Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri™ Planetary Pack

It is a great old game with many interesting features. Now I see why people still play it.

The visuals are a bit farty and the interface is pretty clunky, but this game is awesome. It has one of the most fascinating sci-fi settings I've ever seen, with the traditional advanced technology elements being backed up by small but powerful glimpses into each faction's ideology, and the entire plot with Planet itself. You make your own story by playing it (like any other Civilization-type game), but there's a canonical/meta story that you get glimpses of through technololgies' descriptions, Secret Project videos, and Interludes. These communicate the broad strokes of the plot and some great details about the universe, but it always feels like the whole truth of what's happening is just out of reach, which makes for one of the most creepy, mysterious, and engaging atmospheres I've seen in a strategy game. The gameplay itself is classic 4X empire-building with lots of depth, potential for japery, and atrocities that you can commit on your enemies. My biggest problems with it are the graphics and UI (like I said before), along with how repetitive it can get towards the end of a game, and how lacking the game is in the music department. It can start getting mind-numbing as you close in towards victory, but the journey there will not disappoint. Six dollars is an excellent deal for this one, pick it up if you like truly mature sci-fi stories, great (if aged) 4X gameplay, and deploying nerve gas.

There are so many innovations in this game that it took them up to CIV V to actually implement the same concepts. The mood and atmosphere of the game have nothing to do with civ. The Modular design of units has a lot of utility.

Holds up insanely well. What a gem.

Okay, by 2025 standards the graphics are a bit dated, but this still ranks as one of my all-time favorite forward-looking colonization type games. It is WAY more than simply Colonization on a different map! There's the Planet to consider, various factions to compete with, all kinds of customization available for units, different styles of combat, and all with a great 4X flavor!