Civilization - MicroProse RRP œ39.99
                (Strategy game for PC and Amiga)

Sid Meier's previous game, Railroad Tycoon, was a huge success
when it was released. What do you do when you've written a great
game? Write another one that's similar but bigger and better -
just what he's done with Civilization. Then you ran a railroad
system but now you get the chance to run a complete world.

It could be paradise ...

The game covers several thousand years from the day when your
first group of settlers arrives in a virgin land. The seas are
full of fish, rivers irrigate the land making it fertile to grow
crops, herds of deer graze while horses run free on the plains
waiting for an enterprising young man to catch them, harness them
and get them to work on the land. Natural resources dot the land,
oil, gems and gold are there to be taken and add to your finances.

It looks like paradise ...

You have advisors to guide you if you wish, and though to start with
your people are relatively ignorant, the ability is within them to
learn.  Starting with basic knowledge of such subjects as pottery,
the alphabet and writing, your people could develop new skills, each
of which would lead them either to further discoveries or would give
them the ability to build special buildings such as granaries,
libraries and universities; they may even build one of the wonders
of the world. They can construct roads (and later railroads) to make
access to the furthest part of your kingdom easier.  Once they've
mastered the arts of navigation and map-making they will be able to
set sail across the oceans to see what other lands lie there. And if
their dedication to expanding their knowledge is great enough, they
may eventually harness the power of the atom, develop computers and,
ultimately, leave the planet for the stars.

It sounds like paradise ...

Unfortunately, even paradise had problems. The Garden of Eden had
a snake. This planet has other would-be rulers on it, each with
their eyes set on the same goals as you and possibly coveting your
land too!  There's nothing for it but to be prepared. Develop
weaponry, fortify your cities, send out scouting expeditions (for
only land one of your men has visited appears on the map, the rest
is a black void), and prepare for the warfare which will
undoubtedly come.

But, wait a moment. Should you sit back patiently and wait to be
attacked or should you strike the first blow? If you're attacked
and then offered peace in exchange for paying your opponent a sum
of money, should you pay or not?  Should you send diplomats into
opposing cities to establish embassies or start revolts, steal
knowledge and sabotage your opponent's industry? Should you
concentrate on peaceful activities and aim for the stars or keep
your feet firmly on the ground and your weapons ranged along your
border? The choice is yours - despot, tyrant, benevolent ruler
loved by his people, ruthless ruler who works his people until
they drop ... which will you be? Or will you try a different tack
each game?

Game 1: Enter Ramesses, ruler of the Egyptians in a random world
of large land masses divided by oceans.  He started off quite well
and built several cities, adding a few defending troops, improving
the cities promptly with granaries and barracks, then protecting
them with city walls in case of invasion - which didn't come.
Where was everyone else? No matter - Ramesses' scientists worked
hard on their inventions and discovered many marvellous things.
The day came when Ram's first ship set sail, wandered too far from
land and vanished. He was more cautious with the next and toddled
along the coast, discovering the Romans.

Ram noticed their lands were better irrigated than his, in fact
irrigated fields stretched from one city to the next. Ram looked
at his own lands and realised he'd gone a bit wrong. The Romans
also blocked his settlers' exit from the large tongue of land he'd
taken for his own and it was a while before he could build ships
to transport them, by which time he was at war, first with the
Romans, then with the French and Babylonians who appeared from
over the water. Ram tried to keep the peace but it was no use. His
empire dwindled, his people got fed up with him and finally his
six cities of over 1.5 million inhabitants were rated fourth in
the world, Ram himself being scored at 1%, the same as some chap
called Dan Quayle.

Game 2: Frederick of Germany. His land looked exactly like Earth
but he was still a bit surprised to take two steps outside his
first city and walk slap-bang into some Russians. They took a
tough line with him but Fred kept his cool. He ignored their
sniping remarks about advances he hadn't discovered yet and
quietly put all his time and money into building up his armies.
One day their taunts were too much. Fred called out 'the lads' and
they flattened the Russians. The Russians offered all sorts of
things to get him to stop but Fred wasn't having it, even when
they offered all the money they had. Bye-bye, Russians. Fred moved
into their cities and copped the lot.

Then he met the Zulus. An uneasy peace was settled. Fred sailed to
America where he met the Aztecs. He tried to establish a few
cities but the Aztecs sneaked in and grabbed them. Fred decided to
concentrate on Africa (by now he ruled all of Europe and Asia).
Finally he came to the conclusion that the Zulus were too sneaky -
they'd make peace, then break it when it suited them. Fred forgot
the lessons he'd learnt from Ramesses and decided to flatten the
Zulus too. He almost did it but the pesky Aztecs kept appearing,
doing a bit of damage, then sailing off again. Then Romans turned
up in Australia and started to chip away at Fred's empire from the
other side. If Fred been a bit more peaceful, he might have won.
As it was he ended up in second place with 28 cities, almost 10
million population and a score of 6%. At least he had the
satisfaction of seeing the sneaky Zulus in bottom place!

Game 3: Elizabeth 1, inhabiting a customized world of high
rainfall and temperate climate. She started a more difficult game
with two lots of settlers.  One lot immediately got destroyed by
some barbarians. The second lot went east - and met the Romans.
Deadlock. They returned west and ran into the Aztecs.  Oops. Liz
built her first city in the middle, sat back and bided her time.

She was sweetness itself to both Romans and Aztecs but noticed
they were having odd fights between themselves. Next time the
Romans came calling, Liz offered peace on condition they'd fight
the Aztecs. Sure thing, they said, after she paid them 100 gold.
The Aztecs came to see her and she did the same to them; then
watched them slug it out.

Her smuggness didn't last. She forgot she was trapped in the
middle and as she hadn't developed transport ships she had no
means to expanding her empire.  Frustration set in and she
attacked a Roman city. Bad move. The Romans flattened Birmingham
and Coventry didn't look too good. The inhabitants of London
revolted and Liz realised she'd tried to be too clever and it had
back-fired. Serve her right.

As you can see, Civilization in the sort of game you can get
hooked on - and I mean REALLY hooked. Railroad Tycoon was great
fun to play.  Civilization uses a similar control system but the
game itself has so much more scope, not only in the difficulty
levels which can be set in several different ways, but in the
varying ways you can play the game. I've tried nice; I've tried
warlike; I've tried sneaky. For my next trick, I'm going to
balance the options and concentrate on research.  Maybe one day
I'll reach the stars and if it takes many more games, I don't mind
at all!
                                                  Sue