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Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization

Score: 94%
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis
Media: CD/1
Players: 1 - 13
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy

Graphics & Sound:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a good looking game as far as turn-based strategy games go. It's got just enough detail at the widest view to be interesting and to entice you to zoom in to see what's happening. At the same time, units remain large so it's a bit easier to see what's going on. Several viewing modes also let you cut down on the level of information and the number of symbols displayed if you'd like to simplify it further. When you speak to someone, you'll get animated portraits of important figures like tribe leaders or neighboring colonists. These are exaggerated and slightly cartoonish, and show emotion based on how your conversation is going. It's just an example of a simple touch that keeps you interested in what goes on.

The music and sound effects here work together nicely to create the right atmosphere. There are flutes, drums, your basic "revolutionary" type of music. When you zoom in on a city, you'll also hear the din of street noise and music. There's no speech outside of the short lines the colonists say when you select them, but then it's not needed. Overall this feels like a classic game: no unnecessary elements, just focus on gameplay.


Gameplay:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization will be familiar to fans of Civilization, of course, but with a different theme. As the title suggests, you'll be playing the part of a colony in the new world. As your colony becomes more successful and starts producing money, your monarch in Europe will start asking for higher taxes and more money. So you not only have to build a viable colony, but you also have to gear up for the inevitable revolution against your oppressive government.

As always, you have some basic choices to make. You can be a more aggressive, warring colony, or you can choose a more peaceful path of building up alliances with your neighbors. Either way, it's a bit of a juggling act between keeping your colony stable and expanding when you can. There's a decision to make at almost every turn, and plenty of potential planning to keep in mind as you progress. For example, recruiting new colonists is one of the game's biggest challenges, but you have many different ways to accomplish it. You can establish a mission to convert natives, pay for colonists to hurry over from Europe, or produce a surplus of food.

Civilization IV: Colonization has some nice multiplayer options. There are the usual LAN and Internet multiplayer options, but there is also the more "relaxed" email option. You can set up one of these games and then basically email the save file to a friend to let him make his move. Last, there is a Hot Seat option that allows you to take turns on the same PC.


Difficulty:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization has plenty of different difficulty levels to satisfy every type of player. There are seven different difficulty levels to choose from when you start a game. You can also choose the game speed, and the size of the map you have, though these don't necessarily affect difficulty.

Most of the difficulty comes from the learning curve. Civilization IV: Colonization is a fairly complex strategy game, and due to this, there is a pretty steep learning curve. It's not going to be as bad if you've played Civilization before, of course, but it can be frustrating to a newcomer. You might be asking, "Why did I just lose money? Where did my wagon go?" for a while when you start your first game. It's not that there is a frustrating interface here, there is just a whole lot to learn.


Game Mechanics:

After you get used to things, Sod Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a straightforward, yet complex experience. Most of what you do in the game can be achieved through keyboard shortcuts, but you can do everything with the pointing and clicking if you like.

You can set up automation for some of the more tedious tasks such as regular trade routes. You can even set up automated citizen development if you find that a little too boring to keep track of, or just want to automate a few people and keep a few on a customized track. Some simplification was also applied to this edition such as mountains being passable now.

For those wondering whether they want to commit themselves to this one point in history instead of a broader range like in Civilization IV, there is a lot to offer here. If you're already addicted to another Civilization game, you may not even have time for this. But even if you are completely new to the series, you shouldn't worry about picking this up as your first game.


-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications
AKA Christin Deville

Minimum System Requirements:



Operating System: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Processor: 1.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon rocessor or equivalent, Memory: 512 MB RAM (Windows 2000/512 MB RAM (Windows XP/Vista), Hard Disk Space: 900 MB Free, Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible 64 MB video card with Shader 1.1 Support or better, Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card
 

Test System:



Windows XP, 3.20 GigaHertz Intel Pentium 4, 4 GB Ram, RADEON X850, Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS

Nintendo Wii Brothers in Arms: Double Time Nintendo DS Time Hollow

 
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