Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 15 years, you're bound to be aware of the superlative Civilization series of games, created by one of my personal gaming gods - Sid Meier... ok, maybe SimGolf was a mistake, but you have to forgive prodigies for some of their conceits. ;)

For the cave-dwelling troglodytes: back in the prehistoric days of 1991, Microprose released a single-player turn-based strategy game, loosely based on an even older boardgame by the same name. Starting with a single settler unit in 4000 BC, the goal is to build a world spanning empire, dominating other civilisations (yes, it's spelled with an S in "real" English !) by any means possible. In the original game, this was achieved in two ways - total destruction of all your opponents or getting your people into space and on their way to Alpha Centauri. Added into the heady mix of gaming goodness were technology trees (rather hard to get into space using stone axes) and "Wonders" which give a variety of benefits - everyone wants a Pyramid in their backyard... don't they ? It was an immensely popular game, winning numerous awards in the gaming community over the years, and sucking up countless many hours/days/weeks of my life. Of course, popular games spawn sequels like trailer trash pop sprogs and Civ was no exception; Sid created the next incarnation in '96, adding new units, city buildings and wonders. The basic gameplay remained the same, albeit with refined graphics - still a far cry from... well, Far Cry. Hey, the venerable Voodoo graphics accelerator was only just released that year and besides, it's not all about the polygonal high-res, 3D accelerated, wipe the drool off my chin graphics is it ? Who am I kidding, of course it is... but this isn't one of those games.

Say goodbye to Babylon!

I digress, sorry... I do that often, where was I ? Civilization (there's that damn "Z" again) III appeared in 2001 and introduced culture - that thing the French are renowned for. No, not fleeing the battlefield like cheese-eating surrender monkeys, the other thing. Finally, an alternate means of subjugating the known world other than military domination - nothing better than ensuring everyone eats Big Macs and watches MTV too (wait, are my political ideologies showing). Diplomacy also played more of a role, in the form of a new victory condition - death by United Nations... I mean, becoming the ultimate despot as the UN Secretary General. Of course total destruction was still an option for the bloodthirsty: turning your rival's cities into mushroom clouds was still just as effective, if that's more your style. Tempting indeed...

Which brings us to the most recent and greatest version: Civ4, released at the end of last year (2005) polished an already deep and rewarding game to near perfection, came with a total graphics overhaul and included a long awaited and anticipated multiplayer option. An attempt had been made previously to add MP functionality in the "Play the World" expansion for Civ3, but the design just didn't support it - it both sucked and blowed, if that is indeed possible. This time they managed to get it right, for the most part - there were technical issues related to firewalls and routers but from a gaming perspective, it worked. Of course, progressing through 6000 years of history is not a trivial undertaking online, but various game settings were introduced to allow for quicker games; all in all, it was reasonably successful - FreeCiv just doesn't compare. In addition, a subject that had been noticeable by its absence was finally broached - that of religion. Yeah, that thing that should not be discussed at the pub, along with politics... unless you enjoy all-in barneys (ok, I admit it, I do enjoy a good rant with my beer - adds to the flavour). Firaxis took the safe path and it's a largely nominal feature associated with the culture and diplomacy systems - probably for the best, but it's a nice touch nevertheless. The game's graphics are vastly improved over its prequels - it now uses the Gamebryo engine (as seen in Sid Meier's Pirates) allowing smooth zooming from a closeup of units right out to a global overview. Sure, it won't win any awards for eye candy, but still... it's pretty enough to look at - feels like a game made this century anyway.

Stonehenge in Holland?

Now, after all that prattling, on to a more recent title, namely the Warlords expansion. Released a few months ago, it's an evolution of the changes made to the series (rather than a revolution), but it does cover various key missing features. The most noticeable change is on the combat side of things - where there were "Great Person" units (a reward in the form of a unit that could be used to increase culture, accelerate research or provide a variety of other benefits) for culture, science and religion, it's now possible to acquire Great General units for combat. These can be used in a similar fashion to the other Great Persons, or be converted into Warlords - units that boost the effectiveness of all other units in the stack. Going on a worldwide rampage, raping (and pillaging) your opponents ? Take one of these along, you won't be disappointed - they kick serious booty. If you tire of said pillaging, subdued neighbours can now be converted to Vassal States - while wiping them off the map is fun, subjecting them to your tyrannic rule and making them pay you in gold, resources, research and technology can be even better... your call. They do expect you to defend them but hey, if that's too much trouble, cut them loose and destroy them completely ! If you were bored of crushing the existing nations, 6 new civilisations have been added along with 4 alternative leaders. This ties in with a revamp of the leader traits - not a major change, but it does tweak the balance between the existing choices somewhat. Of course, as with previous expansions, you get the usual new buildings and wonders: in particular, each nation gets its own unique building (which replaces an existing standard building) adding a little more incentive to try out other civs - variety being the spice of life and all that. The main feature I can't live without is the new Great Wall wonder - the barbarians in the early game were always a thorn in my side... Chuck one of these up and they become your neighbour's problem. Works for me... well, it would if I actually had any skills in the game. Why, oh why can't I beat the damn thing in Noble difficulty ? WTB mad skillz, pst. :(

So if you are a Civ addict from way back, or a novice with hankering from some deep and involved turn-based action as a break from the usual twitch-based FPS'ing, you can't really go past Civ IV and it's expansion.

If ya happy and ya know it clap ya hands!

Random quote:

In the beginning, the Earth was without form, and void.
But the Sun shone upon the sleeping Earth and deep inside the brittle crust massive forces waited to be unleashed.
The seas parted and great continents were formed. The continents shifted, mountains arose. Earthquakes spawned massive tidal waves. Volcanoes erupted and spewed forth fiery lava and charged the atmosphere with strange gases.
Into this swirling maelstrom of Fire and Air and Water the first stirrings of Life appeared: tiny organisms, cells, and amoeba, clinging to tiny sheltered habitats.
But the seeds of Life grew, and strengthened, and spread, and diversified, and prospered, and soon every continent and climate teemed with Life.
And with Life came instinct, and specialization, natural selection, Reptiles, Dinosaurs, and Mammals and finally there evolved a species known as Man and there appeared the first faint glimmers of Intelligence.
The fruits of intelligence were many: fire, tools, and weapons, the hunt, farming, and the sharing of food, the family, the village, and the tribe. Now it required but one more ingredient: a great Leader to unite the quarreling tribes to harness the power of the land to build a legacy that would stand the test of time:
a CIVILIZATION!

And the nature of Monkey was irrepressible ! Wait... wrong series.