PC CD-ROM Minimum system requirements: 486DX/33mhz; 8MB RAM; 20MB hard disk space; Dual speed CD-ROM drive; Windows 3.1 (or Windows 95); SVGA. £34.99
THE world is your oyster; do with it as you please. Starting almost 6,000
years ago, the destiny of civilisation, as you know it rests with goals Earth or colonise a distant planet.
Building your first city in the most strategic location is a must. Having successfully completed that task you must now expand your domain. In the process you will come across other cultures and again you are faced with important decisions. War or peace?
In the embryonic stage of your development, it's probably better to opt for peace. But in the interests of attaining your goal, war will be inevitable. At this point it is advisable to put resources into the academic qualities of your people. Doing so will enable you to enhance your armed forces and their weapons. Alliances with other nations can be formed.
Indeed, Civilisation II is so detailed that you can choose what form of administration your government will operate. Irrigation, tax, farming, mining, trade etc also have to be considered.
Hoping all gobs well, you will eventually find yourself ruling a nation that is capable of nuclear power, has found the cure for cancer, is financially secure, is environmentally friendly and all your subjects think you are a living god.
This will be extremely difficult to achieve. On the other hand, it you use the cheat option you could do all this and more, in just one hour. With the cheat enabled you can send out stealth bombers to take on those mighty musketeers of other nations. You will encounter little resistance from that. sort of confrontation. Cheating of course defeats the whole purpose of Civilisation II, the joy of it all being to mastermind the success.
Civilisation II comes complete with a 196-page manual so it's not the sort of game you'll get to grips with in a day. Be prepared for some long sittings; the more you persevere the better it becomes. Its predecessor sold over 850,000 copies and there is absolutely no reason why this improved version shouldn't top that. Brilliant stuff.
Graphics: 87%, Sound: 87%, Game play: 94%