Civ IV IGN Review..

cianr

Hmmm I think Im gong to definately get this game - Ive been reading lots of reviews and it looks very good, very deep . . .

There's some good info on http://www.civfanatics.com for anyone thats interested!

Goodshape

Got my hands on this today. First thoughts : Damn.


There goes my life







It's Really Really Good.

Woden

played it for a wee bit a few days ago. first thoughts where i'm not really seeing the difference from civ3 atm but perhaps i need to give it more time

data

The Clown Man

Is it in the shops?

Do GAME stock it yet?

I want this game so bad. I'm still playing Civ3.

Best games in the world. I was hooked from Civ1.

RE*AC*TOR

Been playing this for the last week or so. Its obscenely addictive. Its like crack in game-form.

Haven't tried the multiplayer yet - though interestingly I don't think there's a CD key requirement - so I'm guessing anyone can play online....

vasch_ro

smiths in bray supposed to have it today, so they told me yestreday, popped in this morning no sign of it, got them them to ring smiths carrickmines, no joy, so they rang they head guy who told them it would definately be in today along with liberty city stories, so they will hopefully ring me with good news !!

For those of you who are Civ virgins, all i can say is that civ is distilled pure gaming, and must also warn you that it is very addictive!!

Woden

when i installed Civ4 it suggested a user name for me. this username was my the name i used in WoW suffice it to say this scared the crap out of me. how is it doing this?

RE*AC*TOR

is it your windows username?

Goodshape

Dataisgod wrote:

played it for a wee bit a few days ago. first thoughts where i'm not really seeing the difference from civ3 atm but perhaps i need to give it more time

obviously it's the same basic formula - but my first impression was that it's more of a change, in terms of graphics and interface (what hits you first), than the other two sequels had been on their predisesors.

The graphics really are lovely.. love zooming out to world view and then right down to see what's happening on the ground. Very fluid I thought.

Once I got into it a bit I obviously started noticing the other many improvments and additions. Diplomacy in particular has gotten a near-compleat facelift. It, and most other aspects of the game, now seem to make a lot more sense with a handy and intuitive + and - system (eg. "+2 We like that you traded with us // -2 We are disapointed that you declared war on our friends").

And religion makes a big difference; rival civs become "disapointed that you have fallen sway to a heathen religion" but, in contrast, adopting the religion of another civ (or converting them to yours) can be a handy way of getting in their good books.

And - as well as all that - it's still the same beautiful, addicitive game of Civilization we all know and love. Still haven't made it too far out of the middle ages (just discovered gunpowder) so I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any other changes.

Anyway, don't know what I'm doing writing this.. I've got worlds to conquer.


**edit**

when i installed Civ4 it suggested a user name for me. this username was my the name i used in WoW suffice it to say this scared the crap out of me. how is it doing this?

Is it the name you gave your computer? That's what came up for me... I liked the feature, although in my case it's not really a name I would game with.

Woden

hmm its my actual computers name but not my windows user name. suppose that explains it ta

bizmark

I just bought it and havent even played it yet ........but my god the intro and menu music is great

Thordon

I got this the other day, its pretty good but Im not getting the 'one more turn' addictivness mentioned in the thread. I do like these kinds of games, I loved MOO3 and Rome: TW. There just doesnt seem to be a lot to do, I get bored of micromanaging towns after they get a decent start, and then it just seems to be repetetively expanding, choosing new research every now and then, building troops/buildings and clicking next turn a lot.

One thing that annoys me is how it takes forever to get troops from where you built them to where they need to be, does this improve with later techs, or can you deploy troops from any town (like a mobilisation center in MOO3 for example).

Goodshape

You deploy your troops from the city you build them in, this doesn't change. However as you progress and build better infastructure (roads, then railroads, airports for airlifts, etc) you can move things about quicker, but it's always something you have to factor in. More advanced troops will also be able to move further in a single go (generally speaking anyway).

Gameplay can be a bit slow at times - it's definitly not an out and out war game.. but the 'one more turn' cliche relates to the fact that you could go to bed now, or you just build a few more of these riflemen and try and take over a city or two.. the repercussions of which could keep you there 'till the sun comes up.

I've never played Total War or MOO3 (I don't even know what that stands for tbh) but the original Civilization was one of the very first games I got for the PC and the series has a special place in my heart as a result. Although I don't seem to be alone in thinking they're fantastic games.

Moriarty

Master Of Orion 3. Space strategy type thang.

My copy is somewhere in the post atm, so I probably won't be seeing it for weeks what with the **** in the post office being on strike. Denying me my civ the bastards

Thordon

I've never played Total War or MOO3

If you enjoy Civ then I suggest you try them, they share a lot in common with Civ, both games have optional RTS elements too (moreso in TW), you can play them or let it auto determine the result like in Civ, for bigger battles I usually play through, or at least watch while the AI plays for me.

can move things about quicker, but it's always something you have to factor in

It just seems silly that even in 13500 BC it would take a unit of guys 40 years to move a few hundred miles, or in the modern age for a unit of infantry to move the same distance in any less than a week (by plane), never mind 5 years.

The Clown Man

Play the game in epic mode. Actually, I reckon it's the only way to play it. I found the normal speed to be too fast.

By the way, am I the only one to absolutely love the main menu's music? I've already resolved to burn it to an mp3 disk for my car. Lol it's class! I've been humming it away to myself since Friday!

ShiverinEskimo

God damn postal strikes - i started this thread in excitement and now i'm still waitin. Postman Pat is a bollox.

The Clown Man

I got mine in Newry.

Branoic

I got mine over the weekend - played about 8 hours so far. Its brilliant. Very addictive, like the civ games of yore. The graphics and sounds are great, and yes, the intro and menu music rock, although im reminded of the Lion King every time i hear it

ShiverinEskimo

The Clown Man wrote:

I got mine in Newry.

how much you pay?

The Clown Man

£29.99STG. Price suited me cause I got it right away and that was the main thing.

ShiverinEskimo

in hind sight i would probably have done that myself - still awaiting its delivery. and i just know its been in ireland for well over a week now just that Postman Padraig is acting the usual bollox.

matrim

I started my first game last night. The only problem I have is why did they need to have such high spec pc's to run it.
I'm using a laptop with a celeron 2.6, 512 ram and the intel 82845g integrated graphics (doesnt have hardware T & L).

I can get the game to run but have to play without the fog. Alot of people with this graphics or oldish ATI cards were having similar problems. It seems that the screen isn't centered so you cannot see the land. It you turn off the fog it works. Hopefully a patch will be released to fix it.

Other than that it seems good. Still have to get used to the new civics and religions, which both seem to be a good idea.
The great person and experience points \ special abilities, both seem pretty good aswell.

Overall it seems like a big improvement.

Goodshape

Yea, I had the 'black terrain' problem with my laptop aswell (Geforce 4 Go440). After downloadeding two 25mb+ driver updates from nvidia, which didn't work at all, I finally found the one I needed (a further 35mb) on the laptop manufacturers website which fixed the problem. Live and learn I suppose, and thank christ I've got broadband.

From what I read about the problem they seem to have let the graphics card handle the shading so as not too put even more pressure on the cpu. It would have been nice if they had put in a maximum compatibility option though.. graphics (although they are very nice, even with all settings to 'low' as I have them) are not exactly the most important thing in a Civ game.

Although it makes a welcome change when you can say that the only real critisisim of a game is that the graphics are actually too good

CyberGhost

Moriarty wrote:

Master Of Orion 3. Space strategy type thang.

My copy is somewhere in the post atm, so I probably won't be seeing it for weeks what with the **** in the post office being on strike. Denying me my civ the bastards

so that's why my CoD2 is delayed too damn son of a didlies.

ShiverinEskimo

Finally got this today and am just installing it now. 14 days later...

Thats how slow the bloody post is - i'lll talk to you all in about 10 years

tba

/me rocks to Spocks melodic voice...

Stayed up very late last night just 100 more turns, but is anybody else getting a stuttering on the FMV's?

Goodshape

tba wrote:

Stayed up very late last night just 100 more turns,

Heh.. so did I Started a new game.. kicking arse as the Mongolians atm

but is anybody else getting a stuttering on the FMV's?

Yea. I'm playing on my laptop though, so figured it was just due to lack of oomph.

Was on the offical site yesterday though.. there's a patch on the way aparently. Maybe that will fix it (and hopefully a few other non-game-threatening bugs I've come accross).

ShiverinEskimo

tba wrote:

but is anybody else getting a stuttering on the FMV's?

Yup, me and all. Otherwise tho - what a game. Lovin it.

madrab

yeah im currently running as the americans & being completely peaceful, not starting any wars & trying to be diplomatic to everyone, but it looks like the russians might not be keen on this