Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri™ Planetary Pack

The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons, quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries. - Academician Prokhor Zakharov It's probably fair to say that this quote is a pretty good representation of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri; a game that's so complex, with so many layers, but at the same time so amazing that uncovering its many mysteries a joy each time. I have probably played this game for tens of thousands of hours over the years, ever since it was released back in '99. This is one of the few games that I always install on all of my PCs. SMAC isn't only one of the best 4X titles of all time, but it's also one of the most unique. It masterfully weaves a narrative, in a genre where this was not commonplace, further augmented by some superb voice acting. It's no surprise that several books were written based on this game. It's also full of charm, lore and some of the most fun and complex mechanics, being in some ways ahead of its time. Faction leaders aren't just some portraits with slight bonuses, but they are fully fleshed out characters with deep personalities that you get to discover a little bit more with each quote when completing a base facility, secret project, or discover a new tech. And the sheer amount of mechanics and features in the game is mind blowing. From a lot of terraforming options (to the point where you can include them in your offensive, by raising or lowering the terrain into the ocean), to a rich unit customization system (in addition to unit types, weapons and armor, there's also a large number of special abilities that can change the gameplay quite a lot), to a pretty complex diplomacy system, and a ton of base facilities, secret projects, and technologies; many of which have not been seen in any Firaxis game since. It's one of the few games that I will always come back to from time to time.

I somehow missed Alpha Centauri in the past, so I was very excited to play it. And it really is a great game, and as a note the GoG version also gives you Alien Crossfire, the expansion. You need to specifically choose that one to launch. However, the game remains quite buggy and it will often hang for no reason. There are unofficial patches available that fix a lot of these bugs and will help modernize the game resolution to widescreen. Some bugs still remain after that, but the forum has been helpful in solving them.

It's a little strange how ahead of its time Alpha Centauri was. This is a 4X game with climate change, rising sea levels, terrain deformation, and a unit designer where you create your own units based on the technology you have unlocked. Get used to the graphics and UI and there is a cutting edge game here that will satisfy long time 4X fans. Its mechanics are perfectly balanced; there is enough complexity for a lot of weird sandbox approaches to work, but it's not so complicated that you get overwhelmed. What really makes this game stand out though is the setting and narrative and how this is connected with the gameplay. The setting of Alpha Centauri is what makes this A LOT more than just Civilization in space. The asset (and problem) of Civilization is that it tells a story we're vaguely familiar with; history as constant progress and struggle, fire -> wheel -> nuclear bomb. It doesn't really have a story of it's own. How can there be any kind of depth to a story where Caesar is fighting Napoleon with nukes? But Alpha Centauri's story is free from our expectations. There are seven factions, each with their own ideologies and approaches, with seven leaders, each with their own character traits and agenda's. They are very well written and they all have nuance and depth. We truly don't know how the future will turn out. Flavour text for buildings and research sketch a deep, philosophical world. There is a real story here that is meshed incredibly well with gameplay. Like other classics such as Morrowind and Deus Ex, Alpha Centauri proves how vital setting and narrative is to making a classic. If you like strategy, 4X, or even just good science fiction, you will enjoy this game a lot.

Sid Meier has outdone himself. This game, I would argue, is a work of art. Though the graphics have not aged that well, the gameplay is still intact enough to for great replay value. The level of customization is beyond what most modern games do. The story, although meager, is plenty enough to keep you engaged, but does not overwhelm you with detail. Take my last playthrough; I started as the University faction, but ended up doing more conquest than actual research. I had enough planet busters to stand as a lone superpower. In the end, I swindled my way to becoming the supreme leader though conquest, manipulation, bribes, and, oh yes, research. Machiavelli would be proud. Have fun Earthlings

More in-depth options and controls than current civilization games, interesting plot and factions, and can consume hours of your life. I once made a world where I had an entire continent to myself. I then sent out saboteurs to frame other factions for attacks. I then funded a world war where everyone was fighting everyone else but I was still allies with everyone. they didn't like me being allies with their enemies, but never went against me because I gave them loans to fund their war. I bankrupted all the factions with loan debt and I never had to put any of my funding into military. I've never been able to do that again.