Genre: Strategy / tactics
Perspective: Top-down
Visual: Isometric
Gameplay: 4X, Managerial / business simulation, Turn-based strategy
Pacing: Turn-based
Interface: Multiple units / characters control
Published by: MicroProse Software
Developed by: MPS Labs
Released: 1991
Platforms: DOS, Super Nintendo (SNES)
Without exaggeration, the legend of the game world, the turn-based strategy Civilization will give you the opportunity to try out the role of the leader of one of the fourteen nations and try to unite the whole world under your wise leadership. It all starts simply - four thousand years before our era, having only one detachment of colonists, you must choose a suitable place for the foundation of the capital and begin a general expansion. However, to get any chance of success, there are many factors to consider.
So what makes Civilization's gameplay fun and addictive? The components of success are simple, but executed with high quality and with love. As already mentioned, the main task of the colonists is to create cities, but they can also reclaim the surrounding lands, lay roads (and later - a railroad bed, allowing troops to move at maximum speed), develop coal and gold deposits, transform the landscape (“ I don't like that hill! Dig it and plant wheat ... "). Your combat units are able not only to attack the enemy, but also to sit down in anticipation, dig in a suitable place, settle in the city (which, by the way, with a certain state structure will allow you to “calm down” disgruntled residents, if there are any), take up the defense in a prepared forte, after all. The military units themselves are subdivided into land, sea and air. And then you have to act according to all the rules: no matter how much you bomb the city with aircraft, you still have to capture it with infantry. If the flimsy galley moves too far from the shore, you risk losing it in the boundless blue of the ocean. The plane may run out of fuel at the most crucial moment ... But before all this we still have to live - do not forget, we are starting to play in ancient times, when the most terrible weapon was considered to be bows in the hands of the local police, which we will have to control at the start ... Here scientific research comes to the rescue. Your scientists offer you to choose the discovery that is of the highest priority at the moment, and then begin to work in the right direction. Some technologies entail the opportunity to engage in others, so you can adjust the entire state solely to your own preferences. So, from the very beginning, you can advance in the military industries, studying the processing of bronze (for the production of phalanxes), iron (which will make it possible to convene legions), gradually move on to mathematics (catapults), gunpowder (arrows), cars (tanks) ... On the other hand , someone will wish to pay attention to peaceful directions, giving their subordinates the joy of using writing, the alphabet, studying the features of navigation and trade, inventing money. For each accomplished scientific breakthrough, be it the development of the concepts of the republic or the study of nuclear reactions, a relatively detailed historical background is presented, which makes the game also cognitive to some extent. Ultimately, the most technologically advanced players can win by building a space expedition first and sending their pioneers to another star system. So the path of destruction is not always the only correct one.
In order to make it easier and more interesting to develop, there is also a certain interaction with other civilizations. It is enough to send your diplomat to a meeting with the leader of some people - and you will have the opportunity to personally talk with him about the future fate of the world and even make some demands, such as: to provide assistance in hostilities, jointly destroying opponents, to solicit scientific developments , to which your scientists have not yet thought of, to demand a tribute for peaceful coexistence ... Your arguments were not convincing enough? Well, no problem - send the same diplomat to organize a riot in one of the cities of the failed partner or to arrange industrial sabotage.
From time to time, satisfied townspeople offer you to improve the palace in the capital by building additional towers, paving the road with cobblestones or hoisting a flag on its very top. This procedure is purely cosmetic, but it will help you feel your own power and bathe in the glory. And in order for such signs of goodwill on the part of the wards to happen more often, do not forget to keep up with the times, change the state system to a more democratic one (we start with despotism) and erect temples, libraries, stadiums and other cultural and entertainment establishments in cities. ... Although, of course, there is also a choice - what to build first? A barracks for storing large supplies of food or a barracks for better training of troops? Damn Aztecs with their chariots do not give rest to the militia, but people also complain that the food is coming to an end ...
What makes Civilization even more interesting is its fairly advanced computer opponent. You will be allowed to play simultaneously with seven opponents, and, you can believe, at high difficulty levels, these guys will not let you get bored! Therefore, if you want to see yourself in the list of outstanding historical figures when summing up the results, you will have to act quickly and decisively. By the way, numerous graphs comparing the achievements of your civilization with the level of development of your neighbors will help you track your own progress during the game. Sometimes the game also provides something like a rating that puts your people in a certain place in comparison with others, which also makes it easier to assess current successes.
Naturally, it would take more than one page of printed text to describe all the features of this great creation, but Civilization is much more interesting to play on your own than to listen to someone else's opinion. Be sure to try it if you are not already familiar with this piece by Sid Meier. This game is worth it.