Beyond the Sword looks sweet
According to this review over at IGN, the new Civ IV expansion might be one of those irresistible goodies I’ll have to go pick up.
Beyond the Sword brings so much new stuff to the table that it nearly qualifies as a sequel. Adding in a comprehensive new espionage system, a political element to religion, new options for colonies and corporate competition, the expansion energizes an already lively strategy game. Add in improved AI, more combat options, and nearly a dozen scenarios and mods and you’ve got an expansion that you won’t be able to put down for months.
I’m normally a little wary of game expansions that multiply the complexity of play by a zillion-fold, but Civ IV is based on complexity to start with, and as an added bonus, I get to think about things as long as I want because it’s turn based.
I still play Warcraft II because, at least in my mind, it boils the RTS genre down to all the essentials: you’ve got to a good selection of units for both land and sea, you got great maps, decent AI, and a good story.
The stuff you don’t have is all the hero talents, searching around for the button to create units (like in Dawn of War, where they hide the crap out of whatever unit lets you see stealth enemies), or crazy resource balancing and squad caps.
Don’t get me wrong - that kind of complexity can add a lot to an RTS, and espeically a turn-based strategy game, but for the recreational player (me), it’s more than I want to have to memorize just to sit down for an hour an play.
But I digress.
I think it’s time for me to go find the old dusty Civ IV DVD (ok it’s not really dusty or lost), and stick that sucker back into the drive. Think about picking up this expansion.
ps. I’ve been watching this video WoW ad in the background while writing this post, and how much cooler would that game be if playing it looked like those cinematics?
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