The best strategy game available for the Playstation
I was hooked on Civ II after watching a buddy play it on PC, and I wasn't disappointed at all by the Playstation version.
This is one of the few games I've played to distraction. No bathroom breaks, no food, not even sleep. The first night I had Civ II I played it until dawn.
Pathetic, huh? As far as strategy games go, nothing, NOTHING, gets better than this.
GRAPHICS: 5 out of 10. If Civ II for PS has a weakness this is it. The graphics are not even close to being as crisp and realistic as the PC version.
The maps are fairly detailed, but sometimes it can be difficult to tell what terrain your units are on, and you end up having to use the text description.
The text description is a little box appearing in the upper corner giving information about the currently selected unit.
As for units, their graphics are nothing to write home about either. They're laughably unclear, and sometimes it's hard to tell what the graphic artists were trying to do. For instance, I originally thought the engineer units were wearing bath robes. They're actually wearing lab coats.
PLAYABILITY: 10 out of 10. I always found the control scheme for Civ II very easy to use. Only one or two buttons on the PS controller are used, and the games relies more on an on-screen Windows-style menu system.
If you know how to use a PC, you'll be able to very quickly play this game. The only problem is continually going back to all of your cities late in the game to build new improvements, but even that's not too serious.
STORY: 10 out of 10. How can you argue with the story of Homo Sapiens. We're all a part of this, even now as I write this. No UFOs, no Godzilla, no Bowser stomping through the city.
The best part of the story is that you, the player, decide how it will all end...As for me, it must be the Vikings. Vikings flying stealth bombers. How could you possibly complain about that??
REPLAY: 10 out of 10. Again, replay value never gets any better than Civ II. With multiple civilizations to play and completely random map generation, the replay possibilities are almost endless. As well, the customization features are quite deep, giving you the option to start off with a beginners game and then ultimately challenge the mightiest leaders of history.
Game length is also considerable. Civ II isn't a game you sit down and beat in a couple of hours. This game takes blood, sweat and tears to get the best final score. My best score? 251 per cent baybee.
OVERALL: 10 out of 10. Civ II is the king of all strategy games, bar none. The Sims can't touch this. Civ II has it all.
You can choose to be a peace-loving tree-hugger, or a blood-thirsty military dictator. The choice is yours.
Oh, I almost forgot. When you have a chance, nuke the French. There's just no way to resist it.