Rating: 
Summary: Don't Believe the Hype
Review: Civ III is a very plain derivative of its predecessors, Civilization II and Alpha Centauri. While the game had a lot of potential, it is a weak final product that becomes boring quickly. There are a lot of design flaws and plain bugs that ruin the fun or make the game tedious as it progresses. It's a rush job by the developer and publisher. I would hold off on this game until it has been thoroughly patched, or wait for the inevitable expansion pack to be released and then you might pick it up cheaper. I hate to say it, but this game was an enormous disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Sid Meier tries hard to imitate Bill Gates...
Review: By putting out software (just in time for the holidays as others have noted) that should have never been released in such a buggy state. Crashed on all three of my machines (one a brand new Dell) within the first minute of starting a game. I am giving up for the moment and calling it a night. Also I just noticed that they have redone the civ I was trying to play (Persians) completely from what it is in the rulebook. Who knows what other "enhancements" I will learn about tomorrow. Rushing unfinished games to market should be a federal crime. It always pisses me off that 8-year-olds playing video games on the TV get such stable code while we... Oh forget it.
Rating:
Summary: Great for rich people who can afford new computers
Review: I will never understand why some people insist on taking a simple yet great (and hugely profitable) thing, adding excessive special effects, and selling it to morons who ooh and ahh over marginally fancier graphics and a worse overall gaming experience.
Unless you are one who can afford to go out and buy a new mainframe supercomputer every year, DO NOT PURCHASE THIS GAME! I tried to load it onto my computer, 233MHz with 4 GB HD, and it literally took several minutes to move units, take turns, and look at option screens. I am deleting it and returning it for a refund. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. I looked over the system requirements for Civ 2--15 MB HD, 33MHz processer, 8 RAM. Any gamer with a 10 year old computer could play it. It wasn't fancy, it worked well, and the whole point in playing was not to be visually stimulated, but to be intellectually challenged. The end result? Civ 2 was one of the best and most enjoyable games of all times. Civ 3, however, requires 700 MB of hard drive (over a third of the total space on many 3 year old computers), a 300-500 Mhz processer, etc. Why?! There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for needing that much space to run a stategy game of this type! ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE! I personally, and probably many of you reading this, do not have a a computer of that magnitude, nor have the money to buy one, nor have the need for one, except for playing this game. The thing that made Civ 2 a great game was the game itself, not how fancy it was or how much it did. I was perfectly happy watching a stationary unit slide across the map. I do not need to see them run back and forth. Such things are great, but are of tertiary importance in a strategy game. The most important things, which made Civ 2 popular, were the quality of the game itself and the fact that it worked quickly and properly. Civ 3 is just the latest in a long string of hollywood special effects wonders with no attention paid to anything but visual stimulation. This is an extremely poor addition to the civilisation series, designed for braindead imbeciles who flock to see rubbish films of the same genre. I for one do not recommend its purchase, nor will I be looking forward to any further editions.
Rating: 
Summary: Improving on Success
Review: I've played all of the Civilization versions, obsessively, and this is by far the best of them. Hours and hours of play, and I haven't had to crack a manual yet, thanks to the tuturial and the "civilopedia." It's a combination of sim, strategy and just enough RPG to make it intersting. It's a bit slow-moving at times, but what civilization was built in a day, right? The CivEdit program and the other options make this a completely customizable game - make it as easy or as challenging as you want. This is one purchase I'm glad i made
Rating: 
Summary: You'd better learn Civ before trying this one
Review: For the true Civ fan this is the golden fleece. You have to have it. You will remember what it was like to play long hours into the morning. With enough fine tuning that it is really a challenge. The only thing missing is net play. Certainly that will come.
Rating:
Summary: Pros and Cons of Civilization III
Review: Civilization III is an incredible game. You move around your warriors and scouts etc to discover new land and conquer the world. One of the bad things is that you can only move your warriors and settlers only one space per turn. You can have your warriors and spearmen to attack enemys and steal gold from them. You can start wars with other tribes. In the beginning, you can chose many different people to be, including Abe Lincon and Montezuma. You can choose your rival tribes and climate. Overall, I'd say that this game is fun, interesting, challenging, and addictive.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Civilization
Review: Sid Meier does it again. This is another great Civilization to continue the great series. There are many new features that make this better then the previous versions. The future feature is really cool. You can make tactical nukes and tanks and other weapons of mass destruction. The only downside to this game is the fact that its really hard sometimes to take over empires. You have to have a lot of soldiers to take over something. Plus a simple barbarian with a stone hammer can beat a super tank with one hit. Other then that this game is really fun and addicting. If you liked the other civilizations you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Minimum differences compared to Civ2. You will find almost no fun to play it if you already played a lot of Civ1 and Civ2. A big disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Decent overall, but can't shake that disappointing feeling
Review: I am a huge fan of Civ and Civ II, and played both way too many hours. Civ II was an excellent upgrade from the first Civ. Civ III just seems to be way too tedious. Figuring out all of the commands is not as easy as in the past, though there is more variety. And have we all been forced into having civilizations with large numbers of cities or a large geographical extent? In Civ II you could have 6 - 10 cities, which, with the right trading partners and development, could take on most anyone. Without the trade caravans anymore, and with the requirement of various resources and luxuries, you are forced to either have a sprawling civilization, or perhaps be a diplomatic whiz so you can trade for what you lack. Automating the workers is great, there are some improvements, but it just doesn't have that wonderful CIV feeling of the first two.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: First of all, take the system requirements to heart. If you are on the low end, don't bother. I would literally sit for 2 to 3 minutes between turns waiting for the computer sims to finish their turns. On the other hand, my friend who has a top of the line computer could finish an entire game in one night! Secondly, there isn't that much different. To me, it just felt like a prettier version of 2. It's still fun, but I needed something more. And I wonder why if you can go up against 14 other civilizations why they all don't appear in your Diplomacy Advisor screen? Only the first 7 (or is it 8?) will show up. The downside of this is that you can't see who they're allied with or who they're at war with! (Am I missing something??) This game is still fun, but if you're expecting anything radically different, you'll be disappointed. If you're new to the series, you'll love this game.
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