Gamespot Review: 9.2 / 10

[Simpleton]

Originally posted by WhiteElephants
New genre?!



I guess Candy Land doesn't count, eh? Chess? Yahtzee? Chutes and Ladders? Trouble? Monopoly? Need I go on?

Let me be more specific then. One of the first TBS computer games.

[Mike Breitkreutz FIRAXIS]

In response to some of these criticisms:

Originally posted by Comrade Tribune
"Some suspicious things go on during the computer's turns. Units shuffle back and forth pointlessly as if they were patrolling.

They are patrolling. That's what the AI does with its units when it doesn't have a specific task for them.

Originally posted by Comrade Tribune
Twenty workers will march all at once to irrigate a single square.

I don't know about 20 workers but the AI will definitely use multiple workers for terrain improvements. More workers on the job makes the job go faster. A 4-turn job done by four workers is finished in 1 turn.

Originally posted by Comrade Tribune
"Things such as aircraft, trade, and espionage are also streamlined--unfortunately, espionage is so streamlined that it seems tacked on as a poorly documented afterthought."

Although the espionage was not tacked on as an afterthought and has actually been implemented for over a year (one of my first tasks...), I feel that the interface to the missions is a bit unintuitive and not as readily accessible as many of the other screens in the game. We will hopefully address that issue in a patch.

[Alexander's Horse]

Already talk of patches

Originally posted by Mike Breitkreutz FIRAXIS
We will hopefully address that issue in a patch.

I wish they'd address the mulitplayer issue.

[Skanky Burns]

Re: Already talk of patches

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I wish they'd address the mulitplayer issue.

Your even sounding like Uber now!!

Units shuffle back and forth pointlessly as if they were patrolling.

They are patrolling. That's what the AI does with its units when it doesn't have a specific task for them.

Nice answer. Thanks for the info, Mike

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by Mike Breitkreutz FIRAXIS
Although the espionage was not tacked on as an afterthought and has actually been implemented for over a year (one of my first tasks...), I feel that the interface to the missions is a bit unintuitive and not as readily accessible as many of the other screens in the game. We will hopefully address that issue in a patch.

Fair enough; thanks for answering. As this is my personal pet issue:

Don´t you feel that the Espionage subgame, far from being expanded -say, like Trade or Diplomacy-, has been shrunk down to the bare minimum? And why have all the really nasty options been killed?