Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri™ Planetary Pack

To me, it's one of the best Civ games, but before getting to the game advantages, its drawbacks need acknowledgment: 1. There is no panel for terraforming options and unit abilities, so you have to rely on hotkeys or a menu to select actions besides simple moving. Some options, like designating the top defender, can be done only by a hotkey. 2. No music - the game has great ambient sounds, but mostly it lacks compositions, which may be alienating. 3. Personally I don't mind the rather moody palette, but it definitely could be more discernible - you'll need some time to learn reading terrain from the first glance. 4. Incomplete in-game help ("Datalinks") - for example, there is no mention of the tile yield restriction and which technologies lift it, or that some techs provide a freebie discovery. You'll need 3rd party sources for this. What makes it greatly worthwhile: 1. Great diplomacy. You can trade with AI, exchange maps, conclude alliances, take or give out loans (with interest!), coordinate battle plans, etc; your pact ally may even gift you free units for defense purposes. Planetary Council votes are also important even if you don't intend to go for a diplomatic victory. 2. Actual flexibility in development - you can be eco-friendly, strictly industrial, or drown the terrain and get your resources from the orbital stations, or combine these approaches (kinda like cottage vs great people economy in Civ4). 3. Unit design allows for a lot of options and checks and balances - aviation is countered by anti-air units, technologically superior conventional units may be easily killed by native wildlife which is countered by high morale and/or or psi-combat defenses, etc. 4. Competent AI. Of course, there is always exploitative strategies, but AI handles complex game mechanics pretty well. 5. Great lore and fluff - secret projects videos, tech/building quotes, Book of the Planet interludes - all contribute to a very immersive atmosphere. Great voiceover work too.

I spot this game more than 10 years ago I didn't saw anything as good, as Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Very interesting setting, mechanics, balance and a lot of replayability. Despite pretty simple grafics it is entertaining and bring a lot of joy and chalenges.

I'm not really a Sid Meier fan boy, and I really didn't care for the Civilization franchise, but Alpha Centauri is hands down the greatest written game ever (11 out of 10). The game play is solid and entertaining (8 out of 10).

One of my all-time favourites. Truly ahead of its time and better than all turn-based strategy games I've tried over the past few years.

If this is your first trip to Planet you're in for a wonderful surprise. One of a kind game with incredible atmosphere.