- Quick specs
- Price: $49.99
- Operating system: Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: November 28, 2005
- See full specifications
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- CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars
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Average user rating:
3.0 stars
out of 30 reviews
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CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
Sid Meier's Civilization franchise is considered one of the greatest computer strategy games of all time, and the fourth iteration in the series aims to take the gameplay even further with improved graphics, more accurate combat-unit "strength," seven religions, and new diplomatic options. The demo offers a tutorial featuring a cartoon Sid Meier himself, and a 100-turn game as the Incans, Greeks, Romans, or Indians. While the tutorial is solid and the provided map is large enough to be interesting, some frame lag in combat sequences and nasty behavior after finishing your game keep the demo for the prestigious strategy game from earning a top rating.
If you're never played the Civilization games, the tutorial is a worthwhile venture, but if you're familiar with the gameplay, we recommend skipping it. It only covers the basics instead of just the new features, and the allure of cartoon Sid quickly fades. The real meat is in the demo game, where you choose between Huayna Capac, Alexander, Julius Caesar, or Gandhi in a four-way royal rumble. You'll be able to build cities, create military and worker units, establish trade routes, and pursue war against any or all of the competing civilizations.
Once you get the 300 MB file onto your PC, the installation is simple and fast. We were up and playing in less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately, completing a game isn't nearly as pleasant. With no recap or status update, the demo kicks you back to Windows after your 100-turn game or tutorial, then spawns a brief advertisement and opens your default browser to the 2K Games site. Since most units and buildings take numerous turns to produce, a 100-turn game is short enough that the demo should allow you to play it repeatedly, without having to restart the application or visit any Web sites without warning.
Publisher's description
(From 2K Games ):Sid Meier and Firaxis Games take the fun and addictive game of Civilization to new heights by adding new ways to play a win, new tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy-to-use mod capabilities, and intense multiplayer modes and options. Civilization IV comes to life as never before in a beautifully detailed 3D world that elevates the gameplay experience to a whole new level.
This demo for Civilization IV includes a tutorial and a 100-turn game where you can play as the Greek, Roman, Incan, or Indian nations.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.3 stars out of 30 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 23 user reviewsSee all 23 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
7 out of 16 people found this review helpful
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros: Love it, Love it, Love it! Excellent gameplay and addicting game. Changes everytime you play it!
Cons: Windows 2000/XP, 1.2GHz CPU, 256MB RAM
512MB RAM for XP! To much RAM
Poor design on memory use!
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: Civilization IV demo
"Buy only if you haven't played the series before."
Pros: Ok, it has afew minor new features, but possibly the 2 greatest improvements are computer IQ and early city development. After 1, 2,3 Civ, AC Civ etc, the major loopholes in military gameplay have been essentially closed. Also slightly better playing steamlining.
If you haven't played the series to date, then it's worth buying. It will give you weeks or more likely months of playtime.
Cons: I must say that some of the hyped up new features are more gimmick than substance. After playing the other Civ series games, I find that there isn't enough original development and substancially make this better and justify the expense of Civ 4 + expansions. And you need the expansions to make this a proper game. Civ 4 on it's own is really just 1/2 a game.
For those of us who played multiple prior Civ series games before, there isn't enough in this new version to hold our interest. It just gets too tiring to do it all again. (essentially, not enough original content & development).
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10 out of 11 people found this review helpful
Version: Civilization IV demo
"Make sure you've got the recommended system!"
Pros: The game has been improved. You can automate workers in several different ways, which is a nice improvement, and the graphics look like they'd be great if my system could handle them. Animated leaders and Sid Meier in the tutorial were just teeth and eyes. But the maps are much more detailed, and there are improvements in governing features and city improvements too. It's quite an update.
Cons: This game is going to hog your memory and bog down your computer if you don't have some serious computing power. My 2.1 ghz with 640 megs of memory couldn't handle it. It's a much updated game, so even hardened Civ fans will need the tutorial.
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Version: Civilization IV demo
"Wonderful addition to the Civ family!"
Pros: I have played all four cultures in the demo, six ways to Sunday and my computer has not even blinked. I have an AMD Duron processor, 528 ram, nvidia Geforce4 graphics card. I barely meet the low end of the passable reqs for the program. When it starts it does say I will have problems but so far with the demo I have had none.
I look forward to getting the full version and being able to go beyond 100 turns.
Additional pros include animated livestock, there is nothing cuter than cavorting sheep....;). All in all the interface and the feel is more freindly to this female player.
Cons: I would have liked the demo to have had a female leader available so I could see if that impacts the gameplay any, but otherwise it was a really nice experience.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Civilization IV demo
"Better than all prior Civ versions."
Pros: You can decide on what type of game you want, short, long, mega long ;) Pretty much all around great game play.
Cons: Sometimes takes up too much memory. Make sure you have a good graphics card and plenty of memory when playing this game.
- See all 23 user reviews Write review
