Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Complete (PC DVD)

First I will get the negative out of the way; the worst thing about this transaction was that I was expecting delivery to be a little quicker. However it was posted the day I ordered it and arrived in five days so it was still quick and I would assume that there was a mix up at the post office which is something the seller had no control over.The price was excellent, some sellers were offering the same game for six times more than this seller, I think I got an absolute bargain!The game is even better than I was expecting it to be, up until this point I only had the demo version which I downloaded from the internet last summer. The CD contains all the extra extension packages which was totally unexpected due to me not reading the information provided about the product in full. I could take or leave the extensions to be honest but the basic gameplay (which I actually bought it for) goes a lot further than the demo version that I had. There were a load of extra features which added a lot of the game and made it a lot more enjoyable. The extra features included things such as natural disasters, and things which either strengthened or weakened your relations with other civilizations. Some of these were in the players control and some were not. This made the game much more like real life and at times I had to make some hard decisions but as I stated previously, it just added to the enjoyment. There are some other cool features too but far too many to write about.In short I could not ask for anything more from this seller!

I have had this game for a few months now and feel " qualified " to review it. I am not one to play computer games often, though I did have lots of fun with my sons PS and X-box in the past. I bought this on impulse after reading other peoples reviews. I quite enjoyed getting to grips with the game despite the learning curve being very steep. There is no manual enclosed with the pack, which would have made life a lot easier, but there is a tutor within the software. Maybe I,m a little old fashioned, but I just didn,t like continually interrupting the flow of the game to find out my options and how to access them. To a certain extent the game is intuitive and a little trial and error with the main screen symbols will help you along. The gameplay itself just left me cold. It just seems to take forever to achieve anything within the game. Hours pass by and I,ve asked myself at the end.." why ". I know its supposed to be a strategy game but I get so much more fun and a much stronger challenge with a simple Chess programme.

Civilization is beyond addictive. Civilization is addictive like your kid's smile, or crack cocaine- this will keep you up nights, this will have you thinking about it when you are not playing it, it might become an obsession. It is a dangerously compelling game. When in the middle of a big game I think about strategy and future plans even when i'm not playing it, this is the most involving game i've ever played. Not to mention that is incredibly fun!I believe this is not just the best strategy game ever. No, this- Civilisation IV Complete, is one of the greatest games of all time. The two add ons Beyond the Sword and Warlords add so much to the package it is now nothing short of a classic and a bench mark in game quality. Civ IV complete is the consolation for everybody disappointed with Civ V (who isn't?) with Civ V they've lost sight of what made Civ IV great, no big deal eh? We can all go back to Civ Complete and who was bored of it anyway? I'm not, it flirts with perfection- it isn't perfect nothing ever is, but is is a fantastically engaging world, look up 'immersion' in the dictionary and there is a picture of this game. It's the best pure strategy game I've played.Graphics- ***** Sound/Music- ***** Game play- ***** Lasting appeal- *****

Am I the only person who found this game a load of old pants?!I am a huge fan of strategy games, such as Total War, Age of Empires etc. I have heard great things about this game so I thought I would give it a go, yet after 3 hours of playing I don't see what the hype is about!A few bad points are:- The game menu layout is stupid and annoying!- The tip advisor, Sid himself, has to be the most annoying man on the planet!- The Lennard Nimoy speech everytime you upgrade something drives me crazy!- The research tree is a great idea but poorly done! It makes you HAVE to choose something!- I found myself skipping turns every 2 minutes waiting for things to research! With Total War, no turn should ever just be skipped!- The characters try to make deals with you without actually asking for anything!The whole game just seems like its made by Spongebob Square pants!So, after 3 hours of trying my damn hardest to love this game, its gone in the bin and Total War Empire came back off the shelf!I really want to give this game 2 stars but this is the first game I've ever owned that has ended up in the bin! Not even Stronghold 3 ended up in the bin!-------UPDATE: The game loaded addware onto my system! I have had to fresh install my entire system! I have been getting adds popup everywhere and my task manager is going crazy! 100% possitive this game is to blame, no question in my mind this game is to blame! 100%!

This is a useful extension to one of the better of the Civ games.Unique looking units for the different civilisations plus a few new ones to choose from improves the look of the game but the main benefits are the improved AI, the great generals and an evening out of the different units strenghts (attacking with a horde of spearmen can actually work now). Some of the new sciences and related buildings also throw up the odd twist here and there. The introduction of espionage was for me a distraction, the effects of spies (mine or the enemies) too insignificant to effect gameplay in a meaningful way.If you liked Civ4 it's a worthwhile investment but it's not ground breaking hence the 4 stars.