Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Preview
Civ 4 expands, again
by Marko Susimetsä
previewed on PC
Random aspects and AI
A game of Civilization has always been affected by a big random element. Your civilization can become very crippled indeed, if you happen to start on a small island with room for three or four cities and ice and tundra as your companions, while other civilizations start at temperate zones. Some avoid this fate by restarting the game as often as they need to in order to get a perfect start, while others see such random element as a further challenge. Well, the new expansion pack promises to expand the random aspects of the game by introducing random elements, such as natural disasters, pleas for help or demands from their citizens.
One of the reasons why the late game gets boring is the fact that if you dominate the game (usually evinced by a score at least twice as big as the next leader in line), the enemy AI fails to come up with any good plans to bring you down. Instead, they just sit there, waiting for the game to end. Now, Firaxis has also improved the AI in the game and promises that it will have new ways to achieve the victory. I hope that it means that the smaller nations will actually try to form alliances in order to take the big dog (or wolf) down.
Starting and ending the game
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will include a new feature which is apparently a major fan request. Apparently, many gamers prefer to skip the most exciting part of the game (exploring the world and placing your cities) and go straight into the later stages. Now this will be possible as you can 'buy' components in order to build your empire to your liking and start the game at a later stage.
The expansion will also tweak the victory conditions of the basic game. The United Nations will become available earlier in the form of the Apostolic Palace, allowing for an earlier diplomatic victory. Likewise, there will be new resolutions that you can pass in order to make life more difficult for the other players. In the same vein, the Space Victory will be expanded and this victory condition "will now require more strategic planning and tactical decision making", whatever that means.
Finis
The expansion pack Beyond the Sword for Sid Meier's Civilization IV will certainly make a bigger splash than the previous expansion, Warlords. The addition of new espionage options, better AI and tweaked victory conditions will all be welcome tweaks into a game that is already great. This expansion pack will certainly make it even greater. Look for it in July this year!
