Prepare to say goodbye to a lot of free time. As a fan of the original Civilization, a complex turn-based strategy sim about building vast kingdoms through thousands of years of human history, I was keen to review the sequel and my editor let me. Reader, I became completely addicted. I played the game for two weeks non-stop, leaving many pages of the magazine unwritten.
This earned me a very severe written warning. Now it is back, and I can no longer avoid it. I must face my seductive nemesis. In many ways, this is the game that I, and many thousands of other fans, have always known and obsessively loved: a complex, far-reaching and fascinating simulation tracking the rise of empires from ancient tribal groups to modern-day superpowers.
As a player, you found towns and cities, gather resources and research new technologies, from literacy to nuclear fission, while sending out settlers, merchants and armies to expand your reach and either placate or destroy other nations. No two campaigns are ever the same. For this new instalment, coming almost a decade after its predecessor, Firaxis has made some radical alterations. The biggest by far is that you no longer guide a single civilisation throughout the entire campaign.
Instead, you select a leader with attributes you admire β the sneaky Machiavelli, perhaps, or how about the wise Confucius β then guide that figure through a series of three distinct historical ages picking a different nation for each section.
Each nation has its own unique units and buildings, adding extra nuance to your game. There are other changes to make the game more approachable for modern players. Leaders attain attribute points based on achievements in six categories such as culture, science and combat, which can be spent on related skill trees β just like a role-playing game.
