Do not buy Civilization 3
Written: Nov 03 '01 (Updated Nov 03 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Built on a great foundation.
Cons: It's a foundation and nothing else.
The Bottom Line: This game is a 6-year old anachronism.
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| jeremyf's Full Review: Civilization Call to Power |
Civlization 2 was released about six years ago to rave reviews. It's been hailed as one of the true PC game classics and Sid Meier, the creator, is a household name (well, in really dorky households).
It was so good, in fact, that years after it came out, fans were begging for a sequel. Sid Meier and the Firaxis team had to address these concerns. Here's what happened, I think:
*** Start Dramatization ***
Programmer: HEY SID! Why don't we make a sequel to Civilization 2? Remember, we sold millions last time!
Sid: Yeah!! That was cool!! But wait, I'm lazy!!!!!!
Programmer: Me too! But I have an idea!!!! Let's just get the old game, slap on a "3" sticker, and sell millions more copies to suckers for $50 each!! Ha ha ha !
Sid: Good plan!!!!! Now let's go buy beer!!!
Programmer: Good plan!!!
*** End Dramatization ***
Anyway, if you've played Civilization 2, you've played this. There are very MINOR graphical tweaks (and, strangely enough, most of that means graphics were taken OUT, such as the dancing/talking avatars).
There are minor gameplay differences as well (which were all introduced in Alpha Centauri, etc.). For example, your cities now have borders that show where your "country" is. This was pretty much implemented in Civ2, but now there are actual lines showing up. All your favorite units are still there, and the only ones of any substance that were added are the "special" units -- each race gets one special unit. For example, Indians get War Elephants and Americans get F-15's (fair, huh?). They're nice, but no big woop.
Each race also has two "characteristics": Religious, Industrious, Scientific, etc. There's a new "culture" system which has almost no impact in your game. There's all kinds of minor things, but if you're anything like me, you won't be at all impressed. It's the same game with very minor tweaks. It's like going from Windows 3.1 to Windows 3.11.
I'm really surprised at how much was left out, though. The music and sound is alright, but I liked the music from Civ2 better. The sound effects in this game are annoying, I think. Like I said, the animated avatars are gone. The annoying "upgrade your palace" (which has no impact on the game) is still here, but this time around it's NOT OPTIONAL! In Civ2 you could at least turn it off.
Also, my favorite map, the "real world" map came in three sizes in Civ2 -- tiny, normal, and large. In Civ3 game it only comes in "large" and "huge." Your races don't appear in their "real world spots" in these maps either. In Civ2, my Zulus always started in eastern Africa. In Civ3, they popped up in Siberia. I guess there's an alternative history lesson for you.
Civ3 seems poorly tested as well. During the first game I tried to play, Civ3 froze twice. This never happened with Civ2 or with most other games I've played recently. The "buttons" on the game are TINY, and AWFULLY annoying (if you click slightly off the button, something completely different pops up).
In Civ3, the designers tried to integrate the "Civopedia" in a web-like fashion. That is, if you click on the name of a structure, government, race, etc., it pops up with information. This is nice, HOWEVER, there are NO LINKS in the places you NEED THEM MOST. For example, if you're in the city view and you want to see what the "Galleon" does, you have to exit the city view, click on the encyclopedia button, click units, scroll down to "G" and click it, find "Galleon", read it, exit all the menus, go back to your city, pick Galleon again, and decide if you want it. Hardly user friendly. If you want to add a feature, don't do it half-assed!
There is also no multiplayer, and no "scenarios" (except the aforementioned large and huge world maps). I'm sure they plan to put out expansion packs soon for $35 each.
There are two versions of Civilization 3. There's a "normal" version with, literally, just a book and a CD-ROM in the box, and a "limited edition tin" version -- this version comes with a tech tree foldout (which SHOULD come with the standard version) and a "making of" video (probably a ripoff of "Girls Gone Wild: Spring Break"). The second version costs $10 more.
I can't say Civ3 is a bad game, since it is based off of a great game. However, I was terribly disappointed with it. I haven't had it very long so I might learn to like it, but I doubt it. Tonight I tried to play a game but I got bored so I quit and played some Worms World Party instead. Pretty sad for the 2nd day you've had a game.
If you want to play Civilization, go to eBay or another store and buy Civilization 2: it might not be completely up to date technically, but it's pretty much the same game (or better) and will cost you $10 or so instead of $50 (outrageous!).
Recommended:
No
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jeremyf
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