Civilization III Is Out, And It Rocks

ruebarb writes "At 5pm last night, I proceeded to unwrap my shrinkwrapped Civization III box (purchased at EB) - I had spent the last two weeks broke and playing the old Civ II just for entertainment, so I've got the experience of that fresh in my memory. I went to bed at 3am 8 hours later...yikes." I've attached his review below - I've been playing it, and it is amazing. Not a revolutionary change, but definitely a big evolutionary change.

First off, this game is a major change in structure and feel to the Civ. series. Quite honestly, this is probably a good thing. All too often, updates or sequels to a game system are one or two more bells and whistles that justify a $49.95 price tag. Civilization II was such a flexible system to begin with. Dozens of websites with hacks, special units, mods, and changes created a game system that could pretty much be changed into any type of game out there. (I even saw things like X-Com mods where you were soldiers fighting X-Com Aliens) In order for this to maintain it's consistant high level of quality, some changes were required at the fundmental level.

Your cities with the cultural borders now work a lot more like an actual country, and not just a collection of city states. This is nice...I was always less then impressed with having cities and colonies scattered across the globe with no detrimental value. The changes to the Trade system require networks of highways and roads/harbors to cultivate commerce, so it's in your best interestes to keep those things close together...Finally, we're dealing with an entire culture instead of just city-states. And if you're a real monster, you can use the gigantic maps and pull up all 16 civilizations.

Armies can be more decentralized, and wonders of the world are useful, but there are fewer "Killer" wonders that can completely upset the balance of the game. For example, in the previous game, The Sistine Chapel created a cathedral in every city, which made it a prime target for large civilizations...now the advancement simply increases the effects of cathedrals, which forces each city to get off it's butt and develop it's own resources.

Espionage and Trade have been abstracted. Trade and Commerce are now dependant on roads and resources and money comes from trading with other civilizations. And no more of that horribly unrealistic plan of sending the spy in to destroy city walls before the invasion. (I mean, come on...destroy city walls?)

My favorite new aspect is the cultural assimilation of other cities. For example, if you have a strong cultural identity (basically, borders) - and you are close to cities that don't...they may rebel and join your side...much in the way that several cities/territories that once belonged to Mexico joined up with the U.S.

I haven't finished a game yet...I made the mistake of getting my spies busted one too many times...First one country declared war on me...then I attacked and a second one with a Mutual Aggression Pact came at me. Then a couple of them started trade embargos against me, then a couple of turns later the other two guys around me declared war, just like Russia and Germany did with Poland. I got beat up pretty bad and chalked it up to a learning experience...

I have a couple of minor issues....most of the menus are relocated and are kinda hard to find. And I never liked those advisors in the first couple of games..and now they're intergrated...but overall, it's been a long time since I've been pleased with a game like this...This is the game you feel like telling the /. community is worth buying a copy of Win98 for.

just for entertainment?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had spent the last two weeks broke and playing the old Civ II just for entertainment,

Really, just for entertainment?
Um... why else would you play a game? You a game developer doing research?

LINUX

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard that there will be a LINUX version of this game coming out soon from RMSCo. It will be known as Communistization III. I will wait for that one.

Evolution

[sql*kitten]

Not a revolutionary change, but definitely a big evolutionary change.

I'm always a little confused when people use this analogy. Revolutions are abrupt and bloody and may kill lots of individuals... but evolution make entire species extinct.

Cultural assimilation - art imitates life

[FrankBough]

My favorite new aspect is the cultural assimilation of other cities. For example, if you have a strong cultural identity (basically, borders)

Borders, Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC - presumably there are a number of options that help impose your cultural identity.

For those who don't know

[gergi]

First there was Civ and unto the world was brought great happiness for the tech-savvy masses who found it except when they were fired from their job, their wife left them without them even realizing, and his feet started sprouting moss.
Time passed and the tech-savvy masses found a new wife, a new job, and cleaned their feet of all foliage.
Alas, it was not to be, for out came Civ2 and true enlightenment was brought forth to the world. Unfortunately, this resulted in the second wife leaving, the boss leaving a message on the machine indicating your jobless status, and the moss came back for all those tech-savvy folks.
Many years passed and though the masses found yet another wife, yet another job, and cleaned their feet for what they hoped was the last time, many bad things also happened. First Activision got up in arms and forced Microprose to allow them to create their own bastardized form, Civ2-Call To Power. Microprose then went bye-bye and up to the big software company heaven in the sky. The great ones (Sid and Brian) then struck out on their own, without rights to lengthen the TRUE Civ legacy. They did colonize other worlds in Alpha Centauri but it just wasn't the same to many.
Fortunately, the sun broke through and shined on the tech-savvy masses and Sid has brought a new Civ, true to the legacy...

In all honesty, just divorce your wife now, call your boss and tell him you aren't coming into work for a few months, and get some Tinactin for your feet.

Re:Lord, save me from temptation

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice try, but we still don't believe that you really have a girlfriend.

Only 10 hours?!?

[Tim Doran]

You're not a *real* Civ fan! ;)

Hell, back in the day, I had Civ in my autoexec so I could crawl out of bed and boot into the game while I wolfed a bowl of cereal!

(No, that's not an exaggeration... *shudder)

Re:Evolution

[Anonymous Coward]

whole species of civ clones is now dead

Re:Evolutionary ... but not much

[mrogers]

They'll control strategic resources like iron and saltpepper.

Then when they've broken your spirit with a diet of bland food... THEY'LL ATTACK!

Re:A petition?

[Anonymous Coward]

Somebody oughta start a petition to get Civ3 ported to Linux to show them how much people want it.

200,000 linux users sign the petition.
17 linux users purchase the game.

That sounds like a great business plan.

"Yikes"?

[ari_j]

At 5pm last night ... 3am 8 hours later...yikes

That is not yikesworthy. What scares me is that playing Civ III apparently takes away the ability to add mod 12. 5 + 8 = 1 (mod 12) but 3 - 5 = 10 (mod 12) Scary.

Re:Difficulty?

[ahde]

New and improved Maze game!

you can't win by going R, R, L, R, L (you have to go L, R, L, R, L) -- and the walls are a more subtle shade of blue-green!

Re:Evolutionary from CivII, or CivII-Call to Power

[MSBob]

Yes. It was stupid too. Do you remember some of the wonders they had? Take contraception for example. WTF! Contraception as a wonder of the world?

Well, then they should've made masturbation a scientific discovery. Can you imagine the announcement: "After years of intensive research our scientists have finally discovered the wonders of masturbation. Humanity will never be the same again." Masturbation +1 happy citizen in every city while the population growth is halved

Best thing about civ3...

[blankley]

... Ye Olde Commando Raids. Fill a couple galleys full of pikemen and longbowmen and drop them behind enermy lines. Destroy all his roads on his iron squares. Watch his front lines crumble. That's so cool.

Re:Excellent!

[paranoid.android]

It'll be cheaper in six months, folks! ;-)

Yeah, but I'm playing it now ;-)

and I wonder how long before FreeCiv catches up?

Probably a very long time, since most of the FreeCiv developers will be obsessed with playing Civ3 rather than re-writing it.

Carpe diem! Buy it now! $50 is cheap for hundreds of hours of enjoyment :-)

Oh No!

[rsimmons]

Crackheads!!! Its payday!