I have had the game almost 2 weeks now, and have played 4 full games, and feel like I can finally give a decent review, and describe my feelings about the game. First let me say that it is incredible, and I am very happy with the vast majority of the gameplay issues. This will be a fairly long post, so stay with me, but I wanted to discuss a lot of issues.
Graphics: Perfect for the game, no issues whatsoever. Like some others, I have had some difficulty telling jungle from forest, but hey, it is easy enough to right click when in doubt. I am happy.
Sound: Just fine. I am usually someone who turns of the music, so I don't care about that. Sound effects work just fine.
Combat: While many on these boards like to complain about the "unbalanced" combat, I have to disagree. While I too have had situations where my higher tech units have lost to lower tech units, there is usually a reason, and it usually makes sense. Also, some have complained that there should be NO chance for a lower tech unit to beat a higher tech unit. However I strongly disagree. There has to be a chance, or the game is boring. It then simply becomes a race to the highest tech levels, and then invade the world. The combat system as it is set up, is balanced, interesting, strategic and fun. It actually requires you to think about where you are attacking, with what units, and how. You must attack with combined forces, and superior numbers. While you may be lucky using old CIV II tactics, you need to re-evaluate your strategies, and the game is much richer for it. After 4 games, the combat seems rich, well developed and highly playable.
Combat bugs: Now, despite my paragraph above, there are some combat bugs that are being addressed in the patch, and should be taken care of soon. Air Superiority missions are broken, they do not work. Privateers have an attack value of one (not two like it says in the manual) and are not worth the effort. Coastal Fortifications do not work as intended. However these items have been identified, and appear to be on target for the patch.
AI: Wow. The AI in the game is amazing. It plays differently every time, and I have never had as many interesting situations in a game as in this one. Alliances will be forged, deals broken, backs stabbed, and all with an uncanny intelligence . I applaud the AI programmers. The only flaws are minor, and have been addressed ad nauseum. One is that the civs will colonize cities in the middle of your "territory" where they are almost guaranteed to be assimilated. Other than that it is great. One thing you will notice going through the forums is that some people feel that the AI is too aggressive, others that it is too passive. That gives you an idea of how varied it can be. Also, I have found that usually they will only be aggressive when they genuinely think they can gain. Very rarely does a smaller civilization attack you, unless they have first set up diplomatic channels, and have arranged a coalition against you. Very cool.
Assorted AI Comments:
* Computer Really attacks resources
* Finds your weakness
* Uses combined arms effectively
* Breaks front lines very well
* Uses terrain defense and high-movement units with scary effectiveness.
* Does not use artillery very much at all
* Is very expansionist, plays the early game shockingly well. This is the single most thing that makes the game harder.
* Does not feint or use suicide troops, but does effectively retreat as soon as the battle looks bad, and gets damaged units off the front lines.
* Effectively utilizes obsolete units in combat in a smart way.
Strategic Resources and Luxuries: This works so well, and is a welcome addition. I love the fact that your whole strategic plan can change overnight, because you woke up one morning and realized you have no access to Saltpeter. Or you are doing great ignoring everyone else, and then have to start trading or invade to get a resource. Adds a whole extra layer that adds complexity and depth. Plus, I love the fact that you only need one resource of each type and can trade the rest away. Simplicity in appearance, but lends itself to complex interactions. I also like how this makes your civ's infrastructure so much more important. You have to have links between your cities, and you have to protect those links in war. Also allows for great new strategies when attacking other civs, cut them off from their resources, and they are crippled. Very nice.
Trading system and diplomacy: Many have complained that the trading system seems a little out of balance, and I would have to agree somewhat. You will have civs asking for the world, and getting pissed off when they don't get it. However, I have noticed that this changes depending on the situation. Always renegotiate their offers, as you will nearly always get a better deal. Also, if you have them on the ropes, they will often give you everything they have. A little tweaking here would be nice. The complexity of the trading system is great, and I like the many different options, however I do miss being able to make a vassal (swear to always serve me) like in SMAC, although this may not be realistic in a historical environment. There have been vassal states, but not that last for thousands of years. I also wish I could broker peace deals between computer players. Other than that it is great.
Gameplay: What can I say, it is Electronic Crack. I have done nothing but eat, sleep, work and play civ for a week and a half. My wife is very accommodating, but I can tell she is getting frustrated. It is fun and addictive. I like that early units seem to be much more effective for a lot longer, no more is the early game mostly a rush for later units. You will be forced at some point to fight an effective war with middle age units. Then usually you will also have to fight one with industrial units, and modern units. I like that each age last for a good amount of time.
Units: Love the unique units for civs, and the way that they help you play a little differently depending on who you are. Also, I love the changes made to bombarding units (bombers, cannons, artillery etc). You no longer can use these to destroy units, but they have to be used in support of ground and naval units. Makes the whole combined aspect much better. In previous CIV II and SMAC, I would usually build air units before any one else, and then use them almost exclusively to attack the enemy, since they couldn't effectively fight back. Now I have to use a combined approach, I can soften then up hugely, but I still need ground forces to move in. Very nice.
Corruption: Kind of mixed on this one. I like the fact that it limits you in how large your empire can get, but I do feel that it overly punishes you when you have those distant cities. I can be a democracy, with all the right city advances (court house etc) and my city with a potential 50 shields only has one! This seems a little extreme, and makes it hard to set up colonies on distant islands. I think this should probably be toned down a little, so that corruption is still stifling, but that with the right city set up and government, you can at least get 25% production. One big plus this does give you though is that usually at end game there are still a number of large civs you are competing against. Makes the entire game a lot of fun. Under the previous games, usually by the end I was the largest empire around, and generally there was one other large civ, and a few piddling ones. Now it seems that there are usually 4 other big civs, and makes the end game much more fun.
Culture: Very well implemented. It is a nice abstraction of a complex idea, and adds a new dimension to the game.
Victory Choices. While I appreciate the extra choices, some of them are more fun than others. Domination is great, Culture is great and Space Race is great. The Diplomatic victory (being voted supreme leader in UN), is kind of anticlimactic. At least in SMAC, when you tried this, if you failed (didn't have 3/4 of the vote) you could keep playing and try again. However in CIV III it is all over as soon as you decide to have a vote. Whoever gets the most votes wins, and the game is over. It seemed like in SMAC that it was an ongoing process, trying to get the number of votes you needed, and trying every now and then, failing, then building support again. Seemed like a valid and interesting process. However now it is all over in one turn and you either win or lose. Not much fun, and very anticlimactic.
Assorted Minor Likes:
- Random number seed. Damn, I can't save before combat and then run the combat as many times as I like until I get a satisfactory result! I love it!!! Kills one of my favorite cheats, but all for the better.
- Unit animations, look great, actually enjoyable to watch. Very satisfying watching a panzer blow its top!! I know on some slower systems it has caused problems, but on my 800 Mhz Athlon, no problems at all. Hear it might have more to do with video card issues, so hopefully a patch for those that have the problem.
- Wonders: I like the changes that have been made. They make the very powerful wonders in CIV II much more balanced. Also, there are some that seem kind of useless (Shakespear's Theater?) but when you take into account their cultural effects, they are very useful.
Assorted Minor Don't Cares:
- Wonder Movies, not there any more, but glad they spent the time on gameplay and AI. I liked them usually the first time around, then turned them off.
- Multiplayer. Never had the time to find people to play on a regular schedule, although play by email would have been nice. But hey, the single player game is my meat and potatos. Hope they get it for those that want it, but I am happy.
Assorted minor annoyances:
- Can't stand that cruise missiles are unable to be loaded on any type of boat. Can't even load them on a transport. If you build them on one continent they have to stay on that continent.
- No longer have the CNTRL/ALT/G command like in SMAC to see the workable squares around the cities. This is a huge help when you are planning your city locations, and I miss it.
- Some commands can only be accessed by using keyboard shortcuts. While I usually use these exclusively by the time I am experienced with a game, I like to be able to access commands from menus or screens until I get to that point. Some examples are the governor's screen ("G" from the city screen) and special orders for automating workers. At least we should at least have a small menu or button somewhere.
- Lack of useful scenario editor: should be fixed soon in patch, but I want it now!!! (of course
).
- If you click and drag a settler to move to create a new city, the outline of the new city's production radius does not appear unless the settler is outside the city. If he is still in a city the radius does not appear.
- "Produce Wealth" either does not produce as much trade as it should, or it is not reflected on the city screen's resource bars properly.
Conclusion: If you can't tell already I am very very happy. This is the game I have been waiting for. Most of the annoying issues I can live with, and most of the bugs have been well documented and will be fixed. The balance issues so many complain about have not been an issue for me, and I hope that Firaxis doesn't change the combat system. The game is as addictive as any Civ game before it, and finally we have a worthy successor. I loved Civ, loved Civ II even more, loved SMAC even more, hated CTP, and am now in love all over again. Great job Firaxis!!!
