Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword

The last of the doom stack variety of civ games and my favorite personally. Gets a bit boring in the late game as you're usually just cruising to victory at that point but what's new with 4x games am I right

Hard to play well at high difficulties, which is good

[i]Sid Meier's Civilization[/i] is without doubt a great series. It balanced historical breadth with a deep root in history and culture, and gamified often-ridiculed elements for the fun factor. A lot of people must had learned a thing or two about history from playing Civilization; my father introduced me to [i]Civilization II[/i] when I was very young. While I was not good at playing it, browse around the game, like simply watching the introduction clips to world wonders, felt touching and moving. That was the weight of history and it was everywhere in the game, including in many of the materials in its visual presentation. The game had a great impact on me. Sure, the series is not education software; it never meant to be. After all video game needs to be entertaining. While important, the more recent entries seem to treat themselves too seriously as games, especially as board games, where rules and balance need to be rigid. The visuals also turned vivid and cartoony. The later entries feel a lot like physical board game adaptations, but there was never one in the first place. They also felt a lot more "native" as games for entertainment, stripped of historical or cultural reference and importance. While the design direction for the series shifted towards a more pragmatic and rigid direction, more in line with institutionalized strategy game design, the fourth entry in the series is the very peak, because it still somewhat stayed true to and actively embraced the duality embedded in the identity of the series. In this sense, perhaps it is not too ridiculous to call it the "last good Civilization." – if that sounds overrated, "last good square Civilization." – you can’t argue with this.

Immersive time sink of potentially hours (or days - if you want) and worth every minute. Best all-around world creation game I have ever played. I purchased some of the subsequent chapters (V, VI, etc) but I find myself always coming back to IV eventually. With the expansions (Warlords, et. al.) it is hard to imagine ever really getting this version played out. Highly recommended. Enjoy!!

To say how old this game is its still a fun game

Excellent game and the perfect difficulty! Extremely challenging but still quite a bit easier than Civ 5, which I had to sadly stop playing.

Probably the best Civ game. Great strategic depth with lots of ways to play and win.