Sid Meier's Civilization IV®: The Complete Edition

My current copy of CIV IV just stopped working and because of the DRM I can't get it to run again. I was desolated, on the brink of despair! On the verge of giving up hope, GOG rushes in to save the day! The game itself is marvellous. There is a legitimate debate to be had whether CIV III or CIV IV is the best title in the series, but luckily, since they are now both here on GOG, you will be able to make up your own mind. Sweet.

If you are a "one more turn" addict, chances are you won't get a better deal. The replay value of Civ 4 is so high that you'd be spending pennies on an hour of play, if not less. Civ 4 has greatly improved on what Civ 3 started with its new direction of culture and resource management. Most importantly, the checkerboard tactics, where settlers try to create cities in every nook and cranny outside one's cultural borders, is gone. In fact, the AI mercilessly punishes players who build enclaves away from their main area of influence. Build a city that protrudes into an enemy's territory, and you can be certain it'll be attacked. The other major change from the previous game is that resources are not necessary to complete projects; they largely speed up the progress. The main additions that Civ4 brought to the table were religion, government fine-tuning and (in a later expansion included here) corporations. Religion plays a major role, not only for cultural expansion, but also to placate your citizens and as a means for improving your economy. Without religion, financing large empires would not be possible. Government types now resemble Alpha Centauri: you can pick legal, political, economic and other traits and combine them into a government at your liking. Corporations are a neat idea, allowing you to improve the production of your cities, as well as generate some resources artificially, but I felt this feature needed more playtesting before being released. The final feature worth mentioning is the great quality of mods included in the Beyond the Sword expansion. These scenarios are just as good and replayable as those found in the Civ II Fantastic Worlds expansion. Personally, this game has nearly replaced the original Civilization in my regular gaming. I spent thousands of hours with this game, and I intends to spend countless more. For me, Civ4 is the pinnacle of the series.

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Dear reader, this is the one game to rule them all. I have been playing PC games for most of my life, it feels like, and this is the one that I have spent more time with than any other, even the first Medieval: Total War. The intricate depth of this game is only matched by its accessibility: tooltips abound, the civilopedia is better than ever, all the information is at your fingertips. The game is extremely transparent and actively engages the player in making meaningful and useful decisions. It may be a little overwhelming at first, but one quickly grows into it - the learning curve is not too steep. But it keeps going on and on! After years, I still discover new things about Civ4 (playing with both of the excellent expansions, of course). I've come all the way from "Chieftain" to "Immortal" difficulty, and will probably tackle "Deity" at some point, as well. But I still remember fondly almost every long game I've ever played. Graphics are "good enough" - functional, pretty nice where art direction is concerned, transparent in that you never lose the big picture. Sound and music is OK, some of the tunes grate after a while. Both of those disappear completely behind the overall game experience after just a little while, though: all decisions matter, and many will inform the rest of the game in important ways. Wonders are as nice as ever, of course, but diplomacy, religion, espionage, culture, and the perennial cycle of boom-rush-turtle working in a stone-paper-scissors way keep you coming back. The AI personalities are quite distinct. You will grow to love Isabella's pouting, Genghis Khan's bluster, and Mansa Musa's willingness to trade no matter what. As you will hate starting next to Shaka Zulu, or having to rely on William of Orange keeping his word to you - but in a good way. And the AI is competent enough to keep up the challenge, something that the multiple victory conditions only aid in. Buy, if you haven't already. Play. Enjoy. This is the One.