Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8693 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Take 2
• Released on: 2006-11-09
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
With more than six million units sold, Sid Meier's strategy and simulation-driven Civilization is recognized as one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time, and now for the first time, the entire series is compiled in one behemoth package. The set will include: Sid Meier's Civilization I, Sid Meier's Civilization II, Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds, Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization, Civilization II: Test of Time, Sid Meier's Civilization III, Sid Meier's Civilization III: Play the World, Sid Meier's Civilization III: Conquests and Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

The Civilization series has a long and critically acclaimed lineage and Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles is a showcase of Sid Meier's brilliant franchise that will include extras and additions that fans will love:

• Civilization: The Card Game: An original tabletop card game designed by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson, featuring more than 250 custom cards and rules based on Civilization IV.
• The Chronicles of Civilization: A 96-page book containing the history of Civilization, as told through interviews with past Civilization designers, an interview with Sid Meier and lead designer Soren Johnson, an article by journalist and author Steven L. Kent on the significance of the series in the computer gaming industry, and other original literature.
• Video DVD: DVD content includes a detailed presentation by lead designer Soren Johnson and artist Dorian Newcomb about the creation of Civilization IV, complemented by gameplay footage of every iteration of the game, game trailers from the Civilization series and more.
• Even more! Other exciting extras for fans and newcomers alike include printed tech tree posters from each game, wallpaper images, podcast MP3s and more!

Customer Reviews

Amazing value, but is it really?
At the current price of £14.96, you could do worse than buy this fantastic box set. Especially when Civ 4 alone is currently being sold on this same site for the same price!

Whilst I think this does represent excellent value for a fine slice of PC gaming, it is fundamentally flawed. I have owned and played all of these games at some point in time before purchasing this, and they are all superb in their own right. The problem was then, and is now, that once Civ 2 came out, I didn't really play Civ. When Civ 3 was released, I never played Civ 1/2 again. Now with Civ 4 released, it is unlikely you will play any of the other versions (assuming your computer is up to it).

This is the only real problem I have with this box set. It does represent good value for money, and the booklet it contains is quite interesting, but are you really going to play the old games, especially the first 2, for more than a few minutes? Especially when you can play the much better looking (and better playing) 3 & 4.

It is more than likely that you will hardly play the first two games, and will play either 3 or 4 depending on your computer's specs. Saying that, 1/2 are small enough to probably sneak onto your work pc!

A Brief History Of Civ ... in one box
I love strategy games, whether they're real-time (Age of Empires etc.) or turn-based like Civ - this package brought back some misty-eyed memories of playing dodgy copies of Civ I and Civ II when I was at university back in the days when games came on floppy disks.

What we have here is basically a compilation of all the Civilization games, with a couple of expansion packs and a card game thrown in for good measure, and at a pretty unbeatable price to boot. Most people will probably be familiar with Civilizations III and IV, the latter being one of the most addictive games known to man, but the first two games are well worth a look if only because they come from a time when gameplay was evidently preferred over looks. Granted, they don't stand up to any modern games in the graphics department, but they more than make up for it in being almost terminally addictive. An added bonus, for me at least, is the 'Civilization' card game, which is surprisingly good fun once you've picked up the rules.

My only real gripe would be the lack of 'Alpha Centauri', which is a Civilization-type game and a logical follow-on from most of the original Civ games (Civ 4 in particular) and adds a couple of nice twists to the standard 4X strategy game. However, given that AC can be picked up fairly cheaply nowadays it's not that big a deal.

If you like strategy games, chances are you'll already have this pack or even all of the 'original' Civ releases. If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, this is a good place to start - you can't really go wrong with 4 games (4 games with replay value, yet) for 20 quid.

Excellent games, but why own all of them?
As pointed out by other reviewers, this set is excellent value for money and includes a number of great games. All games in the Civilization series have been excellent; but as each one is essentially an improved version of the previous one, assuming your computer can handle Civ4 there is no real reason to own all four today.

It's also a shame that the boxed set does not include other Civilization-type games by the same makers which are fantastic, such as Alpha Centaurii & Colonization.