Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)

To all of us who had loved the original 1994 game, this release was an early Christmas season....or at least it promised to be.

Based on the well known Civ4 engine, Civ4-COLONIZATION is a standalone expansion (the original Civ4 does not have to be pre-installed) that offers the flavor of the classic COLONIZATION in a sparkling new packaging.

The graphics are superb, the units well designed and their animated repertoire expected. If new to the series, the disproportional sizes of units and cities will look funny at first but one quickly appreciates the clarity this adds to the game.
After playing this for two days (and everyone who ever played a CIVILIZATION game knows that these include many early morning hours as well...), I did not encounter but minor glitches: naval units making their animated turns on land, units going invisible once automated; nothing a small patch cannot handle.

Both the production of units and their effective use require some getting used to before one can really enjoy the game - and (judging by my experience) I suspect that gamers who are new to the series will have less trouble in catching up with the learning curve than veteran fans adapting to it. Those endless hours in front of our screens, apparently, have engraved the familiar gameplay in our brains - and the grooves have set pretty deep by now...

So, whether familiar with the Civ4 gameplay or not, prepare to adapt or forever remain loyal subjects. Because this is the point for both the original and this remake: become strong enough colonists to shed the shackles of the country of origin.
This characteristic gives a two faceted gameplay: whereas the first half of every game is all about cooperation and trade and keeping the peace, once independence is declared the game turns into a fierce war theater - for which you better be prepared!

The maps can be randomized but the small number of pre-made ones are exclusively on the American continent and the colonies of English, Dutch, French and Spanish (no, still no Portuguese! I guess Brazil founded itself). Be it in the form of a further expansion or a patch, leaving out the Asian and Oceanic colonies (from India and China to New Zealand and Australia) is an omission that needs to be corrected.

Speaking of historic inaccuracies, although the New World colonies thrived on the labor of slaves, slavery never comes into play with this game and is not even mentioned. I do realize the developers' position and frantic attempt to avoid controversy, but I remember the CALL TO POWER series handling this shameful issue with class an racial consideration.

Bottom line: Civ4-COLONIZATION is small standalone expansion of the Civ4 franchise that has the depth of a mod and adds little to the series besides better graphics and animated units. Innovation has always been a risky business...

On an encouraging note, the hard lesson of the BIOSHOCK fiasco was not lost on the 2K GAMES people: Civ4-COLONIZATION harbors SecuROM DRM but not one of the latest nastier...combinations - the game requires no online activation and it does not limit the number of installations.
These days, this alone deserved rounding up its rating from 3½ to 4 stars.

I bought this game with a lot of doubt and uncertainty as I had read so many reviews telling me it was only half done, how the King's forces were too powerful, and how it was impossible to win (even on the easy level) without some sort of cheating strategy. All in all those who like me loved the original game were in for a massive disappointment!

Well it isn't true. This is a GREAT game!

So why the all the criticism? Why are so many people dumping on this game? Well let me give you my humble analysis.

First this isn't like any other Civilization game. In fact it's very close the the original Colonization and requires a whole different strategy to win. In many ways it's far superior to Civilzation because of the way the game has a solid and unambiguous ending. Your declare independence, the King's forces attack ... and you win or loose the battle that follows.

But it does mean you can't just grow your civilzation willy-nilly without worrying about how the king is reacting to what you do. If you get too much Rebel sentiment too early the King will build up his forces and come down on you with a massive army. You have to play this game like it was meant to be played in the original ... with an eye on the King and how he's reacting to what you do.

But secondly to those people who (like me) played and loved the original game, although there are many changes (especially in the combat format) they do NOT in fact detract from the game, if anything they in make it far deeper and more interesting.

Yes the King's forces outnumber you when you declare Independence. Yes his Artillery and his Men-of-War are stronger than anything you can make. But the game is designed to be played like the actual Battle for Indepedence was fought. The King is a rich European ruler with a huge army and lots of experienced Generals. Your meager force cannot expect to beat such troops in a head-to-head battle. If you hold up in cities and stack your Soldiers and Cannons behind the walls and hope he's gonna smash himself to bits then you're asking for trouble. In fact he's gonna run through you like a dose of salts!

But if you look closely you'll see all the defence bonuses you can get for fighting in the woods and hills. If you spread your cities out (with some inland) and you ambush his forces as they march overland the picture sudenly reverses. Your raw Dragons and Soldiers suddenly find they can tear the King's troops apart. Hit and run, retreat your men when you're loosing a city and fight in open country, and before you know it this massive 'unstoppable' army is suddenly dwindling to nothing!

There are other strategies too you can employ (like divding his troops by allowing them to capture some of your coastal cities which he then has to defend) but I'll leave you to discover them for yoursef.

The only other point I want to make is how the new combat system and the advent of 'Leaders' allows you to make armies, and how as a result you really do start to feel like you're running a revolutionary force.

As I said there are many significant changes to the way the original Colonization worked (one important one is how guns and tools are no longer 'used up' by performing actions), but if you approach this game with an open mind and be patient enough to learn how it works, you might find that 'Civ: Colonization' is actually more like the orginal 'Colonization' (in spirit anyway) than you ever dared imagine.

Either way this is a complex and absorbing game which I heartily recommend!

Being a huge fan of both the original Colonization game and the Civilization IV game, I was excited to see that 2K Games had done a remake of Colonization based on the Civ format. I ordered the game and have had no trouble installing or playing it on either my laptop or my husband's.

The game itself is similar in feel to the original game although with hugely improved graphics (naturally!) and is easy to pick up especially if you are familiar with Civ. There are handy tutorial hints throughout the game which you can choose to turn on or off.

Small hint! When it comes to declaring independence you may find that the king does seem to have an unfair advantage with the amount of troops he has at his disposal. You can enter the 'world builder' menu which is exactly the same as the one in Civ and add as many extra troops/ships etc as you wish... of course it does make the game less of a challenge though!