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Jan 14th, 2008 at 02:39:10 - Civilization IV (PC) |
GAMEPLAY:
After another hour of gameplay, Civ 4 is just as entertaining as it was when I first picked it up. Winning through pacifist means was definately possible without being a boring experience. While the first session left me tenetive about the character development, the later progress proved to me that the characters did indeed have their own playstyles. For example, Genghis Khan was definately more agressive that any other character I met.
Although my concerns about the game were ill-placed, I am unsure of how much the game can be replayed before it becomes less fun. The peaceful negotiator path to victory is definately a defining feature of this RTS, but I wonder how many times you could play it that way before becoming bored.
Perhaps I am being to harsh on the game after only a single playthrough. With a game that offers new paths to the same goal it could just be the difference between that playstyle and regular RTS's that is influencing my decision.
Two hours with this game is not nearly enough time to explore the different aspects of the game to their fullest, however I feel that I got enough to say that it is a well made game that can provide hours of fun to people expecting completely opposite interactions with the game. And personally, that is why I believe that Civ 4 is a good game, despite any reservations I have.
DESIGN:
Civ 4 definately gives the user a fun experience, but unfortunately I feel that some users may not give the game a decent chance because of how slowly the game begins. To build your civilization at the start of the game, there are many turns in which you are merely pressing the enter key until an upgrade is completed or a unit is build. Unlike many RTS's, there is very little micro management in this beginning stage of the game, and may fool players into believing it is incredibly slow. Although when compared to games such as Starcraft Civ 4 seems slow, many of the fun interactions with the game interface require a slower game speed. The depth of Civ 4 is what makes it a truly interesting game, with treaties and trades going between all the players building a diplomatic side of the game that I had not seen before in other RTS's.
There are two main ways to win in this game; diplomacy and violence. Both of these use a point system, which is based on a how big and advanced your civilization is. Although I did not have a chance to play the game violently, I did get to see how the game's combat works through watching the computer's fight. Either gamestyle is a fun, viable option, yet it is the diplomacy that makes the game stand out. It is possible to use religion to become a neutral party in the war between other "nations", and yet still win by being so influential to other nations because of religion. I used the "missionary" units from the religions I had researched (Taoism, Buddism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all options to research and spread) to convert all of my opponents.
However, it isn't possible to just walk into another player's territory and convert them. You have to plan in advance, offering trades to build their trust in you while researching laws and technological upgrades to allow you to have the negotiation skills necessary to make a treaty between countries. If you give to much support to one nation, their enemies may go to war with you, so it is necessary to keep enough troops to fight off any invasion. I was constantly invaded by the Genghis Khan computer player, and retaining a peaceful game was more difficult that just launching an army at the enemy. But it was also more fun that playing just another RTS with no innovation.
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Jan 14th, 2008 at 00:43:44 - Civilization IV (PC) |
SUMMARY:
Civ 4 is a very fun game, that allows almost any player to come along and play it. The only downsides to the playstyle are that the technology upgrades can be slightly confusing, and that a game can take 2 or 3 hours to complete. For me, this does not present a problem but for some users it may seem to long for casual play.
GAMEPLAY:
Although I have played many RTS games before, Civilizations IV was the first game of the civ series that I have touched. As soon as I booted up the game, I was dissapointed that I had not tried it sooner. The depth of the game surprised me; where ordinary RTS games like Warcraft and Command and Conquer make you fight, Civ 4 allows you to choose how you raise your civilization from gatherer societies to the modern era. First off, you choose a nation and a leader. This choice affects you from the beginning by giving you personality type for your nation and two research abilities which start off your strategy. You don't even need to fight to win the game; the strategy I choose was to follow the peaceful path and I picked the Indian leader Gandhi to build my empire. Unfortunately, the first game I played froze after ten minutes, so I had to restart.
However, in the first ten minutes I had only gone through three turns because the amount of choices i was given. The upgrades for your people range from religions to mining to improved weaponry. The next time through I had developed a more focused plan, which was to rule the world through peacefully spreading all forms of religion. My replay went by much quicker, with turns taking a significantly shorter time.
From what I saw in the first hour, the computer characters seemed bland, without much difference in tactics. However, it could just be the fact that I was early in the game and did not get to see much development in other societies. It does seem that with the level of detail of the advancement of the civilizations that the characters should, and hopefully will, become detailed individuals. It would surprise me if they did not, because through the game I felt my cities evolve and become more intelligent and expansive. All in all, I found the beginning gameplay to be a fun experience, and hopefully will continue to be as I discover more about the later stages of the game.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 02:40:18.
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