Yes, there are changes - a sleeker interface, Civ IV-quality visuals, multiplayer, borders, unit promotions. There are no pointless graphical embellishments, no new, nailed-on concepts. Wisely, Firaxis has resisted the urge to meddle. There's the eager emigrants waiting on the resolutely 2D dockside. There's the beige settlement screen with its unshowy building illustrations. There's the lone ship surrounded by sea and darkness.
One of the first things that hits you about the reassuringly magnetic Civ IV: Colonization ('Colonization II' would have been so much neater) is just how similar it is to its ancestor.
Happily, it turns out we were all worrying for nothing. They really didn't need to mention it in the title. More than a decade on, could it capture the same magic and subtlety? Would the fact that it was being built with Civ 4 code lead to compromises? Were we going to wind-up with an awkward Beyond the Sword-style mod? Nerves jangled. Some connoisseurs even dared to claim it was the better game.įor those familiar with the original, the news that Firaxis was readying a new version was cause for both celebration and consternation. The shorter span and tighter focus gave it a more rooted, more realistic feel. Where Civ was a surreal history-mangling marathon, Colonization was a tech-tree-free 3000m steeplechase. Independence from an increasingly greedy motherland was the ultimate goal.Įn route, resources had to be reaped and processed, goods traded, indigenous tribes befriended or butchered, European rivals outstripped. Starting mid-Atlantic with a shipload of supplies and emigrants, players scrambled to grab and grow New World colonies. Turn-based, tile-mapped, and as lovable as a chipmunk in a Pilgrim Father costume, Colonization was all about dispossessing American Indians. It was in The Year Of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Four that Messrs Sidney Meier and Brian Reynolds unveiled their near-perfect Civ semi-sequel. Yes, it's my happy duty to report that one of strategy gaming's most sacred relics has been brought kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with minimal loss of brilliance.īut first: time for an obligatory history lesson.
The ball has not been dropped, the pooch has not been screwed, the baby's bathwater has been disposed of carefully and without any grievous consequence. Uncross those fingers, unfurrow that brow and breathe a big, candle-snuffing sigh of relief: Firaxis hasn't mucked up.
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