I love video games. I can play a game for hours. There is one however that scares me, Sid Meier’s “Civilization IV”. It’s the crack cocaine of video games. Hell, they even acknowledge it’s addictive properties. When you try to log off it reads “Do you really want to quit?” the answers are “Yes, quit.” and “Just… one… more… turn…”
I once spent thirteen hours playing it non-stop which, when I came to my senses, disturbed me so much I removed it and all other games off of my computer (including Warcraft!) I then mailed my copy of the game to my nephews, who live far, far away. They’re young and can afford to waste a few years on a game.
Like when I quit smoking I had to go “cold turkey” otherwise it just wouldn’t work. No one plays just a little CIV. That is probably why it won GameSpot Best of 2005 Award & Best Strategy game of 2005 award, IGN 2005 Stratedy Game of the Year Award, GameSpy 2005 Game of the Year Award and many, many more.
Later, a friend, Mark, reintroduced me to the game and I am learning to control my addiction, however I find I start more games than I finish. If you have played CIV III then you are familiar with the whole premise of the game. Create an empire, crush your enemies (or not) and become world ruler. The difference in this version is the 3D rendering and animation that makes the game much more visually interesting. Also you can “discover” religions, and spread their memes like a virus.
Personally I like the beginning of the game best. I enjoy the discovering of new territories and setting up the initial cities. As my technologies develop and far excel my competitors I rarely attack, opting instead for a spaceship victory or diplomatic victory.
A co-worker immediately attacks the nearest civilization and destroys it, and another builds a small cluster of cities and continually builds armies until he can destroy all enemies in one massive assault. So there are many strategies to winning which is part of what makes this game so great.
If you do the scenarios you need to be willing to fight. The Chinese unification scenario is particularly fun in my opinion. The scenarios limit the technologies you can develop, so for example you can’t have a tank. But as your technologies improve so do your units.
I now have the game installed on my computer at home, but I am able to resist it…by playing Super Mario Galaxy