Sid Meier's Civilization IV®: The Complete Edition

Got this as a backup copy of my original and Steam version. Everything appears to work correctly but its missing two Scenario Files (.Civ4WorldBuilderSave) for the original Civ 4 game. The mod files/folders for American Revolution and Desert War are present but scenario files to launch them are not. Copied them over from my Steam version and it worked correctly.

I am still playing this game occasionally, after putting thousands of hours into it since 2006. This game has by far the best *replayability* from any game I played so far (and I played many as a 40-yo gamer). You can spend endless hours trying to optimize / number crunch your strategies, then compare with what other people are doing at "CivFanatics Forums". There are many different strategies that one can use build his/her civ (and has to, depending on the generated start). Perhaps the one mechanic that makes this game unique for me is that founding of a new city also increases the upkeep for existing cities - so one has to plan citizen tiles and expansion very carefully in the early game on higher difficulties. The second thing I would note about this game is the opponent civs AI - when I was new to the game it really felt like the opponents have a mind of their own and after thousands of hours spent playing and knowing the AI better I still find it interesting and well made. And the graphics and sounds still look good in 2019.

I'm not sure what happened with the great Civ series, but imho, after this one (Civ IV Complete) they started to slide downhill; if you were a longtime Civ fan that loves deep complex 4x tbs games. Having said that, it did take CivIV a few expansions to really hit that perfect patch of sublime Civ game play. Beyond the Sword was the "One expansion pack to bring them all and in the darkness bind them", truly making CivIV the complete and most detailed Civ game to date. It was also before the current era of 'monetization' and nickel and dime DLC. With Civ IV Complete, you really do need nothing else as it includes the two main expansion packs and each of those was a fully generous expansion. Only one thing makes Civ IV complete better, and arguably the BEST tbs game ever made; Mods. Check out CivFanatcis (website) for the details on the state of mods for CivIV, and i will just suggest a couple to get you started: 1. Fall from Heaven II - a superb high fantasy spin on the base game, just incredibly inventive and still fresh after all these years, also check out the mod-mods for this! 2. Caveman to Cosmos - Start at 50,000 BC and takes you all the way through the game and into the future, melding with the regular CivIV game on route. Epic does not do this mod justice, it is beyond epic with the added content and vast span of history. Forget Civ V and VI, and probably any future 'Civ-lite' games, CivIV Complete and a few free mods will give you the best tbs game going. CivIV has a few issues as many have noted, Stacks-of-Doom are a thing middle to late game, and if on older, slower hardware, your PC will struggle between turns as time goes on. Still, on modern hardware the game runs fine i'm finding, and Stacks-of-doom can be dealt with the bombard type units, you just have to be prepared to sacrifice them to be able to whittle the SoD's down. Overall CivIV Complete is the thinking mans complete and best tbs game on the market.

I got hooked on civilization 1, when I was a kid, playing it on the SNES, where late-game turns took the computer over 20 minutes to process. Later, I played Civ2 on the Playstation. And the day before yesterday, Civilization 4, here in 2019. Wow, this game hasn't aged! The 2005 graphics are crisp, simple, and look good! But that pales in comparison to the gameplay -- a 11 out of 10. Although it was a little overwhelming, boy, is it fun! And the sound track, including the Grammy-award winning Baba Yetu, and narration by Leonard Nemoy fit this game perfectly. Honestly, I don't want to play any other version since I know they have neither -- but every review and comparison of the games in the series has stated Civ. 4 is the apex in the series. I picked this game on sale, and wow, am I happy with my purchase. The game play is more streamlined than prior versions, and the soundtrack rocks. The graphics look good, aren't obtrusive, and let you enjoy game play it all its glory. Also, be careful, this is one of those games where every time you look at the clock another hour has passed! (I'm glad I purchased 4 over 3, for those who're debating which of the two to get.) I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and I haven't even touched the expansions.

Civilization IV Beyond the Sword is in my opinion the greatest strategy game ever created. It gives you the freedom to plan, build and expand your desired empire from the ground up. The difficulty is to do that in spite of your oponents that try their best to do the same. The original Civilization was a revolutionary game at its time, and Civ 2, 3 and 4 just kept improving it on that great original formula. Civilization IV Beyond the Sword, the second Civ 4 expansion is the most advanced, well made and bug free of all. Then, with Civilization 5, Civilization Beyond Earth, Civilization 6 and so on, the game was changed radically in ways I do not like anymore. That's why I keep playing Civilization IV Beyond the Sword even today.