There are times when a PC Game grips you firmly by the cohones and doesn’t let go. Well, Civ IV does that, and then swings you around the room a bit.

I could easily spend hours gushing forth a full review of the game, but instead let me sum it up by saying: Get it. If you’ve ever been a Civilization fan, or if you’re a fan of strategy games in general, then this title will not disappoint. The game’s random world maps and time frame are scalable from Deathmatch size (1 hour games) to Ginormous (22 hour games). The graphics are great, the music gets stuck in your head, and the interface is a work of art. Seriously. I’ve never seen an interface successfully convey so much information in such a clear and understanding way. Plus it looks good to boot.

Also, the game was designed to be multiplayer-first and single player second. That doesn’t mean single player sucks (because it oh-so-much doesn’t) but picture this: dynamic multiplayer joins/quits where people play their entire singleplayer civ-game, in increments, but online. Random people will see the game, and dynamically join-up mid game to play as your competition. It’s insane. There’s no need to schedule a game with anyone - and yet you’re still playing against other people.

If you turn the table around, and look at it from the other way - At any point when you sit down to play, you can login to someone else’s world and play around in it for a while. Each time you play it’s completely different. That’s almost a new type of online genre itself — a missing link, or at least a successful step down the right path, toward a persistent MMOTBS (turn based strategy).

Enough.. time to go teach the Mongolians a thing or two about gunpowder.

For the record:
MonkeyGames - 5 Stars
Gamespot - 9.4
Gamespy - 5 Stars
IGN - 9.4