There’s a nice Civilization IV preview at Gamespot. There are very, very few games that I purchase on the day they’re available, not to mention pre-ordering them. Out of the Park Baseball is one. Civilization is the other. I own all of them and the series is one of the reasons PC gaming is my hobby of choice.
Now with that being said, I wasn’t a big fan of Civ III. The combat system was downright silly. When folks with swords can defeat modern day infantry in a game, it’s something that I don’t want to play. The good news is that it appears the combat system is going to be fixed in Civ IV.
From the preview:
“The combat system has undergone a lot of work from previous Civs. The new strength rating goes a long way toward determining the course of a battle. It may sound like a simple idea–the “stronger” a unit, the better its odds–but it’s one that has eluded earlier Civs for some reason, as you can hear countless stories about a Stone Age spearmen unit defeating a modern-day tank.”
I’m one happy camper! In other news, there’s a Navy SEAL combat unit added to the game that’s supposed to be some sort of super-infantry. I’ll give the developers a pass, but anyone who knows anything about infantry will tell you that while the SEALs are very good at some things, they are not an elite “infantry” unit. The idea that SEALs would, for instance, defend Boston from attack is quite funny. They aren’t designed to do those sorts of things. Neither are Green Berets.
But if the combat system is finally fixed, then Civ IV could be one of the greatest games ever developed for the PC.
