Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5.5
Replay: 7
Multiplayer: No

The Civilization series is one of those games that has been made to target only specific gamers. It is dearly loved by a select few, but most gamers will not like what the game has to offer. Now, Atari and Firaxis games have decided to jump back into the hot seat and take another chance with Civilization 3.

The gameplay in this game can be quite deep if you want it to be, but you also have the choice of letting the computer do most of the building work and you can just concentrate on moving the armies around. But I really feel it is smarter to choose the buildings yourself due to the fact that the computer will naturally build some stuff that you probably don't want to build.

But there is much more to the game then just building, of course. You have to manage the budget; decide how much you want to gain or lose compared to what you want to pump into the science research and entertainment businesses. The research will open up new building possibilities and upgrades (with more money it will be researched in less time) and the entertainment is to keep people happy and prevent any cities from getting out of control.

The battle system in Civilization 3 is one of the worst I have ever seen. It is basically all chance, and it gets VERY repetetive. The problem is that the person with the higher stats does not always win and sometimes doesn't even get close. It is very strange to me when a unit of mine with an attack of 8 and the enemy has a defense of 1, that the enemy kills me without taking damage. Yet on other occasions, the exact opposite will occur. Also, sometimes one unit will take the enemy down to its very last block of health without receiving any damage in return, and then the enemy will go on some mad spree and take you out without losing any more health. This makes for very frustrating battles.

Of course, like almost all strategy games, there is diplomacy to be handled. In Civilization 3, either you or the computer players can/will make diplomatic offers. These range from trading world maps to luxuries (spices and stuff that make your citizens happier) to natural resources to researched technologies to military alliances. The set up of it, however, is both good and bad. Basically, the game will tell you whether or not the computer will accept the offer. So you can continue to raise what they give until it says they won't do it and then just lower it slightly. Some players will like this easy setup, but most will not.

Visually, this game is nothing impressive. Quite honestly, it should have gotten a total rehaul of the graphics engine prior to release. The graphics from this game still make it looked like just a slightly tweaked version of the engine from the original Civilization, and that's not good. The objects from armies to cities to natural resources all look bland and undetailed. The special effects are practically non existent. The battles are just a back and forth firing thing similar to the Risk games - no one actually hits each other. I expect more if there is going to be a sequel.

This game has a pretty pathetic sound department. Honestly, it would be better just to turn on the radio or your CD player while playing this game. The music in it is slow, repetetive, and incredibly boring. And other than the music, there just aren't many things to hear. During a battle, there is the usual clang! or crack! of metal swords or guns, but that's it, that's the whole battle. It just leaves you wondering, "Shouldn't there be more?".

This game packs a decent amount of replay for people who actual like the game. But that's it, only decent. There are quite a few civilizations to play as, different set-ups for the world, different difficulties, and different modes of play, but they all boil down to just beating the computer in a free game mode. No single player campaign, no multiplayer, it's all just beating the computer opponents and while that may be good for some it won't be acceptable for most.

Unless you love the Civilization series, I would not suggest picking up this game. If you are really interested in playing it, wait until the price drops down to $15.00 in the bargain bin or try to borrow it from a friend. It isn't worth more than that.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10
Reviewer: Ben Hopkins

Sid Meier's Civilization II was one of the most popular and respected games of its day. Therefore when fans awaited the release of it's sequel it was with anxious, but fearful, anticipation. Fearful because Alpha Centauri, an offshoot of CivII, had bombed horribly - suffering from over complexity - and because it was being released by Atari, who had formerly had no affiliation with the Civilization series. Divination 3 is neither a total improvement, or a total loss, but has a little bit of both.

Several new features were added to Civilization 3 that made gameplay more interesting and varied. Some examples of these are the addition of culture as a means to 'take over' other cities (basically by means of assimilation), small wonders that each civilization can build one of (such as the forbidden palace that can alleviate the effects of distance like corruption and waste), and resources (iron, horses, steel, etc) that you must obtain through trade or vicinity to produce certain units and structures. Also, improvements have been made upon old features to make manipulation of the system harder. Examples of this are that your units cannot use railroads or heal in enemy territory, wonders have been tweaked, and fundamentalism no longer exists (no more 10000 gold a turn people). Replay value has been improved by options as to what type of world you want to play in (islands for independent development and alliances or continents for huge blood baths), and the addition of multiplayer in the newly released version of Civilization 3. In addition, a completely new engine with improved 3d graphics has been added, however there is a downside to this.

That downside is that Civilization 3 runs slowly on even a decent machine. It's asks the question of whether the improved graphics is worth the loss of low requirements for a turn based strategy game. Certain tweaking took away from the game rather than improved it, perhaps overcomplicate it. And also, the music - which was one of CivII's assets - is awful. Just turn it off and play a CD - it's my belief that the budget ran low so they brought in a box of wood scraps and just recorded whatever noise they could make with them.

For those who want a more tactically involved game and sparkling graphics, Civilization 3 is great. However, for those who like a more simple, stream-lined game, stick with Civilization II - the eternal crowd pleaser. Regardless, Civilization 3 is a mighty good game.