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Civilization IV: Colonization

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Civilization IV: Colonization
North American cover art
Developer(s)Firaxis Games
Publisher(s)2K Games (Win)
Aspyr (Mac)
Designer(s)H. Edward Piper
SeriesCivilization
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
ReleaseSeptember 21, 2008
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a remake (a total conversion using Civilization IV engine) of the 1994 turn-based strategy game Sid Meier's Colonization.[1] Players control settlers from one of four European nations, Spain, England, France, or the Netherlands, that are trying to conquer/colonize the New World in the period between 1492–1792. The final goal of each player is to build up their colonies and a standing army, then declare independence from their mother country and defeat the military force that the King sends to crush the rebellion.[1][2][3][4][5]

The Windows version was released on September 21, 2008. A Mac OS X version was released in December 2009.[6] Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization does not require the original Sid Meier's Civilization IV in order to play.[7]

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

In order to build and expand their cities, players must balance negotiations with several separate groups: the natives of the Americas, colonists from the player's home country and other colonists from the old world. Players may also recruit founding fathers to join their cause, each with a specific bonus that helps throughout the game. The player influences the direction of his colony through choices in diplomacy, recruitment and city management. Additional colonists from Europe or converted natives can result in population increases after food surpluses exceed a preset level.

Economics and trade come into play when the player makes finished goods and sells them in Europe or trades with the natives for other goods or gold. By harvesting natural resources, skilled craftsmen can convert them into finished goods for sale or trade. Additionally, silver can be mined for direct trade and ore can be mined to turn into tools and then in turn guns. Skilled craftsmen produce twice as much as regular workers and specialist buildings can be built to increase overall production as well.

The player's selection of nationality, made at the start of the game, affects the colony's standing in the world: the English receive an immigration bonus, the Dutch enjoy trade bonuses, the French diplomacy edge encourages more favorable relations with native tribes, while the Spanish Conquistador bonus favors conquest against the natives.[4]

List of civilizations[nb 1]
Civilization Leader(s)
New England John Adams
George Washington
New France Louis de Frontenac
Samuel de Champlain
New Netherlands Adriaen van der Donck
Peter Stuyvesant
New Spain Simón Bolívar
José de San Martín
England King of England
France King of France
Netherlands King of the Netherlands
Spain King of Spain
Apache Mangas Coloradas
Arawak Agueybana
Aztecs Montezuma II
Cherokee Oconostota
Incas Huayna Capac
Iroquois Logan
Sioux Sitting Bull
Tupi Cunhambebe

In addition to single-player campaigns, the new game has a multiplayer component.[1][4]

Civilization IV: Colonization has many new gameplay mechanics. When starting the game, in addition to choosing a starting European nation, a player chooses between two governors, each with different advantages.[8] In addition, national borders is a gameplay concept taken from Civilization IV. This means that rivals cannot pass into each other's land unless they have an open borders agreement — or they have declared war.

Unlike the original Colonization game, nations cannot recruit the same founding fathers. Each founding father is recruited by one and only one nation/player. Moreover, founding fathers will only join nations with certain criteria, namely a certain level of "points" obtained in various categories (political, military, exploration, religion, and trade).[9]

After the player declares independence, players draft a constitution determining the government style of their independent nation. For example, if a nation chooses a monarchical system, then it can still trade with Europe during the war for independence.[10]

Development

The game runs on an upgraded version of the Civilization IV engine with changes including enhanced graphics, streamlined code, and redesigned interfaces. With these enhancements, Colonization requires video cards that support pixel shader 1.1.[1][11]

Reception

The single victory condition – declaring and winning a war for independence – has been both criticized[9] and accepted[23] by reviewers. Another criticism of the game is that it only has four playable colonial powers. The exclusion of Europe's other prominent colonial powers has been called a "limiting" factor in the game.[4]

Variety video games reporter and reviews editor Ben Fritz criticized the concept of the game in his blog because of issues such as the depopulation of Indigenous Americans and the Atlantic slave trade that occurred during European and American colonization.[24][25][26] Firaxis has responded to Fritz's blog post with the statement, "the game does not endorse any particular position or strategy - players can and should make their own moral judgments."[27] Trevor Owens contributed to the conversation in an article that considers the game's usage of different, arguably problematic elements, asking "wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, any game about that period in the Americas be racist and offensive, if it were even remotely faithful to that time period?"[28]

See also

  • FreeCol, an open source Colonization clone

Notes

  1. ^ The only playable civilizations are the colonies.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Firaxis Games Coming Soon". Firaxis Games, Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  2. ^ "2K Games Announces Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization for Games for Windows" (Press release). 2K Games. 2008-06-09. Archived from the original on 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  3. ^ Keiser, Joe (2008-06-09). "2K Games Revives Sid Meier's Colonization". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15.
  4. ^ a b c d Miller, Jon (2008-06-26). "Civilization IV: Colonization First Look". Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  5. ^ "Civilization Colonization Updated Hands-On". GameSpot. August 19, 2008. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  6. ^ Brown, Christopher. "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  7. ^ "Firaxis Games: Games: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization". Firaxis.com. 2009-07-23. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  8. ^ "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization Dutch Faction Profile". IGN. 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  9. ^ a b Kosak, Dave 'Fargo' (2008-07-18). "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  10. ^ Park, Andrew (2008-07-15). "E3 2008: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization Updated Impressions — New Information and Details". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  11. ^ Thorsen, Tor (2008-06-13). "Q&A: Meier on revolutionizing Colonization". Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  12. ^ Chick, Tom (September 25, 2008). "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  13. ^ Meer, Alec (September 22, 2008). "Civilization IV: Colonization Review - Computer and Video Games". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  14. ^ Clare, Oliver (September 22, 2008). "Civilization IV: Colonization Review - EuroGamer". EuroGamer. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  15. ^ Hunt, Jonathan (2008-09-23). "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  16. ^ Biessener, Adam (September 22, 2009). "Civilization IV: Colonization Review - Game Informer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  17. ^ Kosak, Dave 'Fargo' (2008-10-02). "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  18. ^ Watters, Chris (2008-10-03). "Civ IV: Colonization Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  19. ^ Butts, Steve (September 26, 2008). "Civilization IV: Colonization Review - IGN". IGN. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  20. ^ "G4 X-Play Review: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization". G4. September 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  21. ^ "Civ IV: Colonization". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  22. ^ "Civilization IV: Colonization Review - MetaCritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  23. ^ Butts, Steve. "Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization Review". IGN. [this winning condition] should appeal to strategy gamers who are unhappy with the less structured victory paths in Civilization IV
  24. ^ "Civilization IV: Colonization... Wow that looks offensive". Variety. 2008-06-25. Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  25. ^ "Civilization IV: Colonization Called 'Morally Disturbing'". The Escapist. 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  26. ^ "Variety Troubled By Sid Meier's Next Game". Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  27. ^ "Firaxis responds to my Colonization post". Variety. 2008-06-27. Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  28. ^ "Sid Meier's Colonization: Is it offensive enough? | Play The Past". www.playthepast.org. Retrieved 2016-10-14.

Further reading

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