Gameplay Footage

There's some wheeling and dealing going on, diplomatically.

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Contrary to what you may think, it's not every day that we get our hands on one of the most anticipated games of the year...ahead of everyone else on the planet, no less. So when an in-production version of Civilization IV recently arrived in the office, we immediately threw it onto our computers and got to the "hard and difficult work" of breaking down a new Civ. That means we played the epic campaign several times, we expanded our empire through cultural dominance and military conquest (and got our rears handed to us on more than one occasion), and much, much more. And after getting lost in Civ IV, we came away with an excellent sense of how Civ IV differs from its illustrious predecessors.

It's a big, huge, scary world, so go out and conquer it.

You may have heard that Civ IV is a big step for the franchise, as it rewrites many of the underlying rules of the series. At the same time, we discovered, it's also a blend of the familiar and beloved turn-based strategy that has made Civilization one of the biggest names in strategy gaming. So where to begin? Well, the beginning is as good as place as any. From the opening menu, the first thing you realize about Civ IV is that this is a much more colorful and livelier Civ than its predecessors, as you're greeted with a cheery melody that feels like it could have been lifted from The Lion King. That's just a hint of what you're in store for, though. You're next launched into the familiar options from previous Civ games. Select a single-player game and you must choose the various parameters of the game, from map style and size, to climate and sea level, to the civilization that you play.

More importantly, you probably want to know what civilizations made the cut. So, without further ado, you can play as the Americans, the Arabians, the Aztecs, the Chinese, the Egyptians, the English, the French, the Germans, the Greeks, the Incans, the Indians, the Japanese, the Malinese, the Mongolians, the Persians, the Romans, the Russians, or the Spanish. Approximately half these civilizations have two possible leaders, which will mainly affect the opposition you encounter, as computer-controlled civilizations will behave differently depending on which leader they get. For example, if you like to play a peaceful, defensive game of Civ, then you'd better worry if Napoleon shows up next door leading the French, because you know he's going to be eyeing your borders like a hungry wolf. Have fun!

Aside from the leader personalities, each civilization has inherent traits that determine whether it veers toward aggressive expansion or, say, peaceful mercantilism. Not to mention that each civilization starts the game with its own set of bonuses and technologies. Unfortunately, the text in the built-in "Civlopedia" wasn't quite finished in the version we played, so we couldn't cull this information. Interestingly, there seem to be a lot more difficulty levels than in previous Civs, and the highest difficult levels are now monarch, emperor, immortal, and deity. If past Civ games are any example, then we can safely guess that these levels should provide a challenge to the most cutthroat of Civ veterans out there, assuming they can adjust to the many new rules, that is.

For the purposes of this preview, we played mainly as the Americans, because as Americans, we're partial to them. But also, the Americans get a cool unique unit late in the game: the Navy SEAL, which replaces the Marine unit, as well as the top-level F-15 fighter jet from Civilization III. Thus, as the Americans, you're dropped into the Stone Age with a settler and an accompanying warrior, and you must begin the long struggle to advance through time. Thankfully, there is a lot of automation built into the game, so the first thing you'll probably want to do is order your warrior or scout to immediately auto-explore the terrain to discover "goody huts" (primitive villages that give you free stuff). Meanwhile, you'll want to settle down and found your first city with your settler. User-friendly is the term for this chapter of Civ, and the game will immediately highlight attractive tiles to establish cities, taking into account nearby resources, terrain features, and proximity to other cities or civilizations.

There are lots of resources out there, so let the computer handle them.

(We should take this moment to note that the version of the game we played still represents work in progress, so you may notice a graphical glitch or a debugging message in the screenshots. The interface is also undergoing a lot of work. Therefore, don't be alarmed if it looks clunky or cluttered in places, particularly the city screen. Also, the details discussed here are subject to change depending on testing and play balancing, so please keep in mind that the game is still in development.)

Once you've settled down into your first city, the game bends over backward to be user-friendly. Your first task will be to begin research, so you're offered a list of available technologies, with a couple recommended that you choose (though you can always choose your own). Then you'll need to begin building something in your city, and, once again, a list will present you with all your construction options, with two of them recommended. In general, the recommendations are sound, but you may wish to follow your own path for whatever reason. There are also numerous adviser pop-ups that appear during the game that will recommend that you construct a certain building in a particular town, though you can disable these if they become too annoying.