Sid Meier's Civilization® III Complete

Does not crash, especially at the victory-screen. The game itself is an immersive experience. The graphics and UI are very easy to grasp - provides all the information without overwhelming the player. Great (but not perfect) mechanics, highly replayable, and a source for endless fun depending on the story of nations you weave in your head while micromanaging and strategising (for the greater good!).

As I can remember, AI during wars was cheating, making the wars pretty hard (almost impossible) to win.

this game is fun it is easy to play this game and it includes two expansion packs and you can use map editor for scenarios all you want. I have played this game on my windows 7 64 bit it runs ok no problem anything.

Civilization III is often regarded as the "black sheep" of the Civilization series, overshadowed by the games that followed after it. However, those who take the time to give this forgotten gem a try will discover that it truly "Stands the Test of Time". For Civilization fans like me, Civilization III introduced many important concepts that are now central to the series, such as the idea of buildings and wonders generating "Culture" that drives border expansion, or each civilization having unique traits and units as opposed to being merely copies of each other with only minor cosmetic differences. Beyond it's historical value, Civilization III appeals to all strategy fans by perfectly embodying the addictive "One More Turn" gameplay loop that Civilization is famous (or infamous) for. Cities are built and grow, technologies are researched, wars are fought, buildings built, and treaties made. It is incredibly gratifying to see your civilization grow into a mighty empire over time, either through peaceful settlement or though conquest, and trying to beat not only the AI, but also your own personal best. Speaking of, the AI in this game is generally fairly good, being able to pose a reasonable challenge without seeming like it's getting an unfair boost. However, I do have to knock a few points off of this review, mainly due to the game's age. The isometric graphics have not aged terribly well, and often look muddy and ugly by modern standards. The sound is passable, but certain effects and music can eventually become grating. Finally, certain gameplay features that became common in later Civilization games, such as religion and "Great People", are minimally present or outright missing, which can be jarring for people like me who cut their teeth on more modern entries in the series. However, such age-related issues are minor, and shouldn't stop both Civilization fanatics and strategy fans in general from picking up this wonderful, old-school 4X game.

Just adding one more vote for "best Civ" (not counting Alpha Centauri which is better than all Civ). I definitly prefer Civ III over II as it offers many comfort options an the much better graphics are not only pleasant to look at, but also make it easier to keep track of whats going on. On the other hand the 2D engine still provides the overview missing in zoom limited Civ IV. On the gameplay side Civ III retains global economy, building based production and unit capabilities and also separate offense and defense capabilities. So your main task is actually managing a whole civilisation and its army where in IV you have to cater a lot for singular cities, accumulate the correct wonders and generals. As such I consider Civ III the more homogenous game compared to IV, even tough culture is a mostly useless tack on here. Note though, that "AI" on higher levels consist mostly of cheating as in other Civs and diplomacy in III is even less functional than in newer parts of the series.