This game is great, it's the kind of game that is 'easy to learn but hard to master' very rewarding, you can play this came endlessly, the replay value is amazing, as every game starts differently with different opposition

I recently bought the game. Have played before and loved the game mechanics, very intuitive. However think twice before buying online. This game comes with SecuRom DRM and while it functions just fine for most people, every so often someone will have problems (ie Me) and SecuRom really does not care at all about your problems. I have yet to be able to play the game I downloaded. This does not really reflect on gamersgate, but rather SecuRom. However since the version gamersgate sells has the SecuRom DRM, the problems are intertwined. You would be better of ordering a cd version or torrenting it.

It´s an addictive and good strategy game, which let me forget the time very fast. It´s far more complex then Civ V, which give you more options to rise your kingdom. The only fact I don´t like is the cheating of the AI.

In many waus this is the pinnacle of the civ games. The AI does cheat however and having layed out all your plans just to be rolled over by a stack of literally a hundred ai attackers out of nowhere does ruin the one player game in many ways. The multiplayer can be fun, but it is difficult to find a good game and often most people just show up for the start, leave and let the computer build them an army, then come back to try to win in a few hours, which does get old. I like the different game every time aspect, but it seems there is just too much of a restriction built into the coding, you can't just get lucky and have a great game.

This is a superb strategic game, different but as good as its newer installment, i tell you this will keep you up to the twilight hours with it's addictive game-play, you just continue on as your empire continues to get better, stronger and richer, and it has really challenging AI and multiplayer is fiendish, just try it and you'll enjoy it. ;)

a game you can play for years xD, because there are much different civilizations to choose from!

I think my favorite civ IV civ was India with Gandhi. At least, I almost always did great with him - it was because the specialist economy fit me best, and Gandhi, being spiritual and philosophical was the best fit, since a holy city from the early game was crucial, and it was usually better if you founded that religion in your own city.

My list of favorite civs in IV, or leaders rather, would be:

1. Ghandi, India

2. Alexander, Greece

3. Louis XIV, France

4. I forget their leader, but the Vikings

5. Catherine, Russia. She's hot ;)

but find out yourself by playing the game;)

It's a great game. The only problem is that if you lack iron and bronze in the beginning of the game, you end up being destroyed quickly because your cities won't be able to produce strong units. Other than that, it's a great game. The game can keep you entertained for hours. I have had this game for a year, and I still play this. The game also allows you to select a nation out of a large group of nations. Another bad thing though is that each country only has one unique unit, so most of the units are the same in the game.

What can you say, one of the greatest games, of any genre made. And for a strategy game, it is top of the heap for sure.

Production values are great. Sound, graphics, everything is very nice. The interface is simple but powerful. The sound stands out, from music that doesn't grind your ears after a long playing session, to units speaking authentic languages.

The game-play is addictive. Be warned. You will always want to do one more turn. Or play one more game with one more civ, or try one more victory condition.

Simply put, it is a must buy, if you have a slight interest in strategy games, history, or call yourself a gamer, buy it, now.

This game is great! I am not really into games like this except for Age of Empires. I didn't want to pay a big price for it so I bought this on here with my blue coins, so I basically got it for free.

It didn't take long to download but I was a little dissapointed because this isn't the complete version but its still a big enough game. I plan on buying the complete version when it has a price drop just for added stuff.

I just started playing the game and am amazed. It's a little hard to play on my laptop without a mouse and its slow, those are the major drawbacks even though it's a really good laptop. I'm sure it would be a lot better on my desktop so right now I haven't rated it too high because its not great performance. I got a little bored because I find the game comfusing- I haven't figured it all out yet.

Personally I did not enjoy it that much. I only purchased as I saw it was on sale and looked intresting, i had never played a civilization game before, but it was not for me. The game is not fast paced and I found I quickly became bored.

Get this game! It may be a few years old, but it will keep you entertained for a long time.... Also the graphics are not bad and it has had no glitches or bugs so far. And I've had it for a year and play it almost every other day with my friends online.

I love this game because its one of the most original game ever created. It has great gameplay and has great use of strategy to be the most sophisticated, the most powerful, cultural, rich, smart, and deadly civilization ever. And the ways to win make this game better because of the roads you want your nation to walk on. After i played this game 10 times, i still want to play more thinking abut all the ways i can win the game, destroy other nations by anything means nessicary. Through culuture, money, or power. Religions make the game seem more awsome because of the power through faith. To persuade your fello civs to join your religion that you found makes it so you can eat off your teammates plates then taking over there lands. Whats cool abt this game is that over diplomecy, you can give your team members everything they want, and in secret make the greates army in the world to come take them over when there focused on building buildings and expanding there borders. You can have fun by making world wonders and make your culture the envy of the world. When barbaric and hostile nations hate you, your culture can creep up and take over there cities by force of love and culture. You can buy cities, form alliances, make pacts, mod your world the way you want it, pick your nation and race, choose your way of domination, pick your way to destroy or love, choose how you want to run THE WORLD.

one of the best TBS (turn based strategy) games ever. From the dawn of mankind into the spacerace era. Your start with nothing but primetive dudes and work your way all the way up to the modern era, expanding your borders by influence and cities, picking and taking care of your civics, religions, trade-economy and much more. Although I must warn you, this game is like heroine to any gamers who like strategy games. I myself cant stop playing whenever I start, but hey! The developers even thought of that; you can set an alarm to go off at any given time so you know its time to quit! =D 5*'s from me

Pros : More land development options, easier city/worker automation, more diplomacy, sensible diplomacy, multiple ways to victory including peaceful ones, possible to conquer cities by culture. Cons : Religion - if you dont race to a religion early and win, you get huge happiness hit, barbarians - too powerful even in lowest setting, every 2 turn 1-3 barbarians enter your lands. had they been able to produce that many high tier units that fast they wouldnt be barbarians but a stronger civilization. They come in too big waves and remove your infrastructure faster than a human opponent could. Resources - you have to have a certain resources to produce certain units. dont have iron ? no swordsman. no horse ? no horse archers, chariots, knights, cavalry. Lame, mmo-minded hierarchical policy upgrades - slavery work policy better than tribal, serfdom better than tribal. Earlier civ games had better policymaking, Alpha Centauri was far more superior.

Very good game. The game has only gotten better. Starting from the beginning of man up to the space race. Any fan of turn based stratergy games should definatly give this a go. For only $10 you get a lot game. difficulty ranges from ultra easy to suicidal. would recommend for anyone looking for some time to kill

Great game, and I agree with dupee419 that Civ IV leaves the previous installment in the dust. 'Easy to learn, difficult to master' is something that all mainstream strategy games should aim at, and the Civilization series is about as good an example of this as you can get, with Civ IV being no exception. Simple and well-presented enough to pick up and enjoy almost immediately, complex and strategically deep enough to offer countless hours of challenge. After loving the original Civilization, I missed the sequel when it came out and struggled to retrospectively get into it years later. Civ III was undoubtedly a quality game, but had its share of problems for casual and serious players alike. With this game though, I think I might be entering a new wave of addiction.

This is a great addition to and otherwise great series. Beats out Civ3 hands down. If you're running Vista basic 32 I would recommend updating your DirectX drivers as of the day of installation to prevent the runtime and pixel shader errors that will come with it otherwise. Other than that, GREAT game.

Civilization IV is an excellent game that features all thats good about the series in a new fresh updated package. The interface has been streamlined and it is now easier than ever before to understand why things happen and what to do about them. The art direction is also pleasant to look at and feel alot fresher and updated than the 3rd installment. Another thing the new graphics and art direction gives is more chareceristic accuracy to the civilizations ( no more Tokugawa looking like an mongolian and so on ).

The only real negative point about the game is what i have found the most frustrating in the series namely the combat , although greatly improved in this title the combat still feels a bit off and random at times. Although since its not a very combat heavy game it might be forgivable to neglect that department without seriously damaging gameplay value. all in all civilization 4 is an great game that will keep you going for hours and it has that " just one more turn " feel that will keep you going until the dead of night. recomended for series fans but also newcommers since its slimlined interface makes it alot easier to jump into without loosing any real depth to the gameplay