SlickFish's Full Review: Alpha Centauri for Windows
When I played Civ II, I ended up forgoing just about everything else in my life. I think I spent about eighty percent of a winter break playing Civ II. So I hesitated in getting AC because I knew that I'd end up spending just as much time playing it, and my time is more valuable now. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a college freshman again.
Finally I gave in to the temptation when I saw Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire both for like thirty bucks. When I finally got it installed, up, and running, my jaw just about put a four inch divot in my desk. This game is amazing. It has truly championed Civilization's legacy.
Here's the background. If you remember the end of Civ II, one of the goals was to send a group of people into outer space to form a new civilization. On the way, the leader was assassinated and the people split into seven distinctly different factions. Each faction carries its own ideology, strengths, and weaknesses. It is your job to control one of these factions and form a new civilization.
In AC you are given much more freedom in many issues, but other things, like research, are more restrictive. For example, you do not follow a set paradigm for a government, such as democracy, republic, etc., but institute different elements of government to your civilization, like free markets or a police state. Conversely, you are no longer allowed to specify a certain technology that you want to research, but are able to point your scientists in different fields of research; pure science, military technology, etc.
AC uses borders, which is a nice improvement. In Civ II enemy units had to literally be at the gates of your cities before you could demand that they stop their trespass.
The units in AC feature a different model than in Civ II. Civ II developed improved new units say a legion to musketeers, where typically all new units had to be made and the old ones dismissed. In AC units are configurable with different chassis, weapons, power sources, and armor. When a new technology evolves, say a fusion reactor, an old unit can be retrofitted with the new technology.
I don't know how many ways there are to win in AC, but there are a lot. Call me a mook at heart, but I love to crush my enemies, see them driven before me and hear the lamentation of the women.
All in all, Alpha Centauri is one of the best games out there. I give it my highest recommendation for every type of player.
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