REVIEW CiV2!!

[MarkG]

While we have lots of sites we several reviews on AL&PD, the actual games have very few!

come on, show the world the greatness of our games

Civilization II Gold(Mac)

[MacUser]

Okay, so I went to post my review and received an error that it was too long; I'm rather long-winded about Civ ! So what is the max length? 1000 characters? Do spaces and paragraph breaks count? I guess I'll run it through Word and count characters.

One more thing, if you can update the list price to $ 19.99 (US) I can whack a sentence or two!

Edit - Word indicates that my review contains 2264 characters including spaces! Perhapes some judicious pruning is in order!!

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"And now for something completely different..."
- John Cleese
[This message has been edited by MacUser (edited August 05, 2000).]

[MacUser]

Here is the unedited long-winded version; the edit will be posted on the AL&PD :

Civ II MPG is a WONDERFUL game! The depth and complexity of the game and the endless twists that the multi-player games allow, ensure that this game will be replayed countless times. As a parent, I especially like the way it demonstrates how technological discoveries build on each other throughout history. Additionally, it's nice to have a game where winning can involve peaceful, diplomatic solutions rather than mindless "point and shoot". Speaking of the warfare aspect, even this if far more involved than other games. Warfare in Civ requires planning, strategy and reallocating civilization resources, which force choices about research, citizen approval and government type! Name ANY other game with the shear scope of Civilization II MPG! (Okay, Civ II original, but you miss-out on meeting cooks, chocolate lovers and ferret owners from around the world!! )

One feature of MPG that no one talks about is the Hot Seat Game option. Hot Seat allows multiple people (up to seven) to play against each other on the same computer. This is basically a multi-player game without the diplomatic chat options; admittedly a real downside. However, not everyone has a home network or Internet access, and this is a good alternative. Plus, after about a year of pleading, you MIGHT convince your wife or partner to play with you!

Now, "Smash's" review does bring up some issues that do drop the rating a bit. There are a lot of "cheats" and unbalancing aspects of the game that degrade the game play. Numerous contributors to the ACS Forums have discussed issues such as city bribing, the hostile AI when playing a scenario originally created for the PC Fantastic Worlds Civ II add-on, and tricks involving ships, caravans and unconventional building, to name a few. These "cheats" must always be addressed before starting MP games, and all detract from the game for more experienced players. However, none of this really bothers me too much and I still rave about this game to everyone I know!

One last comment: the price for Civ II MPG for Mac listed in the above heading is no longer correct. The links to Amazon and to MacSoft list the price at $19.99 (US) and it can be found on sale at local computer stores and occasionally from online/mail order stores.

edit - This was REALLY hard to cut to less than 1000 characters!!
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"And now for something completely different..."
- John Cleese
[This message has been edited by MacUser (edited August 29, 2000).]