Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization

Posted 11/14/2008 at 10:30am | by Dan Stapleton

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In contrast to the broad scope of past Civilization games, this beautiful remake of 1994’s Sid Meier’s Colonization focuses on a specific period of time in a specific part of the globe—namely the Colonial era (1492-1796) in the New World. As the leader of a European nation’s colonization effort, you must battle other European countries and Native Americans for control of the continent’s resources, build a trade empire, and eventually wage a war of independence against your home country to found a new nation.

The anemic combat and diplomacy systems are secondary to the economic game, in which you harvest resources such as cotton and tobacco, refine them into trade goods, and sell them to fund your expansion. Early in the game the challenge comes from micromanaging specialist colonists to efficiently produce goods; this task would become a nightmare as your trade empire expands if not for the excellent automation tools, which make the whole operation a breeze.

The ridiculous number of European troops you face during your war of independence makes you appreciate the efforts of our founding fathers all the more.

Combat presents a problem in that dragoons seem to win nine out of 10 battles, regardless of how many heavy fortifications you lay down. This isn’t so bad in the early game, but when you tire of your European overlord’s insatiable demands for tax hikes and tribute and declare your independence, defending your colonies from the massive onslaught of troops and warships becomes an extreme challenge.

There’s a ton of replay potential here, with four playable European nations and eight leaders, each with unique bonuses that can dramatically affect strategy, combined with a random map generator. Colonization doesn’t have much in common with the Civ games, but it definitely evokes a “just one more turn!” feeling that keeps us playing into the dawn’s early light.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization

America

Highly addictive gameplay, lush graphics, good automation features.

England

Unbalanced combat, unforgiving endgame.

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