|
Publisher
|
Genre
Strategy & War |
Release Date
December 2005 |
Status
Beta |
|
|
|
Back in January of 2002, Civilization III made its way to the Mac OS and there was much rejoicing. We booted into
Mac OS X and played as one of 16 different Civilizations from the
enlightened Greeks to the English empire. We spent many a lonely night
longing to be in the arms of Queen Elizabeth, because let's face it
folks, she's hawt. Civilization III was many a strategist's dream, at least for awhile. Then, expansion packs arose; first Play the World and then Conquests.
Unfortunately, neither of these expansions made it to the Mac and we
were left out in the digital cold. No multiplayer support. No new
civilizations. No exciting new gameplay elements. All we had was
Civilization III proper, its campaign editor (which is actually pretty
impressive all by itself, but still…) and Queen Elizabeth, hummin' up
and lookin' oh so sexy. Luckily, all the previous is about to be
remedied thanks to the crew at Aspyr Media and their upcoming release of Civilization III: Complete.
New Civilizations for the Win
For
those completely unaware, Civilization III is turn-based strategy game
of epic proportions in which world leaders battle it out for supremacy
through diplomacy, cultural influence, technological dominance and
military force. Civilization III: Complete will be comprised of the
core Civilization III game, as well as both expansion packs, Play the
World and Conquests, all on one shiny DVD. Both expansions combined will give Civilization III fans a plethora of gameplay enhancements.
For
instance, one area in which Civilization III lacked back when it
shipped back in 2002 was multiplayer support. Simply put, there was
none. However, with Civilization III: Complete and its inclusion of
Play the World, Mac gamers will be able engage too in several different
multiplayer modes. Connection types will include LAN/TCP/IP, hotseat
and the ever-cerebral play-by-e-mail (PBEM) method. Each connection
scheme only supports Mac-to-Mac networking, but nobody likes those
PCers anyway.
One
thing that plagues multiplayer turn-based strategy games is that when
many players are involved, each taking several minutes per turn, a
single game can take days to finish. Thus, Play the World offers a few
new spins on the turn-based genre. Instead of alternating turns players
will have two new options. The first, simultaneous movement, has all
the players taking their turns at the same time. Once the turn clock
runs out, all the moves and orders are carried out at once. This may
seem impossible, but trust me it works.
Players will also have
access to turnless mode. Here there are still turns, but they run in
real time in an unending sequence. At the "end" of each turn,
production from cities is added up, population grows and research and
taxes are applied. Each unit also has a clock that prevents them from
moving until their movement points regenerate. This turnless mode looks
quite intriguing and should add an intensity that has been heretofore
unheard-of in the turn-based strategy genre.
|
|
