the new features and how the old ones are still there. The experience is worth going through even if it is very linear as it put you through the paces, all the time with Sid describing things in the background. Over the hour or so it takes to learn things and there will be a few new things to learn, you gain a feel of the game and it fits like a welcoming glove, both to those who have played prior versions and through the easy manner of its approach to new players to the series.

Visually it is an achievement, with a staggering level of detail, a simple to utilise camera and animations that capture the eye. There are birds that fly around, livestock that moves, combat animations and many more things that transform an essentially flat surface into a breathing world to explore and discover. There is motion in the cities and outlying support farms and mines. However there is also an elegance to the design of the user interface, it is clean, stylish and allows for everything to be found with little clutter. This extends to the map allowing for a variety of options. Special mention should go to the intro, it is one of the most fluid and descriptive cinematics that I have seen in a while.

The audio too does not disappoint and whilst there is no startling effects the sounds of battle, the sounds of the environment and the sounds of building do contribute to the ambience beautifully. Musically Civ IV stands out, with original pieces like the main theme rubbing shoulders with Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Indeed the main theme has a haunting quality that fits the mood of the title screen fully. Apart from Sid in the intro there is but is only the voice of the narrator, Leonard Nimoy, heard as he performs the voiceover for the world creation screens and the discovery of new technologies. The on blight is the slight stuttering of the music when a World Wonder is constructed, this is unusual for whilst everything else is flawless through out on a machine that meets the recommended specs. It is an annoyance only but a glaring one.

The world creation choices alone simply ensure that there will never be a world identical to others and the inclusion of a 'Terra' option to create Earth like worlds removes the obvious problems of playing on Earth itself. Add in the ability to 'mod' the game with custom scenarios, the built in scenarios and an integrated world editor there is a metric schwackload of things to keep you occupied even in a single player game, ideal for those without a fast connection. For those with such a connection the multiplayer modes allow for whole new depths of play as for the first time there is an integrated online and LAN feature that will add even more hours to the playability of Civ IV.

The gameplay is as ever a series of layers each adding or removing various elements of complexity, allowing for a fully customisable game experience. Things here too are familiar, using a streamlined RTS style of unit movement and attack it is once more easy to pick up and plan things. There are civic options - ways to rule - that can be applied once discovered, religions, forms of government and the like, allowing for fine tuning of your civilisation to how you want it. Creation of specialised people that aid you, the production of Great People, Golden ages and many other features that will add to how it is played. With eighteen different civs to select, some with multiple leaders who you must choose from, each bringing a different style of society management to the table, ranging from artistic, to peaceful, belligerent to expansionistic, further allowing for a definition of the culture and direction you wish to travel.

There are now multiple ways to win, you can dominate the globe, achieve a diplomatic victory and become world leader at the UN, be the first to go to Alpha Centauri or merely crush all your opponents underfoot. Each are viable and each will find exponents of them, finding a style that suits their play the best.

Again it is the familiarity that helps, it is the same, good old Civ but with the annoyances ironed out and many new things slotted in to bring in a new series of depths to the gameplay. It has that elusive quality, the ability to loose yourself for hours at a time but with enough flexibility to allow you to skim in over a few days advance a small part and see how you can continue over those short but satisfying bursts of activity. This is the original Civilisation in so many ways but one which has grown up, lost some of its angst and has decided it is indeed a brave new world and it really should go out and show what it has for offer. Simply superb. Simply majestic. Simply Civ.

Chris Snook

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Review Summary:

Astonishing addition into the series, Civilisation IV is the best thought out game of its type since the original nearly a decade and a half ago. Easy to pick up, complex to master there is familiarity enough to both new and old players of the series to get stuck in, with options galore, multiple methods of victory and a sense of just wanting to continue a little bit longer all combine to make a near instant classic. There are one or two problems with the audio in places but nothing that can scratch too deeply into the highly polished gold.

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