Lookin’ Back #2 – Civilization

Welcome to another edition of Lookin’ Back, in which we take a trip through the swamps of gaming history to unearth some true gems.

I love strategy games.  And the first strategy game I remember playing (and, indeed, the first PC game I ever played, not counting Minesweeper) was a game called Sid Meier’s Civilization.  I got it for a couple of pounds from a car boot sale, not having any clue what it was.  I just liked the box art.  It came on a set of floppy discs (remember those?) and I was hooked instantly.  It was a simple looking game made in a simple time.

For those of you who may not have heard of Civilization (and I’m glad you came out from under that rock to read this) it is a turn based strategy game created by Sid Meier in which you control a, well, civilization, from it’s founding right up until the present day.  You can win the game in a variety of ways, some which have been added over the lifetime of the series.  You can win by eliminating all other civilizations, making a space shuttle in order to visit Alpha Centauri, having your cultural influence spread across the whole world and other ways.

Civilization II was released in 1996, 5 years after the original.  It changed from the top down perspective of the first game for a more isometric view.  Also, the game contained a series of advisors known as the ‘High Council’ who would tell you what they think you should do to improve your civilization. They were presented in a little videos of actors, who were dressed differently according to what they were advising on and what era you’d reached with your research.  They were a bit cheesy but hilarious.  Especially the Attitude advisor, who was an Elvis impersonator.

In 1999, there was a spin-off of Civilization, based on the ‘space race’ aspect of the games.  The game was Alpha Centauri (or, as I like to refer to it, ‘Civ in Space’) and was essentially a re-skinned Civ II, with a few game play changes, set on another planet.  It wasn’t as well received as the original series, but I certainly had a lot of fun playing the game.  Interestingly, the same year ‘Civilization II : Test of Time’ was released with updated graphics and the ability to carry on playing on an alien world after completing the space shuttle.

5 years on from the original release of Civ II, Civ III came out, and had evolved a huge amount in terms of strategy and the actual game mechanics.  Some of these included the removal of certain units, such as the caravans and diplomats, in exchange for new systems.  Also, there was the ability to upgrade units to make them more resilient and powerful, as well as the ability to group units together to form an army, an idea first tried out in Alpha Centauri.  I didn’t actually spend much time with this game, admittedly.  It had lost some of the charm from Civ II, I felt.  Kind of became a bit bogged down with too many menus and decisions.

Civilization IV then came out in 2005.  I only got the game through Steam a couple of weeks ago and haven’t had much chance to play it.  However, I did enjoy the new idea of getting rid of the ‘governments’ of the previous games and replacing it with a set of ’civics’ involving different issues, such as the type of economic system or labour system you want to have.

Finally, I want to talk about the recent console iteration, Civilization Revolution.  This is the first Civ game since the original that Sid Meier has been directly involved with producing since the original.  It was a kind of simplified Civ IV and had well planned out controls, quicker gameplay and a series of gibberish talking advisors who bumbled onto the screen quite regularly to keep you updated and tell you what they think will improve your nation.  I loved the fact that it had the charm that had been missing since Civ III.

So, there you have it.  The Civilization series, possibly the best turn based strategy series of all time in my opinion.  There is a lot more that I could have written about, but you could write a novel about the Civ series really.  In fact, I think I might play it right now…

Got an opinion on this or any other article on Brutal Gamer? Want to talk about your favourite topics in the world of gaming? Or maybe you want to exchange fish pie recipes or something like that. You can do all of these things over at the Brutal Gamer Forums. Why not sign up today? Or tomorrow if you don’t have time.

No related posts.