Insanely Great Mac: Review Civilization 2 Gold

Insanely Great Mac

Civilization 2 Gold

Reviewed by: Kaiser Von Brinkman

Review Date: 8.3.99

Publisher: MacSoft

MSRP: $49.99

When Civilization came out, it was one of the greatest games ever created. Then came Civilization 2, and made even more improvements to an almost perfect game. I thought to myself, “The only way this game could be made any better is if it was multi-player.” The call was heard, and the answer was Civilization 2 Gold.

Unfortunately, multi-player doesn’t serve up all everything you hope it would. You get two options: TCP/IP and “Hot Seat.” In TCP/IP, you take turns and can still make changes to your city while others make their moves. In Hot Seat, players play at the same computer, taking turns while your opponents are “hopefully” out of the room. Of course, Hot Seat eliminates any true kind of interaction between players which seems to defeat the whole purpose.

Why MacSoft would chose to not include an easy way to play via AppleTalk is beyond me. I guess they wanted to do a simple port of the game, without getting too involved.

Setup is very lengthy, and the game is very slow moving at first. Because of this, I recommend that you enable multi-player options such as “double unit movement,” “double terrain production,” and also “players can chat from start.” These options ought to allow you to jump-start your game, but be prepared of the consequences, such as early pollution and rapid city growth.

Once the game gets going, you can have a lot of fun if you’ve got the patience. By interacting with human opponents, you can quickly advance your knowledge of technologies and lay of the land, if you coordinate your research and exchange maps frequently.

In addition to the multi-player gaming which awaits you in Civilization 2 Gold, there are also several fantasy worlds and historical scenarios. If you think you have mastered Civ 2, then you should try your hand at these challenges, where you’ll have to become familiar with new units, and play within some very interesting constraints.

The Fantasy Worlds include “After the Apocalypse,” or “Jihad ” and “The World of Jules Verne.” The fantasy worlds have different unique units, and the wonders of the world sometimes have different purposes.

If you want to re-live some historic battles, Civ 2 Gold includes such scenarios as the Crusades, the War for Independence, the Civil War, and World War 2. Each of these has its own limited objectives. Sometimes negotiations can’t take place, and for instance, in the War of Independence scenario, if Washington is captured by the British or Cornwallis is captured by the Americans, the game is over.

The one truly great feature of Civ 2 Gold is the scenario editor. Although you have to learn some scripting lingo, the ability to make your own worlds is awesome!

Bottom Line

Network play can be pretty slow, and it is very difficult to recover a game if someone’s computer freezes up–which happens more often than one would hope. While the multi-player can be fun, and the scenarios add a twist to the traditional game, I would not recommend that you buy Civ 2 Gold, unless you don’t already own Civ 2 or you want to create your own Civ Worlds.

Score(s):
Civ II Gold Scenarios (Fantastic Worlds & Conflicts in Civilization): 8.5 out of 10
Civ II Gold Map/Scenario Editors 9 out of 10
Civ II Gold Multi-player 5 out of 10

System Requirements: Power PC running Mac OS 7.5.3 or higher, Mac OS 8.0 compatible, 10 MB RAM, color monitor and CD-ROM drive. Open transport required for multi-player gaming (optional)



Civilization 2 Gold Reviewed by: Kaiser Von Brinkman Review Date: 8.3.99 Publisher: MacSoft MSRP: $49.99
When Civilization came out, it was one of the greatest games ever created. Then came Civilization 2, and made even more improvements to an almost perfect game. I thought to myself, “The only way this game could be made any better is if it was multi-player.” The call was heard, and the answer was Civilization 2 Gold. Unfortunately, multi-player doesn’t serve up all everything you hope it would. You get two options: TCP/IP and “Hot Seat.” In TCP/IP, you take turns and can still make changes to your city while others make their moves. In Hot Seat, players play at the same computer, taking turns while your opponents are “hopefully” out of the room. Of course, Hot Seat eliminates any true kind of interaction between players which seems to defeat the whole purpose. Why MacSoft would chose to not include an easy way to play via AppleTalk is beyond me. I guess they wanted to do a simple port of the game, without getting too involved. Setup is very lengthy, and the game is very slow moving at first. Because of this, I recommend that you enable multi-player options such as “double unit movement,” “double terrain production,” and also “players can chat from start.” These options ought to allow you to jump-start your game, but be prepared of the consequences, such as early pollution and rapid city growth. Once the game gets going, you can have a lot of fun if you’ve got the patience. By interacting with human opponents, you can quickly advance your knowledge of technologies and lay of the land, if you coordinate your research and exchange maps frequently. In addition to the multi-player gaming which awaits you in Civilization 2 Gold, there are also several fantasy worlds and historical scenarios. If you think you have mastered Civ 2, then you should try your hand at these challenges, where you’ll have to become familiar with new units, and play within some very interesting constraints. The Fantasy Worlds include “After the Apocalypse,” or “Jihad ” and “The World of Jules Verne.” The fantasy worlds have different unique units, and the wonders of the world sometimes have different purposes. If you want to re-live some historic battles, Civ 2 Gold includes such scenarios as the Crusades, the War for Independence, the Civil War, and World War 2. Each of these has its own limited objectives. Sometimes negotiations can’t take place, and for instance, in the War of Independence scenario, if Washington is captured by the British or Cornwallis is captured by the Americans, the game is over. The one truly great feature of Civ 2 Gold is the scenario editor. Although you have to learn some scripting lingo, the ability to make your own worlds is awesome! Bottom Line Network play can be pretty slow, and it is very difficult to recover a game if someone’s computer freezes up–which happens more often than one would hope. While the multi-player can be fun, and the scenarios add a twist to the traditional game, I would not recommend that you buy Civ 2 Gold, unless you don’t already own Civ 2 or you want to create your own Civ Worlds. Score(s): Civ II Gold Scenarios (Fantastic Worlds & Conflicts in Civilization): 8.5 out of 10 Civ II Gold Map/Scenario Editors 9 out of 10 Civ II Gold Multi-player 5 out of 10 System Requirements: Power PC running Mac OS 7.5.3 or higher, Mac OS 8.0 compatible, 10 MB RAM, color monitor and CD-ROM drive. Open transport required for multi-player gaming (optional)