Civilisation II (By Jubal)

[Jubal]

Civilisation II Multiplayer

Game Type: Abandonware
Genre: Where it fits: Strategy

Link: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2/

Graphics rating:
Gameplay rating:
Immersion rating:
Overall rating:

Civilisation II must, to my mind, be considered a classic of strategy gaming. This does not necessarily equate to playability, of course, but its features and AI are still impressive to this day given it was released in 1996. It was the first strat game I ever owned, and thus perhaps has a particularly memorable quality for me, but nevertheless I feel it is worth playing.

The key feature of the Civilisation series compared to other games in the genre is the ability to take a civilisation from the very early stone age through to the space race, and Civ II is a very nice system in which to play out this ongoing conflict. Unlike more modern engines the strategic element is entirely to the fore and graphics are entirely sidelined; it's not pretty, but it's certainly war. The possibility of deadlocks despite aggressive, powerful gameplay is important, and further to that the influence of governmental styles is not something that many strategy games use to its full potential. Republics and democracies can consistently hamper your decisions as premier, whereas monarchies and dictatorships frequently lead to chokingly slow economies. The gameplay is certainly the high point; there is little if anything to be said for the graphics, and the fact that all civilisations share their entire tech tree makes it difficult to give it a particularly high immersion rating. Nevertheless the gameplay is often difficult, tactical, and requires a great deal of thought; furthermore the multiplayer modes are excellent, particularly the unusual ability to play hot-seat (which is distinctly missing from, say, the Total War series).

There are improvements that can be made on the Civ II engine, and I would recommend using these for a more tactical gameplay experience. In particular Civ II Extended, a memory patch that means mountains and swamps can be made impassable, is of note as it can make the game vastly more tactical. My own mod, [url-=http://www.exilian.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2334]War of Realms[/url], can also be useful for those who want longer and more tactical games, as it chokes the tech tree off at late medieval & early modern armies; combined with CII Extended this can lead for very interesting, tactical, and protracted battles.

There are certainly plenty of reasons not to play Civ II: its age, the lack of graphical interest, and the bland similarity of factions are probably the most prominent. Nevertheless it has significant merit for tactical, almost chess-like, gameplay, and for its interesting governmental and building systems - and therefore rates as a solid three, very much worth the time taken on a campaign.