Civilization III Review

Civilization and Civilization II are two of the most memorable games in the annals of computer gaming.  Now Civilization III enters the scene, bringing with it numerous changes to the gameplay of its predecessors.  How does it stack up against its noble forefathers?

For those new to the series, Civilization III is a turn-based strategy game which places the player in charge of an entire civilization from the dawn of time until the dawn of interstellar space travel.  Starting with a few settlers, the player must found cities, expand his/her borders, and advance his/her civilization's technology far enough to leave the cradle of the Earth.  This must all be done while simultaneously keeping the population happy and well-fed and fending off rival civilizations.

Civilization III offers several changes to gameplay that will add a twist to the game for veteran Civilization players.  The first of these is the concept of culture.  Each city generates culture for a civilization based on the size and age of the city and the cultural improvements it possesses.  As a civilization's culture increases, its borders expand outwardly, increasing its territory.  Weaker foreign cities bordering a culturally strong civilization can even be overwhelmed by the stronger culture, causing them to happily join the foreign power.

Also new are minor wonders.  These function the same as wonders in that they take a great effort to build and provide a bonus benefit to the owning civilization.  However, minor wonders are not restricted to a single civilization.

Resources are no longer static spots on the map that give the player a bonus shield or two of production.  They are now vital, tradable commodities which come in two forms: luxury and strategic.  Luxury goods serve to keep your population happy - the greater the quantity and variety of goods, the happier your people become.  Strategic goods are vital to the production of certain units or improvements.  For example, without access to iron and coal, your civilization will not be able to construct railroads.  As your civilization's technology advances, you'll discover new resources on the map (Ancient Egyptians did not have much use for coal).  

Civilization III has also made some changes to the game's military aspect.  First of all, units are no longer based out of a single city, but instead draw their upkeep from the civilization's treasury.  You can now move your garrisons to the part of the empire where they are needed most without worrying about them being far from their home city or bankrupting your frontier cities with their upkeep.  Each civilization also has a unique unit available to it, such as the Jaguar Warrior of the Aztecs and the Musketeer of the French.  Civilization III also introduces leaders, which can arise from units after combat.  These leaders can create armies, which are essentially stacked military units which act as one in terms of firepower and defense.  

Finally, Civilization III has overhauled the game's diplomatic interface.  Complicated negotiations and trade agreements can be worked out using a simple interface allowing the player to see what both civilizations have available to put on the table.  A lot of the guesswork has been removed from trade proposal thanks to the advice of an advisor who will let you know a deal's chances of acceptance.  Diplomat and spy units have been removed from the game - their function has been integrated into embassies and spy centers which require gold to perform acts of espionage.

Civilization III inherits the same engrossing gameplay of its predecessors.  You'll often find yourself staying up far too late at night as you continually tell yourself that you'll go to bed after just one more turn or after you've reached just one more technological advance.  Civilization III has also finely honed the game's interface, making it intuitive and easy to use.  Many features can be accessed multiple ways and right-click shortcut menus abound.  The in-game 'Civlopedia' help file is extensively hyperlinked within both the game and itself, providing the player with a wealth of information at his/her fingertips.

Unfortunately, in spite of all of its strengths, Civilization III does have its share of problems.  The first of these is the game's AI.  The differences between the civilizations virtually disappear when under computer control - each plays as essentially the same opponent.  Also, while the game is very hard to beat at the higher levels, it is due more to bonuses provided to the computer opponents than to strategically superior opponents.  Even at the the higher difficulty levels, the computer inexplicitly shuffles units back and forth without any apparent strategic reason for doing so.

Civilization III's modeling of corruption also negatively impacts the game's enjoyment.  Cities far from the capital lose part of the production, food, and gold they generate to corruption.  These losses can be amazingly high and can completely cripple your outlying cities.  While there are some city improvements that can be built to reduce this corruption, they only have a very minor impact on the problem.

It is also difficult to sustain a war in the game.  Even if your civilization has been blatantly attacked, it is very hard to gain any support for a war from your populace.  In one game, a mere three unit force accompanied by a two ship naval support force responding to an attack caused over 50% of my cities to fall into civil disorder.  It took many turns to bring things back under control and required the disbanding of most of my military.  Granted, some forms of government in the game make it easier to conduct war, but the penalties for war are far too high - especially when it does not appear that the computer controlled players suffer to the same degree.

Finally, Civilization III suffers from the same problem that plagued the first two games.  As you approach the end game, turns can begin to grow long and tedious.  The number of new improvements available diminishes as the game progresses, so you'll spend many turns doing little other than making sure your cities aren't slipping into disorder while waiting around for the next tech advance.  This waiting is made harder to bear by the fact that the computer turns run increasingly longer and you are forced to watch your opponents shuffle units back and forth around your borders.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 88%. At its best, Civilization III is addicting and enjoyable.  Unfortunately, it suffers from some play balancing , AI, and occasional stability issues which bar it from realizing its full potential.

System Requirements:  300 MHz Pentium II CPU; 32 MB RAM; 4 MB Video RAM; 4x CD-ROM; 500 MB Hard Drive Space; Mouse.

Final Rating: 88% -

Note: A review code for this game was provided by the publisher.