Developer: MicroProse
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1991
Stephen's Rating: 7/10
Basic Plot
In Civilization you take on the role of a leader of a great civilization. Each game is different, but the objective is always to do what you need to do to become a great empire, starting with a single village.
Gameplay
Civilization is a turn based empire building strategy game.
This game has one of the most complex sets of mechanics out there (perhaps excluding EVE Online) so I'm not going to try and tackle all of it, just highlight the major points of difference.
At the beginning of the game there is a world which is unexplored. You start with a settler who can found a city, and one other unit to protect it. It is the Stone Age (depending on the game speed you choose).
The graphics are simple but well designed for the game.
Once you found a city it starts with a population of 1 and immediately you can choose a unit or building to start producing from it. Cities are one major component of your empire. They are your production, they house your population, and they also required maintenance and attention. Cities have buildings which provide various bonuses but also incur maintenance costs. There are special buildings called "wonders" which take a very long time to build but often provide a powerful advantage. Only one of each wonder can be built.
The next major part of an empire is its units. These consist of settlers (which can be used to found a city) as well as soldiers and other specialist units (spies, diplomats). These are usually used to defend yourself against another civilization or to lay war upon them.
Throughout the game the player can research science, starting from the very primitive (agriculture, horseback riding) right through to the advanced (nuclear fusion, robotics). Each "tech" takes a number of turns to research. A more populous empire with the right infrastructure (libraries, universities etc) researches technology faster. Technology allows you to build new units, buildings, tile improvements, and also choose new religions and government policies.
There is also diplomacy. Inevitably you'll come face to face with other empires. Depending on your relative military strengths you may end up going to war, becoming allies, or bribing each other to stop an all-out war. You can make trades for technology, gold, resources, or even peace.
The land itself can be upgraded and improved to help your civilization whether that be building mines, roads, farms, or railroads; all of these help the empire. The world is divided into "tiles". Each city can use a certain number of tiles depending on its population. An improved tile may provide more production, gold, or food (which are the three primary resources).
There are several ways to achieve victory:
- Military domination - simply controlling the majority of the world and eliminating your enemies by force.
- Space race - be the first to build a ship and travel to Alpha Centuri.
- Points - have the most points at the end of the Modern Era.
Positives
The complexity of the game and the huge number of interacting mechanics make this game hugely replayable. There is a large degree of skill which can be obtained by studying or trial and error, and there are vastly different play styles which can be experimented with.
There was nothing as detailed and complex as this at the time. It provided that satisfaction and detail involved in some of the very detailed board games with the automation and simplicity of a video game.
Negatives
I can't really think of any. It's a pretty specialized genre and its not for everyone, but for those that like this kind of thing the game is excellent in every way.
Memorable Moments
I've re-played this game many times over the years, the latest being in 2005. In more recent years I've switched over to Civilization IV Complete which is a worthy successor to this brilliant game.
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