Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

Civilization III is one of those games in a series that really highlights everything that people love about it.

Graphics: Good for its time, although time has not been so good to it in return. But the look is clean, and thoughtfully laid out, and nothing is left to the imagination (ie "what is that pixelated mess I'm looking at?").

Gameplay: There is so much I could write here as I have spent so much time with this game, as well as its siblings Civ II and Civ IV. Though both games are good in their own right, Civ III is where Sid Meier got almost everything right.

You begin by choosing a great civilization of mankind, be it the Japanese, Zulu Nation, Greece, even America. You take the part of a most famous leader of that civilization and lead your people into war, prosperity, or exploration as you set to become the greatest power in the world. You start at the dawn of civilization, discovering the first of mans technologies, the wheel, horse drawn carriage, the alphabet...all the way to manufacturing ICBMs to blow up half a continent!

The game is won by either destroying the other nations, being the first to create a spaceship [That if I recall is bound for mars] or end the game with the highest score of all. There is much more to this game than the likes of RTS games like Age of Empires or Red Alert in which your main focus is resource gathering and army building. No... Civilization is turn based, allowing you to take your time in making rational decisions that can effect the entire game world. While you do focus and building near precious resources to collect and building armies to protect your land, that is only a part of the whole picture. Diplomacy in this game is just as.. if not more important than simply creating the next great army. I guarantee you will not be able to win on your lonesome. competing against other nations means sometimes you must do business with them, trading resources, trading technology, allying against another nation, setting up trade embargoes.

You must also deal with your own government. To be a dictatorship and squash any form of protest? OR become a democracy and trade power over the people for production?

I could talk about this game for hours, but I'll keep this brief. This game is a must play for any serious strategy fan, and any gamer in general. This is a game that through excellent use of gameplay, can stand the test of time.