OurColony.net

Good but not great. Yet!

Customer Rating:
I have been playing Civ III for about three weeks now. I am staying at the lowest levels while I get used to the controls and so far I can say that I both love and hate this game. The graphics are much better than previous versions. If you have enjoyed past versions of Civilization you will enjoy this one. It has more groups to choose from (Roman, Russian, German etc.). The units are more in line with the group chosen (Hoplite only for the Greek and Immortals only for the Persian). Instead of building settlers to build roads and irrigation you have workers. They can do much of what the old settlers could but they move farther per turn. Units are supported by all cities instead of just the one that created them so they don't die just as you are going into battle. There are more Wonders to build and they have introduced minor wonders.

What I did not care for started with the manual. It reads like an encyclopedia. It doesn't give much information about the new units or the commands to control them. You cannot select the world map for a standard game. In earlier versions when you made a scientific advance you could build all the units that were created by that advance. In Civ III you must have the strategic resources (coal, oil, iron etc.) under your control in order to build them. I would have liked to get a quick reference guide for the keyboard controls with the game but I found one at the Firaxis web site. It really ticked me off that they took away the cheat toggle. I liked having that option for when I got really frustrated and wanted to finish off an opponent.

"buy this instead of spore."

Customer Rating:
I believe that after seeing the reviews for spore I decided not to get it. apparently it is ILLEGAL to play this game with someone else or lend it to them. so that means ONLY you can play it. it also causes problems on your computer, causing your computer to crash,freeze etc.. civ III is a fun game and does allow other people to play it. I highly reccomend this game.

DANGER - SecuROM

Customer Rating:
I installed and enjoyed this game, until I found my CD/DVD drive wouldn't work, then my IE explorer started crashing, and soon after I realized that this game installed SecuROM v7 on my PC. I am VERY angry. I've completely uninstalled the game, but cannot get rid of SecuROM. I still get requests to register Civ3 Complete when I logon to my PC, even though it's uninstalled, and my drive is still not functioning, and IE is still crashing. There is no warning on the box anywhere that SecuROM is on it - I NEVER would have purchased or installed it had I been aware. The only solution now is to reformat my entire drive and install the o/s from scratch. I am looking to contribute and join any class action suit open against 2K Games for doing this, I am so angry. I've yet to go through and find out what other older software I have has now been rendered useless by these b@stards. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!!!!!!!!

Good Game

Customer Rating:
Hadn't played this game in ages. So I figured I would get this one after playing Civilization Revolution on the XBox 360. Though I forgot how freaking hard it is at times. I love the game, but can easily get my butt handed to me cause of the interface difference.

Boring and Overblown

Customer Rating:
I bought this game with no experience or expectations. The only other computer games I have played, other than card games, are Monopoly, Scrabble, and Chess. I gave up the two former due to the obvious and annoying advantage the AI gives itself. Chess, of course, does not cheat, the AI is just super smart, which is OK.

But, I was not prepared for the bewildering array of helter-skelter movement and rules, coupled with virtually no instruction, no tutorial, and worst of all, NO FUN! Just an enormous investment of time, slogging through endless movements of barely discernible figures groping through the dark. I am not instinctive about PC games and need some help getting acclimated. Civ3 gives you none. I particularly dislike smug instructions that assume you are a veteran of PC games in general and this game in particular.

Yes, I'm a newbie. But life is too short to become a polishied player at this; it's the law of diminishing returns.

Even at the bargain basement price I paid, it is not worth it. I just won't feel so bad when I throw it in the trash.