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Mad as Hell and Not going to Take it Anymore!
You know, I think I've been had. I seem to have bought a graphical update of Civilization I. Phallanx vs. Battleship (or modern armor in this case) and all.
I finally played this game that I got last year and came to the realization that Firaxis is a bunch of charlatans. Sid lost his touch and the fact that Brian Reynolds was not part of the project shows, BIG TIME. The total lack of insight and creativity is blatantly obvious.
It's unmistakeable... there are tread marks on the cover. This game was rushed no doubt about it. What do we get to date? Piecemeal patches and not even one damned apology about the grand promises that were made and not kept.
As I leaf through my CD Case I can count about nine or ten Civilization-style games and their clones. Civilization II is probably the most robust and replayable games among the whole lot. I have followed the creation of Civ 3 pretty closely and was initially excited when it came out. Then I realized that it had been hurried out the door by Firaxis. I will explain just what we (the civilization fans) are missing.
Firstly, Civilization III is not created within a new engine. It is a highly modified Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri engine. SMAC had both multiplayer and scenarios to keep the game entertaining after the first one or two plays through. Civ III has neither. I can only wonder how both features got "lost" and where they are sitting in the Firaxis studio.
Now I'm not going to give conjectures about how Firaxis and Infogrames may be planning to have the consumer pay $50 for these features in an expansion down the line. The game studio makes off like a bandit in that case, they can drop features to rush the game out faster and have consumers fork over the cash later.
I won't even get started on how the "wonder movies" are basically a pseudonym for "insert movie here."
But anyway. Civilization III is a fair dissapointment even in the gameplay department. I look at games like Call to Power 2 and SMAC, both of which really pushed the threshold in turned based strategy, and I realize that Civ3 is simply a rehash of old material.
Why I bet with a couple of graphics tune-ups and renaming, you could relase a mod-pack for Civilization II and call it Civ 3.
I'll admit that Civ3 represents the series well, and might even be fun to play, but one might as well get Civilization II for $30 less. The only major difference is one less way to win and a few graphical changes. Plus with civ2 you get a ploethera of scenarios and multiplayer options to enhance your civilization experience. It's still the same game, people!
All of this high-praise for Civilization III might as well be praise for the genre in general. It's recycled gameplay. Nothing more. It's just in a new skin with a number of (important) features missing for the sake of corporate cash cow milking. SMAC and CTP2 raised the bar, Civ3 just points at the bar while laughing all the way to the bank.
Anybody who is thinking of buying this game, I recommend you save your money and do one of two things:
1) Buy Civilization II. It's the same game, with older graphics but with multiplayer and scenarios. Replayability factor is about a million fold greater.
2) Wait for Infogrames/Firaxis (tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum) to release the "Civilization III Gold Edition" which will no doubt give you the privelege of shelling out $50 for Civ3 with the features it sliced for a Christmas season shipping date.
And for those who think Civ3 is a good game as it stands: YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING. BUY CIV2.
Those of you who already bought Civ3 and still give it high praise after this post, don't bother giving Firaxis piecmeal praise and half-hearted demands. They're obviously not listening.
Just stop dilluding yourselves. Realize that Firaxis/Infogrames have taken your money and will take it again with the expansion. You have still yet to buy the game. Stop acting like you actually have it.
Stop praising the Beta. Wait for the real game. Get some sun in the mean time.
I finally played this game that I got last year and came to the realization that Firaxis is a bunch of charlatans. Sid lost his touch and the fact that Brian Reynolds was not part of the project shows, BIG TIME. The total lack of insight and creativity is blatantly obvious.
It's unmistakeable... there are tread marks on the cover. This game was rushed no doubt about it. What do we get to date? Piecemeal patches and not even one damned apology about the grand promises that were made and not kept.
As I leaf through my CD Case I can count about nine or ten Civilization-style games and their clones. Civilization II is probably the most robust and replayable games among the whole lot. I have followed the creation of Civ 3 pretty closely and was initially excited when it came out. Then I realized that it had been hurried out the door by Firaxis. I will explain just what we (the civilization fans) are missing.
Firstly, Civilization III is not created within a new engine. It is a highly modified Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri engine. SMAC had both multiplayer and scenarios to keep the game entertaining after the first one or two plays through. Civ III has neither. I can only wonder how both features got "lost" and where they are sitting in the Firaxis studio.
Now I'm not going to give conjectures about how Firaxis and Infogrames may be planning to have the consumer pay $50 for these features in an expansion down the line. The game studio makes off like a bandit in that case, they can drop features to rush the game out faster and have consumers fork over the cash later.
I won't even get started on how the "wonder movies" are basically a pseudonym for "insert movie here."
But anyway. Civilization III is a fair dissapointment even in the gameplay department. I look at games like Call to Power 2 and SMAC, both of which really pushed the threshold in turned based strategy, and I realize that Civ3 is simply a rehash of old material.
Why I bet with a couple of graphics tune-ups and renaming, you could relase a mod-pack for Civilization II and call it Civ 3.
I'll admit that Civ3 represents the series well, and might even be fun to play, but one might as well get Civilization II for $30 less. The only major difference is one less way to win and a few graphical changes. Plus with civ2 you get a ploethera of scenarios and multiplayer options to enhance your civilization experience. It's still the same game, people!
All of this high-praise for Civilization III might as well be praise for the genre in general. It's recycled gameplay. Nothing more. It's just in a new skin with a number of (important) features missing for the sake of corporate cash cow milking. SMAC and CTP2 raised the bar, Civ3 just points at the bar while laughing all the way to the bank.
Anybody who is thinking of buying this game, I recommend you save your money and do one of two things:
1) Buy Civilization II. It's the same game, with older graphics but with multiplayer and scenarios. Replayability factor is about a million fold greater.
2) Wait for Infogrames/Firaxis (tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum) to release the "Civilization III Gold Edition" which will no doubt give you the privelege of shelling out $50 for Civ3 with the features it sliced for a Christmas season shipping date.
And for those who think Civ3 is a good game as it stands: YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING. BUY CIV2.
Those of you who already bought Civ3 and still give it high praise after this post, don't bother giving Firaxis piecmeal praise and half-hearted demands. They're obviously not listening.
Just stop dilluding yourselves. Realize that Firaxis/Infogrames have taken your money and will take it again with the expansion. You have still yet to buy the game. Stop acting like you actually have it.
Stop praising the Beta. Wait for the real game. Get some sun in the mean time.
Also the lack of real borders in Civ 2 used to drive me crazy, not to mention the constant micromanaging of the build queues, especially towards the endgame. 
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