Civilization 4: Colonization - Mac

Uses the Civilization 4 engine, but Civilization 4 is NOT required to play. In addition, lots of details are different from Civilization 4 (and also different from the original Colonization game), so a review of the rules is in order before jumping in. I had experience with both Civilization 4 and the old Colonization game; nevertheless, I failed to win the game my first time through, even on the easiest setting. The main problem was not having sufficient Rebel Sentiment to allow me to declare independence (and insufficient forces, even if I had been able to declare it). My second time through I was able to declare independence with 10 turns (out of 300!) to spare, and did eventually win the ensuing fight (although things did look bleak for a while).

No, this game is not EXACTLY like all the other Civ Revs. It's not supposed to be. I like it that way.This is the game you go to when you don't quite feel CivRev-y, but still want that turn-based style. Instead of battling other nations, you're battling your own. How fast can you put together a functioning nation, with its own army and navy, while building rebel sentiment, and struggling to keep your money out of the grasp of your mother nation? It's a different goal, and it's kind of refreshing from the normal Civs.The city format is changed here. There are fewer resources, but they all produce something else (eg, ore can make tools, tools can make guns. You need both). The actual city building screen is much more simplified than the Civ games (Since I never fully understood the ins and outs of the Civ screen, I don't think that's a bad thing). You are in direct control over your civilians and what they produce at all times, and they can still specialize to produce different things. BUT now you have to train them to do so, whether through cash, school, or living with the local natives.The tribes you meet are many, and varied. They are your separate trade hubs from your mother nation, and a fantastic source of gold. They can be allies, or enemies. They will bargin, share, or fight for the land you settle on, if you expand into their space. They're very well thought out; there are many different tribes that were used, all with their own leaders and city names.Battle is much more simplified. In this game, there are not 100 different kinds of units. There are 3, scouts, cannons, and soldiers (not including boat types, I think there are 5 of those). The rest are all civilians. This means that instead of producing varied units, you are producing as many as possible of only a few (keeps things easy). Units can still upgrade, and still serve their different purposes. You do not move through an extended time line, you move through about 1600 through about 1800, so units don't stretch across time like other Civ games.You do get to meet other Civs (not the natives). The English, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish, and you can control any one of them. No, there aren't 16 different civs to choose from. They kept it to they main nations that ACTUALLY colonized the U.S. Each has their own benefits according to how they actually acted during their period of colonization (ex. The spanish have a conquistador perk that makes battle easier against natives).So no, this is NOT your typical Civ game. This is CivCol. It is it's own game, and it's a nice change of pace from the rest of them.

I have been a huge, huge fan of Sid Meier's Civilization ever since the beginning. The original Colonization stills holds some good memories for me and this version just falls short because of the endplay.Here are the good things about the game: Graphics look great (the engine and 3D graphics make the game much easier to enjoy compared to the original). It is still great to be producing specialized products (cigars, cloth, guns, tools) by using your specialists in the cities. Figuring out trade routes between your cities to keep raw materials flowing to your factories and then off to your port to be shipped to Europe is still as intriguing as before.But here are the 2 downfalls of the game (one small and one huge). Unlike the other Civ games, you are almost always in your city screen. You spend almost no time outside moving units or improving tiles. One little pet peeve is that the music (which is great) does not play in the city screens. So sitting in the city screens was dull for me. I was finding myself with nothing to do for turns at a time while I was waiting for my ships to come back from Europe or waiting for something to be built/person to be trained.All that said, I would give this expansion 4 or 5 stars if they hadn't totally messed up the play after your Revolution. One interesting thing added was writing your Constitution. You are allowed to select different improvements which allow you to for example continue selling goods in Europe or all slaves becoming freemen. But after that, the Revolution is totally impossible. The really hue gripe I have is: your King's forces are made to be impossible to defeat. And the second is that you are fighting him totally on your own (which of course with the American Revolution is totally inaccurate). In the first Colonization, you were fighting an overwhelming force, ambushing the King's men whenever you, and producing liberty bells to convince one of the other European powers to provide help. Well that doesn't happen anymore because all that historic tie in has been removed. Like Civ 4, all units have upgrades based on experience. Every single solider sent to invade will have a minimum of 3 upgrades. They also have a higher base attack than any person you can buy, produce or train (I believe the soldiers are 4 attack and the best you can get is a veteran soldier at 3). So suffice it to say, you be sending your soldiers to die time after time after time against 1 soldier. During my second try at my Revolution, I had 15(!!) consecutive attacks on the same solider. I attacked with cannons, dragoons, veteran soldiers one after the other. Every single one died and I didn't take that one solider down 1 hit point. I turned whole cities into nothing but soldiers and upgraded my defenses to fortresses (which are worthless because the King's 15 cannons he has sitting on one tile will destroy it in 2 turns) and MIGHT win 1 fight out of 10. And don't even bother to try to attack the King's navy. The Men O War are much stronger than anything you can build or buy so it's just a waste of resources to watch them get sunk one after another.Save your money and skip this expansion. I am currently playing the Warlords expansion which gets rids of the bugs from Civ 4 Gold and give it 5 stars. I will also be trying out the Beyond the Sword expansion.

I must have whittled away days playing the '94 version in college...the original was very addictive and fun.The new one built on the Civ IV engine is good as well. They have made a few improvements to the basic game...added a few new units, colony improvements and things like the ability to have the colony generate military, exploration, and political points to help you get more founding fathers. Otherwise, it is basically the same as the 1994 version. And still just as addictive...I don't seem to remember the "Turns Left to Declare Independence" countdown in the other one. It is a feature I wish they had left out.

Currently does not work on mac running 10.10!

Less fun that Civ IV or Civ V but still a really fun game.

I loved the original, so this remake actually does it justice. If you're a colonization fan, this game is a must!

Glad this came along.

J'ai adoré ce "remake" du jeu précédent. Plus coloré, plus facile à utiliser et toujours aussi intéressant. Permets de mieux contrôler le jeu, plus d'animations.