Civilization 2

Title: Civilization 2
Platform Played On: PC
Release Date: February 29, 1996
Date Played: 1999
Time Played: 20+ hours
Completed (Y/N): N/A
Score: 5/5




Opinion:
Civilization is one of the earliest computer strategy games. It is known for its depth, gameplay variety, and games of epic proportions.

When I got my first computer at home (a Pentium 2 with 365Mgz CPU and 128Mb of RAM sporting an 8mb ATI card) my dad brought a couple of games from Russia in his final move to the US. Alpha Centauri, Star Craft, Test Drive 5, and Civilization 2. Civ 2 was the fist Civ game I have played.

Right away Civilization was different from any other game. There was no campaign, the entirety of the game took place on a randomly generated map. Although it was a bit disappointing that there was no narrative to follow, other aspects of the game more than made up for it. The massive skill tree and progression from stone-club wielding nomads to space age nuke dropping bureaucrats was something I have never seen before. The ability to take over the world in games taking weeks, months and potentially even years felt epic. Not to mention the FMV advisers that help you rule your nation. The advisers were amazing, they would change their clothes throughout the eras and even though some of them looked cheesy it was fun just to watch them (keep in mind that in 1996 seeing FMV on a computer was still pretty radical.) I really liked them, and was bummed that they were taken out of the subsequent iterations.

If you played any of the Civilization games then you know how Civilizaiton 2 plays. It is the game that made the series famous and is a beloved classic by most. The series has been iterated upon many times since then with Civilization 5 (2011) being a masterpiece, so unless the nostalgia bug bites you, there is no reason to go back and play Civ 2. Nevertheless it will forever remain in the video game history as an amazing game that we all enjoyed in the 90's.