Rating: 
Summary: A Civ Better than Civ
Review: Alpha Centauri has several notable features not present in Civilation. Even Civilization 3 lacks several of the features of Alpha Centauri. Each Alpha Centauri faction has a personality and there are mp3 files of the voices of Professor Zhakarov or Sister Miriam. The faction leaders are much more alive and dynamic than playing with a Civilization Empire such as Rome. The Gaians prefer environmental harmony and the Morgans prefer wealth and business and then there is the Spartan enclave.The military units are much better in Alpha Centauri than in Civilization. In Alpha Centauri the units are customizable. Each unit in Alpha Centauri is modular and can be modified or upgraded. You can design AA units that defend against air units and land units. You can also design cloaked probes or amphibious units. You can also terraform the land with your former units or even terraform the sea. You can even have advanced formers that terraform both land and sea squares. Your military units can have improved abilities and morale modules. Planting forests not only plants them but forests even grow in Alpha Centauri. You can design and produce thousands of military units and variations. In comparison in Civilization the units are fixed. In Civilization you can have infantry or militia or cavalry but the attack and defense and movement attributes stay constant in the game and the units have stayed similar names. Alpha Centauri has several advantages over the Civilization games. In the Civilization games you spend 3000 years and hours approaching a technological level of sophistication and technology and sometimes you fail before you are destroyed. You spend hours to get tanks and battleships. Alpha Centauri starts at the top of the technology pyramid with rapid technology advancement and skips the stone age medieval age and dark ages for modern combat. In a few turns you can get the technology to build sea units or ocean cities and ocean units. You can have air units much sooner than in Civilization. In Civilization 80% of the work takes place in getting to the Modern Age whereas in Alpha Centauri you can obtain units such as plasma sentinals and needle jets much sooner. In Alpha Centauri you skip all the primitive ages and start at the high tech age. Alpha Centauri also has 3d land which can have elevation that can be raised or lowered. Ocean Cities are much more prominent in Alpha Centauri. You can build a city on the water. There is also a lot of strategy to Alpha Centauri and the military aspects make for a much more dynamic game.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best thinking person's game
Review: As titled.
The game's other principle designer, Brian Howard went on to do Rise of Nations, a worthy game but without the incredible story-line and in-depth richness of ACAX.
ACAX was a delight not just for the gameplay but for the entire experience: the cultural references, the well-developed factions, the whole mind-worm experience.
One could get immersed in ACX the same way one could in Balder's Gate, Everquest, etc: but at the same time play a Risk/Age of Empires-like military campaign. To be sure, the Starcraft series is classic; as well as the first two Myths.
But AC and ACAX, from the same era, set a standard for a total gaming experience that very few strat games since have approached.
Great stuff. I'd love to see a new version with many of the old characters.
Rating:
Summary: Alpha Centauri
Review: Being a long-time fan of Civilization, and Sid Meier games in general, I admit I felt a certain trepidation when first playing the game. The interface and style of play were so reminiscent of Civilization I&II that I thought Alpha would be just another clone in a a long line of them.(Call to Power comes to mind...) But Alpa Centauri surprised me. It has a depth in story that was lacking in previous games, and the characters are all fully fleshed out in their beliefs and speech patterns. From Deirdre the Planer-friendly enviromentalist to Morgan Freeman the ruthless profit-driven marketeer, they all have their own definite agenda. And unlike previous games, your enemies can think. Diplomacy and war go hand in hand, with the computer working together behind your back or deciding to make war on your allies so another force can strike in your blind spot, the AI is sophisticated enough to provide a challenge to the most jaded player. Difficulty settings are easily adjusted, with easy being, well, easy, and the hard setting can make you weep to see it all crumble around you. Alpha Centauri continues to astound me, even after multiple games it still feels new and engaging. So go buy it already.
Rating:
Summary: A Pox on Sid Meier!
Review: For making such a freakingly addictive game. I had to delete it from my computer I was playing it too much! As far as gameplay, there are so many different avenues to take--diplomatic, war mongering, economic, a little of everything--that it's replayability is beyond rapproach. You can create new factions, import those created by gamers on the internet, and this only adds to the games consistency. What sets this game apart from its Civilization-like competitors, is the morbid science fiction backdrop that is as attractive as some of the better science fiction novels (although it definitely has a space opera bent to it). This is a nuanced futuristic society that subtely brings in many of the upcoming issues of tommorrow - genetic modification, cybernetic humans, quantum gravity. The characters reflect the tension and problems of tommorrow's science, and the various philosophical reactions humanity can have to it. An awesome game, well worth the money. I wish Firaxis would develop this line further...
Rating:
Summary: A Pox on Sid Meier!
Review: For making such a freakingly addictive game. I had to delete it from my computer I was playing it too much! As far as gameplay, there are so many different avenues to take--diplomatic, war mongering, economic, a little of everything--that it's replayability is beyond rapproach. You can create new factions, import those created by gamers on the internet, and this only adds to the games consistency. What sets this game apart from its Civilization-like competitors, is the morbid science fiction backdrop that is as attractive as some of the better science fiction novels (although it definitely has a space opera bent to it). This is a nuanced futuristic society that subtely brings in many of the upcoming issues of tommorrow - genetic modification, cybernetic humans, quantum gravity. The characters reflect the tension and problems of tommorrow's science, and the various philosophical reactions humanity can have to it. An awesome game, well worth the money. I wish Firaxis would develop this line further...
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely complex ....
Review: I'm a Caesar III and Pharoah/Cleopatra addict. I found this game to be extremely complex by comparison. This is not a game for people who want to just load up and start playing. There is a lot of reading that should be done just to get started on the first game! There were so MANY options to choose from that I almost gave up the first night out. The books that came with this package didn't give me the straight forward "how to play", instead it gave me theory and formulas. I got so frustrated just trying to read them that I very nearly threw the darn thing out. The first 3 tutorials weren't very helpful either. I won each of the scenarios but still am not really sure how or why. All that said, I started automating certain functions and started to watch how the computer manipulated things and that gave me a lot more insight into how to run the factions myself. I'm still confused on a lot of the technology. There just seems to be SO MUCH involved that even now, I've still only got a very basic grasp of this game. If you don't mind a complex game with lots of things to learn then this game is for you. The game IS addictive. I've found that several hours can pass and you don't even know it. Since I've only been playing a week, I'm sure that there is a lot more to this game than what I've uncovered. I do wish, though, it was possible to win a game within a couple of hours instead of having to play for days at a time.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best game of its type yet-absorbing & addictive
Review: I've been playing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri since the week it was released. When the expansion pack, Alien Crossfire, was released, I bought that right away as well. That was some time ago. I'm still playing it. Regularly. About the only other game I have ever owned with this kind of addictive play is SimCity 2000 (SimCity 3000 is graphically lovely but not nearly as absorbing). With all of the factions, random maps, difficulty levels, customizable units, etc, gameplay is surprisingly different every time. Mixing and matching the factions is fascinating. Perhaps the best feature of the game is that it forces you to think strategically as well as tactically - you literally have to think 20 to 50 turns ahead of the game all the time. Really a wonderful piece of work; I cannot recommend it more highly. And now I think I'll sign off and boot it up...
Rating: 
Summary: Addictive.
Review: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is for those who loved the original Civilization but who prefer science fiction over historic recreation. I know - I'm one of them. Alpha Centauri's diverse selection of factions is better than Civ's nations - each has its own goal, agenda and beliefs that you will discover as they fight, trade and politick with you. The Alien Crossfire expansion includes new factions - including two alien ones - and new advancements for the game. If there's one problem, it's that the different advances avaialble to you are hard to differerntiate once you've built them into your military units.
Rating:
Summary: For Strategy Fans: Alpha Centauri May Be Mandatory
Review: The other Amazons are far more articulate and enthusiastic in their reviews than I am, but I thought I might have something worthwhile to add for those who aren't strategy fans. Alpha Centauri is best suited for those players looking for a thoughtful, slow-paced, resource management and long-term planning game. The graphics, although I find them pleasing, are not spectacular: the space age units aren't all that exciting at the standard view and won't grab your imagination. Sound effects are adequate and the music mediocre. If you're a real-time strategy enthusiast this may not be your game. Casual players may prefer something that can jump into right away. If you've played Civ I or Civ II, you'll find strong game design similarities, except that a lot of what was intuitive is gone: it's no longer obvious were your tech research is taking you, military units bizarre, terraforming options strange, commerce and government types difficult to use. In short, I don't think its necessarily true that if you loved Civ I or Civ II that you'll like Alpha Centauri. Anyway, you should download the demo first. Note also that there is a gamesite that has a very helpful online strategy book which contains a lot of helpful advice (I can't remember the site, but your search engine should find it. Try Amazon's Book Dept for a review of the strategy guide. A reviewer there mentions the site by name.)
Rating:
Summary: Get it for less
Review: There are moneygrubbers who are going to kill me for this but for all of you wanting this game for a reasonable price this is for you.
Don't bother buying in secondary market for an overblown price. Pick up the laptop collection by EA games, $20 for both main game and expansion and some other strategy games to boot, some of which are quite good. Save yourself some cash and get some great games.
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