Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, Excellent, Civilization gets Even better
Review: Excellent improvement upon the already marvelous game Civilization. A must have for any strategy fan.
Rating:
Summary: Best Game I have
Review: I got Civ3 from a software order, not knowing if it would be any good. But little did I know I stumbled across one of the best games in the world! The civilized world at least. I got it a month ago and I love it, my advice buy it, buy it, buy it! Then you will know how I feel!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Conceptual complement
Review: In addition to the other complementary reviews, I'd like to add a more conceptual view... I've played other games like Empire Earth, Samurai, Age of Empire, CTP, Emperor, etc. But, this is the only AI that really adapts, assimilates and maneuvers around you like a thinking person -- only a lot faster and smarter. If you play the game a lot then you change one of your basic tactics slightly, you can see the shift in the AI -- that is impressive. Never does it go into a predictable "routine". I know it all comes down to equations and probabilities in the AI program, but especially at expert-level, its unbelievably intelligent. I've played this game 10x more than the other games. Its value for money and its a thrill. Hats off to Sid Mier! I can't image what the Civ XII will be like in 2020 or whenever -- may be it can cook me dinner!
Rating: 
Summary: Say after me "Medievil: Total War" - No competition!
Review: Am I the only one that thought that Civ3 outright sucked? Civilization and Civ2 were Earth-shattering for me. Then "Call to Power1 & 2" became favorites. Civ3 just seemed like a huge step backwards. Anyway, along comes Medievil: Total War. MTW is actually two games in one. It is a military/dictatorship strategy game on the one hand. Expect intuitive city management and troop creation menus. However, it is also an awesome combat engine. You can lead your troops DURING a battle. You can decide if it makes more since to have your longbowman fight melee style or leave that to your spearmen (which I strongly suggest). Everything about MTW is polished and intuitive. Comparing MTW to Civ3 would be like comparing Halo (the coolest game ever for those of you that haven't played Halo - drop what you are doing and get it) to Quake1 - they are both "first person shooters" but Halo has taken it to a whole new galaxy. Do not waste your hard earned money on Civ3. MTW is an intuitive addictive strategy game that won't let you go.
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: game is awesome. They've down away with caravans for easier trade. NO longer do you need to send out units to trade, once you have a seaport or a road connection, trade occurs without any units once an trade agreement has been made between two civs. Spies...they sorta of have them. you create them at your capital and pick what civ they go to. When you conduct espionage, you can choose to use a spy to do several things.
1) steal map/troop information/tech
2) stake propagade (take over city) contrary to belief, you can buy out your opponent's city. but they need to be already leaning towards your cause before you can take over. this isn't alpha centauri.
3) disrupt construction the spies are still there. but it takes awhile before you realize how to use them. Problems: Don't build too many workers, i've wasted 5 minutes per turn waiting for all my workers to finish their jobs (automated), WASTE OF TIME. be careful of how many you build, it also affect your gold. In the preference, you can adjust how fast and if units are animated in movement, that can cut down time on opponent's turn. Contrary to Todd's statement, alot of civ 2 things are still present, just in different forms. What i don't like about the game is that the maps are rather stingy at times. When you have the tech to build tanks, you almost never have the 3 or 4 resources to build them. Like oil is extremely hard to come by, that also goes for aluminum. Sometimes (more than often) you have to go to war for a single resource. But overall, the game is good. Anyone actually see the space ship take off cutscene is does that cutscene not exist?
Rating:
Summary: The Best Civilization Game To Date
Review: I've had this game for over six months now (since it first came out) and I've even written a review of it already. But my last review was mostly concerned with the criticisms that have been levelled against the game. (The Civ "phenomenon" is ten years old, ancient in computer gaming terms, and so has spawned legions of fans who think they should be the ones to decide the rules. Civ 3 lets you do this, of course, but that's not enough for some folks.) Having played it now for as long as I have--and the game is life-disturbingly addictive--and after having dusted off Civ I and Civ II to replay them for comparison, there is no doubt that this is the =best= Civilization game ever. * The interface is clean, streamlined, and about as non-disruptive as possible. If you've played =any= Civ before, you know how critical that is. (If anything, it's a little =too= streamlined, as you can miss messages about cities.) It's not just prettier graphics, it's more informative: You can tell when a city is starving, when its growth is stunted, when they're happy, when they're mad, all from the main map. And you can turn off lots of unnecessary animations to speed the game up. * The automation features =actually work=! You can make the critical improvements on your cities in the early game, then switch your workers over to be completely automated later on. They'll improve (mostly) intelligently, clean up pollution, and so on! The city governors' building choices are somewhat dubious, but highly customizable--and they'll keep your population happy if you want them to, meaning that you don't have to micromanage your cities in times of war. (You can tell "war weariness" by drops in productivity or starvation in a city.) * Rule changes, part one: Some rules have been hotly debated, but there are some that are undoubtedly better. You actually have a national border now! Enemy civs have to respect it or declare war. No more positioning their forces where they can easily attack before wiping you out. No city-based troops. Before it was impossible to defend your border because troops outside your city would cause unhappiness. Now war weariness is based on the length of the war and whether you're the aggressor and so on. (This does make war more manageable, and possibly more frequent.) * Rule changes, part two: Most abuses gone. All computer games have weak spots in the rules that can be abused by players to make the game easier. Civ 3 has the fewest of any Civ game to date. This means you actually have to think about what strategy is best based on the current map (and your civ, if playing with civ-specific abilities). * Rule changes, part three: Variety. How you play the game and how you win it is largely a matter of style. There are military, cultural and political victories. You can pick a partiuclar civilization that favors your playing style, or you can go random, and change your playing style according to the civilization. Civ-specific military units (like the Egyptian's War Chariot and the German's Panzer) can have a distinct and entertaining effect on play. * Clever AI: Yes, the AI cheats at the higher levels, so it's not that clever. But it's among the best I've seen. Because so many of the old abuses were eliminated, older players find themselves having trouble adapting their playing styles to the new game. For example, I used to occasionally play the isolationist game in the older Civs. You could hide from the world, go all out on science, and win simply because the rest of the world was embroiled in conflict. If you're an isolationist in Civ 3, you'll lose, because besides conflicts, the other Civs are going to be trading technology aggressively. There's an odd thing about the game because of that: At higher levels, it becomes much easier to win the game faster. On the lower levels, the AI won't research tech very aggressively and you'll have to work hard to just generate enough tech on your own (somewhat like playing an isolationist game). As the difficulty turns up, competing civs are more and more likely to have some tech you want, thereby saving you the trouble of researching it. (Some people play without research at all, simply trading for techs.) Interaction is critical. It's also enjoyable. If someone declares war on you, and you've played your political cards right, you can wipe them out simply by getting all their neighbors on your side. The depths and subtleties here are fantastic, even with the still crude diplomacy screens. There are problems, of course. The diplomacy screens allow a maximum of eight nations, meaning you have to jump through hoops to see the other eight if you're playing with sixteen civs. War can still be extremely tedious shuffling so many troops around, although there seems to be a real effort to make it easier at Firaxis, both with the patches and Play The World expansion. It can be difficult to figure out when you're about to commit a diplomatic snafu until it's too late and the world hates you. Despite this, this is easily, hands down, no question, the absolute best Civ game ever. And that's saying something.
Rating:
Summary: highest quality derivative of the best gaming series.
Review: maybe i'm biased (i've been playing the civ series sence it was on the super nintendo) but i love this game. it was a quality about it that is just hard to duplicate. it's easy to learn (i've just addicted two of my friends to it who've never played a game like it b4), yet it is hard to master. and talk about repeatablity, the game is different everytime (while still managing to be fun)! to sum up: great game, buy it now. -- also, i just ordered the expansion, play the world, and wil report on that after i try it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the price drop!
Review: If you've owned Civ 2, then Civ 3 will not impress you. Wait until the price drops on this one or you can get Civ 3 and Civ 3:PTW together as one package.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the SimCity-ite
Review: It seems obvious from some of the reviews here that the reviewers have not really played CivIII. Yes - it's different than CivII and it's harder. The AI is smarter and more aggressive and diplomacy is important. But not win on Chieftan!? Give me a break. Reccomended but not to those who only build cities ala Sim.
Rating:
Summary: It's tolerable, but barely.
Review: If you are a big fan of the civilzation series then this is a "must buy" simply to add it your sid meier library. The music, sound, and interface are fine. My only complaint is the the battle system is way off. There are times where a enemy spearman will defeat your legionary (roman special unit) and pikeman. Understand, there will be times when you will uninstall civ3 out of sheer frustration, but for some strange reason you WILL return. I wouldn't say that the computer ai is worthless, because you will conduct all your diplomatic transacations using a special "interace", but i dislike the way their enemy units will jump half-way across the map to take your colony or a worker. The replay value is fairly modest. OVERALL VALUE: civ3 is far from perfect, but it has gereat potential. With a expansion coming out in November 2002 and a patch available, civ3 should undergo some wonderful changes. Go buy it. : )
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