Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Rating:
Summary: Civilization jumps into outer space
Review: I have played many types of Civilization type games - from the original Civilization to the current Civilization III and everything in between.

But I keep getting drawn back to the fantastic Alpha Centauri by Sid Meier and company. Although sort of a sequel to Meier's highly popular Civilization II, it is just different enough to be easily the best civilization type computer game currently available.

From it's highly interesting beginning at the start of the colonization of a totally Alien world, you can take your choice of factions to total Transcendence - going beyond humanity and almost becoming a god. There are more different ways to play this game then there is space to review it. Do you want to try you luck as the Scientist and research your way to the top? Or do you want to have Peace with the Peacekeepers? Or do you want to conquer the world with a religious fervor? These are just a couple of the great factions available during game play.

The interface is one of the better ones available, and allows you to choose from many options which will help you when saving and playing the game. Turning on and off the sound, the secret project movies, and custom tailoring the game to what you want it to display is fairly easy. There's even an "Auto-Save" feature which is a nice touch if you need to break away form your game quickly. There are still many people that play and use this game online, and the online interface is just as easy to use as the rest of the game.

The science fiction setting gives a totally new way to look at a colonization game. Although some fans of sims might find the units and their names a little strange, you can and you will get into designing your own military might quickly. The unit design feature is a nice touch - it allows you to create a unit with exactly the type of weapons, armor and abilities you want to use in your next encounter with your neighbors.

Meeting with your neighbors has never been more challenging - the AI for this game is fairly intuitive and you will find yourself wondering how the computer knows to make each faction react the way it does. Do you want to trade with your neighbors or just conquer them? The richness and vast number of choices to make may seem overwhelming to someone totally new to colonization games, but the depth of what is available will keep you coming back for more.

It's unfortunate that the expansion disc, "Alien Crossfire", seems to be unavailable. But even without that expansion disc, what other computer games have spawned a role playing game? Steve Jackson Games recently published a GURPS version of Alpha Centauri, and that alone should give players a warning that this game will have you hooked quickly.

My only dream is that both discs will be released as a single package someday. Still one of my most played discs. One of my very highest recommendations.

Rating:
Summary: In-Depth Fun for Turn-Based Strategy Fans
Review: Fans of turn-based strategy games usually simply go by Sid Meier's name--nearly everything that has his name on it is a highly enjoyable product. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) is no exception. Unlike many games, it works at two levels. You can enjoy it as a macro-level management game, where you are concerned with fighting and diplomacy. You can play it as a micro-level game, where you decide how your cities will develop. And, of course, you can play it as both.

Many features allow you to overlook things you may not care about, such as building units or constructing buildings. There are governors and automatic programs that do that for you. The game also features factions--differing organizations with vastly different goals. This is what makes the game different from the Civ series.

The game is also surprisingly balanced. Certainly, some factions seem to be better than others, but it all depends on how the game progresses. Become too powerful too quickly, and you'll have to fend off even those players who would otherwise be your ally. Sit back, and you'll be too weak to win the game. I've won with Miriam (by general concensus the "hardest" faction to play as) and lost as Skye (the easiest). There are also four (!) ways to win, giving you, as a player, much more flexibility.

Bad things? Well, there are a few, but not enough to cover such an engrossing game. First off--the game is *ugly*. Awful. Your eyes will hurt after playing for a while. But you get used to it.

Secondly, the factions are, perhaps, a bit too aggressive. Pact brothers suddely get mad and declare war for no particular reason. Opposing ideologies can trigger unreasonable anger in other players. It is unrealistic that a relatively weak faction will declare war on the strongest faction in the game simply because you're a police state and he's a democracy.

The aforementioned governors--which automatically build up your cities--can also get irritating as well. Usually they do a fairly adequate job, but at times they want to produce sea units en masse for no particular reason. Occasionally, they decide that *every* city in your empire needs a Covert Ops Center, so everyone starts building one. Usually, though, it does pretty much what I would do; it just gets irritating to have to stop the game and relist all of the cities' build queues.

There are a few other minor irritances--the game has a not-so-subtle bent against capitalism, and preach to you about "eco-damage"--but these are minor compared to how much you'll enjoy the game.

A sequel was made, Alien Crossfire. It is recommended as well, though it has its own problems.

Rating:
Summary: don't pay attention 2 me
Review: This game confuses the hell out of me. Maybe I'm just stupid, but this (like many Sidmier's games)are way too complicated for me. So don't listen to me.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, it's better than civ II.
Review: Civilization II was a good interm game and was one of the most addictive of 1996, but it was limited where it could go. Civilization III, unless it had intense graphics, would not add anything (other than a few new civs/technologies) over the second one.

So Sid Meier took the natural step and went to Alpha Centauri. It takes place after humans' take their first step into the unknown. However, the pod taking the pioneers breaks up and splits into several pieces, hence several factions are born, all with different abilities/talents and philosophies. However, all want to dominate the planet.

The factions are unique and contrived at the same time. To have them all completely different is alittle too convenient. However, it makes it easier to tell them apart. The game play is similar to CIV II, but there are more units, more technologies and more of everything. You can make over 60 different units, all with different strengths/weaknesses as well as cultivate the local alien creatures.

There are also a lot more technologies one can create, although there is no more direct control of which technologies you can create.

However, the best feature of the game is that once your empire gets big, you don't have to spend all this time micromanaging your empire.

Firstly, you can quene a long production line of up to 8 creations, so instead of creating a Recreation Commons and then coming back to create a Tree Farm, you can preprogram a colony to do it automatically.

Secondly, you can annoint a governor to control what goes on in an individual city. They will build stuff based on what criteria you set for that city. If you set it on build, it will build certain things, if you set it on conquer, it will build war machines, etc....

All in all another addicting game from the Meier camp...Rating: B

Rating:
Summary: Sid proves he's the king yet again.
Review: Every year, it seems like turn-based strategy is given it's Last Rites. Sid Meier comes through yet again with a clear winner. For anyone who is a fan of Civilization or Civ II stop reading this review and buy the game now.

Alpha Centauri is a solid game -- there's a lot of detail to the game and in the classic case of Civilization it is extremely replayable: at different difficulty levels or as a member of one of the 7 factions.

This game adds features that: makes the game easier to manage (especially in later stages), add depth to some of the options (i.e. government types) and overall enhances the game play.

A word about multiplayer: It's operational, but the update routines on a turn-by-turn basis run extremely slow over TCP/IP with the version of the game that comes out of the box. As a result, multiplayer games become unplayable after about an hour just due to the game-induced lag.

Despite lackluster multiplayer performance, this game still has what it takes to be a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Most improved concept!
Review: When Sid makes a game (or puts his name on one) you can be sure he has thought of gameplay! This game is no exception.

I loved CivII and had looked forward to this game since hearing of it's creation. However, I had hoped it wouldn't be merely Civ in space. Sure enough, many things I would have liked to see changed or enhanced in a turn based stategy game were addressed in Alpha Centauri. Customizable units, customizable land, multiplayer issues (true pacts and alliances) new story concept (not just spear thrower to marine), hot seat works great! I love this game. The only negative comment I have is that it feels too dark sometimes. Doesn't have a lush new planet feel to me! But the gameplay makes up for that in my opinion. If you like strategy games that keep you awake at nights for months at a time, BUY THIS GAME!

Rating:
Summary: Familiar yet Different . . . very different
Review: Many people immediately connect this game to what they believeto be its predecessor: Civilization II. And there is no question thatCivilization II heavily influenced this game. In fact, its basic storyline is a continuation of Civilization II. However, the roots of this game are more properly found in another of Sid Meier's gems: Colonization. The basic premise of Alpha Centauri and Colonization is, after all, to colonize a new world while beating out all others for dominance of that new world. But where Colonization was limited by its historical storyline, Alpha Centauri has a free reign to go wherever the mood takes the player.

The mesh of these two great games have produced an extremely playable third. AC takes the best of both games, including a few new twists of its own, and immerses the player in a fantastic new environment.

Of course, the game is not without some problems. Though diplomacy is a bit repetitive, you are now given more options and can build strong alliances with other factions. Unit building is much more interesting because you can design units that fit your needs rather than having a basic unit types that all factions share. However, any faction can build any unit if they have the technology.

Though the game isn't perfect, I still haven't grown tired of playing it after 2 months of owning it. Adding the Alien Crossfire expansion pack also adds to the game by providing new factions including 2 alien ones with alien units.

All in all, a great game that I will keep playing for many months to come.

Rating:
Summary: Cilivization in space? Sounds good!
Review: And it is! I had always loved Sid Meier's Civilization II, and the idea of playing this game with better graphics and in a science-fiction setting sounded great to me: wouldn't that lead to almost endless possibilities? And Alpha Centauri does not disappoint. The story is based on the following: in the end of Civilization II, a space ship is sent to the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to colonize a new world. But then, the passengers in the ship separate into different ideological groups. Right before the landing on the planet, the ship encounters technical problems and all passengers have to leave it. Of course, what'd you expect, all seven factions are spread equally over the planet and the whole familiar game of colonizing a planet starts all over again. But now in a completely different setting: space.

The makers have tried to copy many familiar Civ features to this game: the pirates have become 'mind worms': natives of the planet that attack your units now and then. The goody huts are also present, in the form of wrecks from the spaceship that sometimes contain nice stuff. The landscape looks a little different (by the way, it's in 3-D, unlike that of the later game Civ 3) from Earth, the resources have other colours, but in the end it's very easy to recognize. It is again possible to build things like mines, roads, irrigation and much more. Maybe the most important difference considering the terrain options is the fact that you can build sea towns later on in the game. Oh, and cities are now called 'bases'! The familiar system of city buildings (now called improvements) and Wonders still exists.

Considering the units, there is less variety than in Civilization. But it would be impossible to include as many units as the original has: this game starts in the near-future, after all. The makers have done the following: there are a few basic prototypes (infantry, artillery, fast cars, air jets, ships, etc.) that can be upgraded all the time through the game. This was an excellent idea, as too many weird new units would make the game very confusing. Also, it is now possible to construct your own units with the various upgrades!

One unit I mention in particular: the Planet Buster rocket. The name says it all: it is a devastating weapon that blows away entire bases and leaves behind nothing but water squares. So this is a much more powerful weapon even than the infamous nuke missiles from Civ. But this WMD is considered as a crime against humanity (quite logical, eh?) and the use of it will turn all other nations against you. But it can be declared legal at the Planetary Council.

As said, there are seven factions, such as the University, the Spartans, the Human Hive, the Peacekeepers, the Believers and so on. Each faction has its own characteristics: the University researches very quickly (therefore it's my favourite side); the Hive (sort of communists) has a very loyal people; the Spartans can sustain armies easily etcetera. Also, during the game you can twist the characteristics of your own faction endlessly. But the different groups also have their own behaviour. For example, the Believers keep demanding all sorts of things from you and often declare war after a refusal. On the other hand, the Peacekeepers and the University are nearly always trustworthy friends.

The existence of so many complex factions makes a good diplomacy inevitable, and this is where the game excels. You can talk almost endlessly with your neighbours and use your friendship for many things. For instance, when two neighbours are at war, you can kindly ask them to end these reckless activities. If you have built up a good reputation during the game, there's a good chance that they will stop the war. This is a great aspect of the game: especially on the higher levels it makes you feel like you're a great diplomat! On the other hand, when you're not considered trustworthy (which happens when you start wars against friends too often) they won't even consider listening. The programmed texts are also very funny, especially those in the conversations with the Believers! There is also a Planetary Council in which all nations can vote for a proposed measure. And it's often just as divided as the UN...

There are several ways to win the game. Of course, it's possible to kick all six competitors out and conquer the entire planet. That's probably the most challenging and funny option. It is also possible to build the greatest of all wonders: the Ascent to Transcendence. This wonder, believe it or not, creates a new kind of human beings and ends the human era as we know it. A less complicated ways to win, is gathering a lot of bucks and conquer the global market. And finally, the members of the Planetary Council can elect you General Secretary, which makes you the democratically elected ruler of the planet.

The presentation of Alpha Centauri is simply great. Notice the nice flap-out box. It also has a very thorough manual and a nice poster of all technologies in the game (at least, in my version). The in-game setting is also very good. The terrific Wonder movies of Civ II (often I built Wonders just to see those clips) are back, now even better and very 'informative' about the world you have built. The music is not as prominent: most of the soundtrack consists of dark background music that fits the science fiction setting of the game very well.

Well, I could go on for hours about this endlessly complex and fascinating game but it's enough for now. Alpha Centauri is every bit as interesting as its earthly predecessor Civilization and that should be enough to convince every fan of the franchise. But a warning for those new to this kind of game: it's... pretty addictive!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty damn good
Review: Alpha Centauri is the kind of game that you really have to get into to fully enjoy. As with the other Civilization games, it is primarily an empire building game with its prime focus on controlling the planet outlying the Alpha Centauri star system. This game is deep...and I mean DEEP. I have spent countless hours playing this game only to find that I have barely scratched the surface. Unrivaled in complexity and depth, if you have time to spare and you wish to do something that you will not regret with it, then you owe it to yourself to play this game. There are downsides to this perfection though. The game moves at a pretty slow clip, so if you are trying to get fast results, you will be disappointed. The game can suffer from overcomplexity issues with micromanagement (not NEARLY as bad as Star Wars: Rebellion thought) but the "Governer" of each base will assist with that. Other than that, some of the factions seem improperly balanced (the University faction has strengths in research...and thats it...what good is the best techs if you don't have combat attributes to use them effectively). And I think the atrocity factors are unbalanced too (use too many Planet Busting Missles and the whole PLANET hates you). But this game must be played and played to get everything out of it. Great game and a must-play.

Rating:
Summary: Is it really much better than Civilzation II?
Review: If you strip away the superior graphics, this game seems so similar to Sid Meier's classic Civilization II that I don't belive anyone looking to experience a great game necessarily needs to "upgrade."

Alpha Centauri does offer better multiplayer capabilities and an more ingenious expansion pack (which includes new human and alien factions) than current editions of Civ II, but there are things I miss from Civ II's gameplay. I feel strongly that the technologies you develop in AC are so absract that most players will have no real idea what they are devloping--instead you accept the tecnologies and continue with the game--and while the option to "build" weapons based on learned technologies is nice, gameplay seems dense enough without it. The menu system is especially intrusive, permanently taking up a third of the screen.

In AC's defense, it is still one of the most enjoyable games you can buy--though not as immediately playable as its predecessor--and is perfect for fans of SimCity style micro-management. But if you're looking for a fine gaming experience and don't need state of the art visuals, is this game really the better deal?