Rating: 
Summary: Hard to get bored of this game
Review: I've been playing Civ since 1995, when I first managed to get a copy of the original game.
I like to compare Civ with the movie The Godfather. I think Civ was to strategy gaming what The Godfather was to gangster movies. However, Godfather Part II is a more epic movie. Well, so is Civ 2. A much more complex game, that fully beats Civ!
I've been playing for 9 years, and I still enjoy one whole night playing a Civ 2 game.
Civ 2 has changed me so much as a game, and I would rank among the best ones.P.S. Godfather Part III wasn't so good, so isn't Civ 3 mainly because it is slow. Civ 2 goes right into the game right off the bat.
Rating:
Summary: 8 years later, still playing...
Review: I've been playing this game regularly since 1996. Somehow I never grow tired of it. Sometimes I feel like spending more time developing a productive civil society. Other times I want to destroy everyone else and kick [back]! If you're into SimCity, this is a great game. If you're into history, this is a great game.
Rating:
Summary: The II in "Civilization II" Does mean twice as good.
Review: If you have played Civilization and loved it like I did you will not be able to stop playing this! There are so many more options and strategies to do. When you get this you have to try the different scenarios like "After the Apocalypse" and "Atlantis". There are about 26 different scenarios. There are now many more Wonders of the Worlds. You have to try this one.
Rating:
Summary: Pity My Wife, the Civ II Widow
Review: Satanically addictive, this is the Big Kahuna, the Be-All-End-All of the God games. I strongly recommend this game for the PC gamer who is more of a thinker, plotter, a closeted tyrant than the ubiquitous kill-'em-all shooter. I caveat this hearty recommendation with the very serious warning that if you take to this game, it will alter your time management and your approach to your free time. No, I don't live to get home and hit the Civ II, but my playing of this game has been a significant part of my free time since I picked it up in 1995. The basic concept is to explore the world, develop your civilization, undertake and endure challenges, and eventually either conquer the world or successfully escape to Alpha Centauri. This is how you "win" the game. The game itself is somewhat complicated, despite the tutorial and available pop-up helpful hints. Sit down and read the manual a couple of times before you get seriously into the game. The manual itself is a bit rambling, and to my mind poorly organized. Both the table of contents and index do not lend themselves to quickly finding comprehensive answers to questions that arise as you play the game. There is also a large-format fold-out poster describing units, terrain, and civilization advances. This poster is helpful, but only once you have really begun to understand the more esoteric workings of the game. There are some surprisingly sophisticated nuances to the game, such as submarines being able to carry cruise missiles, and the ability of spies to bribe units/cities, and to repel the espionage attempts of enemy diplomats and spies. To my mind, the capabilties of settlers and engineers are a bit limited, especially in terms of capabilities to modify terrain, but this is certainly not a reason to reject the game. The graphics are very good, but there are no serious action bits to wow you. The characters/units move in rather unspectacular fashion, and the battle engagements are characterized by the units moving together and then being obscured by "dust" as they duke it out. The audio is quite good, with various bits punctuating events, such as crowds cheering for the building of certain city improvements. Here's some extremely esoteric trivia about Civ II audio: the game's sound of the ancient battle engagement is a modified recording of the battle sounds from the fight between the Black Knight and King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Listen to the audio, then check the movie, and you'll instantly see the connection. The rewards for achieving the various Wonders of the World (The Colossus, Eiffel Tower, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, etc.) are excellently developed full-motion video clips, complete with original music. The "Leonardo DaVinci's Workshop" is a personal favorite. The beauty of this game is that it is always different, and always challenging. There are a number of difficulty levels which allow you either to be seriously challenged (that is, see your civilization wiped out very, very quickly) or so ridiculously unchallenged that you conquer the world in no time at all. You can modify the rules and a number of parameters to vary the game, as well as play live online. There are also a number of add-ons and a toolkit which allow you to seriously modify the games you put together. This is a fantastic game for the thinker, the schemer, the planner. If you enjoy Risk, chess, or other strategy games, this one will very much make you happy.
Rating:
Summary: Pity My Wife, the Civ II Widow
Review: Satanically addictive, this is the Big Kahuna, the Be-All-End-All of the God games. I strongly recommend this game for the PC gamer who is more of a thinker, plotter, a closeted tyrant than the ubiquitous kill-'em-all shooter. I caveat this hearty recommendation with the very serious warning that if you take to this game, it will alter your time management and your approach to your free time. No, I don't live to get home and hit the Civ II, but my playing of this game has been a significant part of my free time since I picked it up in 1995. The basic concept is to explore the world, develop your civilization, undertake and endure challenges, and eventually either conquer the world or successfully escape to Alpha Centauri. This is how you "win" the game. The game itself is somewhat complicated, despite the tutorial and available pop-up helpful hints. Sit down and read the manual a couple of times before you get seriously into the game. The manual itself is a bit rambling, and to my mind poorly organized. Both the table of contents and index do not lend themselves to quickly finding comprehensive answers to questions that arise as you play the game. There is also a large-format fold-out poster describing units, terrain, and civilization advances. This poster is helpful, but only once you have really begun to understand the more esoteric workings of the game. There are some surprisingly sophisticated nuances to the game, such as submarines being able to carry cruise missiles, and the ability of spies to bribe units/cities, and to repel the espionage attempts of enemy diplomats and spies. To my mind, the capabilties of settlers and engineers are a bit limited, especially in terms of capabilities to modify terrain, but this is certainly not a reason to reject the game. The graphics are very good, but there are no serious action bits to wow you. The characters/units move in rather unspectacular fashion, and the battle engagements are characterized by the units moving together and then being obscured by "dust" as they duke it out. The audio is quite good, with various bits punctuating events, such as crowds cheering for the building of certain city improvements. Here's some extremely esoteric trivia about Civ II audio: the game's sound of the ancient battle engagement is a modified recording of the battle sounds from the fight between the Black Knight and King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Listen to the audio, then check the movie, and you'll instantly see the connection. The rewards for achieving the various Wonders of the World (The Colossus, Eiffel Tower, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, etc.) are excellently developed full-motion video clips, complete with original music. The "Leonardo DaVinci's Workshop" is a personal favorite. The beauty of this game is that it is always different, and always challenging. There are a number of difficulty levels which allow you either to be seriously challenged (that is, see your civilization wiped out very, very quickly) or so ridiculously unchallenged that you conquer the world in no time at all. You can modify the rules and a number of parameters to vary the game, as well as play live online. There are also a number of add-ons and a toolkit which allow you to seriously modify the games you put together. This is a fantastic game for the thinker, the schemer, the planner. If you enjoy Risk, chess, or other strategy games, this one will very much make you happy.
Rating:
Summary: Think you can do better than other leaders? PROVE IT!
Review: This game is so awesome! It takes the original Civ, and makes it better. The graphics are crisper, you have more control over your cities, and you have a group of counselors who tell you how you are doing. The only downside is that (GASP!) you might actually learn something about history! The diplomacy screens give you so much more control than the original. Plus, while you try it out, or after you beat it, you don't have to go searching for for codes, it has a cheat menu available. Some of the graphics are super intensive (like the Heralds), so unless you have a Super Kick-Ass system, I would seriously suggest just turning them off.
Rating:
Summary: Just one more turn...my God, it's 4:30 in the morning!
Review: This is a common refrain for players of this insanely addictive game. If you've played it then no doubt you've had your own experience of a time warp. Start with a humble little band of settlers and after hours of pushing back the darkness of your unexplored surroundings don't be surprised to find yourself totally engossed; perhaps in a massive civilizational war with one of the opposing tribes or involved in a desperate effort to hold things together in the face of unhappy citizens, polluted cities, scattered settlements and scare benefits. Researching, exploring, building, and conquering are your main activities. Time, decisions, choices are your main challenges. Tactically you are faced with deciding on location and number of cities. What tradeoffs are you going to make between city improvements and military forces? On the bigger strategic scale decide between war and peace and expansion or consolidation. There are various approaches to winning, many wonders to be discovered, vast lands to be explored and hours of fun to be had. Just one more turn...
Rating:
Summary: The only strategy game that ever mattered.
Review: This is THE word in strategy gaming. I find it hard to believe that anyone who has been playing war games for very long has missed this one. In my opinion, this is the best game ever made, for any platform. Civilization is based on the original game "Empire" by interstel. In "Empire" you controlled armies that invaded foreign lands - discovering as you conquered. In Civilizations I and II, you build an empire from the ground up. Political, economic, scientific, military, and social issues abound. If I were to encounter an alien who did not understand anything about human culture, I would give him/her a copy of Civ II with a Pentium 300 and check back with them in 3 months. Unfortunately they would probably have taken over the world by then.... Shawn
Rating:
Summary: One of the best computer games made ever
Review: This is without any doubt one of the bast computer games made ever. And I don't just mean one of the best strategy titles, but allround games. I played Civ I for over 3 years! and I was very sceptic about this new version of the game. But I must say that this game is soooooooo mush better that the first one. Buy it, and be preparred to lose you sleep from now on... (for at sci-fi version of Civ II look up Alpha Centauri)
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous replayability
Review: To give you an idea of what a great game this is, I bought it back in the spring of 1996. Soon after, I started at noon on a weekend and played straight through to midnight. I ate in front of the computer while playing. Three and a half years later, I still find myself playing the game once in a while. In the intervening time, I've gone through the Fantastic Worlds supplement and "Call to Power" (aka Civ 3). The original Civ 2 just has a freshness to it that is quite remarkable. The secret to the game? (1) keep building settlers, then form new cities; (2) get to Monarchy, and then to Democracy; (3) start converting other cities to your civilization via diplomats/spies; (4) once you get the Stealth technology, switch to Fundamentalism; (5) thrash your opponents; (6) leave one enemy civilization with one city; (7) build the spaceship; (8) launch in 2007 or 2008. Many of the Wonders of the World are nice but not necessary. You want the Great Library, Adam Smith's Trading, the two science wonders, the UN, and Hoover Dam.
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