Rating: 
Summary: Alpha Centauri is sooo addictive it should be illegal
Review: This is without a doubt the game to end all other games. Once installed, you will not want to, or need to play anything else. I have lost years of my life to this game. In fact do not buy it, if you want to have a life too. Alpha Centauri will assimilate you completely. For more civ reviews: http://www.otterit.co.nz/games/games.htm
Rating:
Summary: Excellent stopping point between Civ 2 & 3
Review: This game is just unique and quirky enough to get the coveted five stars. The whole idea (story) is a perfect lead-in for the game itself. And it does employ a few aspects found in Civ III - the automatic growth of cities, the fighting that is not quite to the death, the addition of new Wonders... Great game and lots of fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Civilization follow-on
Review: Alpha Centauri is a turn-based, city-building strategy, a great follow-on but not a sequel to Civilization II. The game adds a lot of diplomacy features although I usually try to wipe the other players out. Alpha Centauri has automation features too: City governors who decide what to build, although sometimes they would try to build something they shouldn't such as the 'Build' governor making military units. Overall a classic, recommended for most and a must have for Civilization fans.
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Summary: The greatest strategy game of all time?
Review: Civilization II was the first turn-based stategy game I ever played. Heck, it was the first strategy game I ever played period. And it was amazing. Take control of a civilization and guide from the dark ages all the way to the launch of a space ship to an alien world. The only way you can possibly describe a game that attempts to simulate all of history is EPIC. Civilization II was greatly loved, and with good reason. It was quite possibly the most addictive strategy game ever when it was released. So when people heard about a sequel to what many considered the greatest game of all time...Alpha Centauri. In my opinion, this IS the greatest computer strategy game ever, to say nothing of the greatest turn-based computer strategy game ever. There is just so much to love. First, this game is amazingly engineered. It had VERY low system requirements when it came out, and runs fantastically on a modern machine. The interface is brilliant. The graphics are clean and detailed. The background sounds are perfect. When a technology comes up, you get a voice reading about it, when you build a wonder, you get a cool movie to watch. And there are so many ways to play within each game. You can micro-manage everything, telling your formers exactly what to do, telling every city exactly what to build, designing your own unit types. Or you can set formers, cities, and units to be completely automatic. And of course each leader you can choose has distinct advantages and disadvantages, lending themselves to different playstyles. It would take quite a while to master every faction and playstyle in this game. And I haven't even gone into the multi-player, the senarios, and the fact that almost EVERYTHING in the rules of the game is customizable. I believe there are about seven or eight ways to win! But of course the the harder ways take longer and give a higher score... In conclusion I will say this. This would be a great game if it were merely civilization in space. But what makes it the best of all time for me is the story. There is a sci-fi storyline to this game, and when interacting with other faction leaders you almost feel like you're watching a historical epic with you as one of the main characters (at least that's how I felt the first time I played). I once even found myself daydreaming about conversations I was having with different faction leaders. Maybe I had just gone a little too long without sleep, maybe I was just playing a little too much, or maybe...this is the greatest strategy game ever made. Now to get back to reading the prologue I downloaded off of the offical website and download some wallpaper...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Game I Have Ever Played
Review: The problem with most people that play this game is they view it on a superficial level. They never go deep into it. Once you go deep enough, you will find it is the best game ever.
Rating:
Summary: Great game, although can be hard to master.
Review: This game is the Civilization concept set on another planet. The graphics are cooler, and their is flexiblity in creating weapons and the such. I like the United Nations concept, but some of the dialog, especially when you discover something new is kind of irritating. It's usually something pretentious. It's a little harder to master and learn than Civ2, so it will take longer to get bored with it than Civ2. I like the constant graphics that tell you who is winning, and who is the strongest, it helps out a lot with strategy.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining time-waster with few improvements over Civ2
Review: I am a huge fan of Sid Meier's products, and I enjoy AC very much. This game is largely Civ2 in space, with a couple of distinct changes that greatly improve the game play. First, the planet Chiron (or "Planet," as it is called) is much more of a character in the game than Earth is in Civ and Civ2. Your increased industrial development may result in environmental damage. Where Civ and Civ2 punish haphazard development with pollution, Planet strikes back. Xenofungus, the ubiquitous red-pink substance that covers much of Planet's surface, will wipe out your environmental improvements. Also, global warming may cause the oceans to rise, wiping out your coastal cities. In Civ and Civ2, your only responses to pollution are to build certain city improvements and use your settlers to eliminate pollution. In AC, you may build improvements, or you may also change your society's philosophy to "Green" to be more in tune with Planet. Also, you may change your geographic improvements from Mines and Solar Collectors to the more eco-friendly Forest, or you may plant more Fungus. Second, choices of various Social Engineering choices are more varied in AC, allowing for greater variety of societies. Third, the production queue and Governor function automate some of the more tedious aspects of the game. And the graphics for the units, the cities (each faction's cities look different), the Design Shop, and Planet's characteristics are a big stride over Civ and Civ2. That being said, AC leaves something to be desired. Despite the changes and the multiple paths to victory, the game still gets a bit dull in the latter third when you've pulled away from your rivals. Resource management becomes paramount, and communication and interaction less so. There is a plot device in the prologue (the murder of the mission commander on the Unity) that goes nowhere in the game. It's also doubtful that some of the factions would be so aggressive militarily so early in the game: you've just landed on a new hostile planet, and you want to go to war over 50 energy credits? The AI also periodically places your initial units in a position where you have no chance whatsoever to survive 50 turns, let alone win the game, so rebooting is an occasional necessity. Unlike Civ2, the progression of the knowledge tree is a bit haphazard (but that's to be expected of a game predicting future technological advances). The factions are very balanced, as demonstrated by the other reviews saying "I always win with X faction . . ." The movies for the Secret Projects and cut-scenes are wonderful, and the music and sound effects are first-rate (although there should be much more variety in the combat sounds -- there are two). If you like turn-based strategy resource-allocation games (and you know if you do or not), buy this game. If you want an action-strategy game, get something from Blizzard.
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Summary: Alpha Centauri
Review: In the Metric Year 2060, riots and wars have nearly destroyed Earth and the United Nations. As the end grows near, the United Nations Starship Unity is launched towards the planet, called, simply, 'Planet', which orbits Alpha Centauri A. As the Unity approaches Planet, a meteor collission damages the ship. The seven most powerfull leaders of the ship each take their share of crewmembers, supplies, and a 'Colony Pod', and split, minutes before the Unity's fusion core explodes. Choose to be leader of one of the seven factional leaders-Academician Prokhor Zakharov,of the scientific University of Planet; the religious Sister Miriam Godwinson, of the Lord's Beleivers; Brother Pravin Lal, of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces; and four more. Explore unknowm territory, recover resupply pods scattered by the Unity before it was destroyed, battle other factions and alien swarms, and talk with the other leaders. If you like Civilization, Outpost, and Command and Conquer,you'll love this! Also, be sure to buy the expansion pack, Alien Crossfire!
Rating:
Summary: Just short of perfection
Review: The title for this review would be "absolute perfection" if it weren't for the stratospheric expectations I had of it. The gameplay, as anyone familiar with Civ would know, is unbelievably addictive, we're talking losing sleep and missing meals addictive. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Civ and AlphaCentauri have a "Just One More Turn" phenomenon. Unlike other games with different races, the seven factions in the game are supremely balanced, and Firaxis has created a fairly interesting storyline. The only faults I have with the game are: 1) its harder to relate to the units-- its a lot easier to visualize tanks and legions than sigularity trance marines; and 2) with the latest patches startup can take a long time. But these are not even pimples on blips on the radar.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Game
Review: This is an excellent game. Though this is a sequel to Civ II there is no need to have experience on that game. This new game eliminates the blurring of history periods that occurs in Civ II. It also allows for different kinds of victories. It further has many customization options. Then there are the nuclear weapons! WOW! You can upgrade the warheads and the bombs get more and more powerful. At one point you can vaproize about 20 squares and as many cities that would be in that area! The mushroom cloud that accompanies the strike is most impressive. Unlike a lot of sims out there, this one come with very complete information and manuals. If you enjoyed Civ II or the builing empires kind of games this is a MUST HAVE!
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