Damn You, Sid Meier, and Damn Your Civilization!

Over the years, game developer Sid Meier has made some of the best selling and most loved computer games.  They also have managed to suck large amounts of my time into a black hole vortex of “just one more turn”.

I’ve played every incarnation of Civilization (even the Call to Power titles that had nothing to do with Sid).  I’ve played Railroad Tycoon and Colonization.  It had gotten to the point that if the game’s box had the word “Microprose” on it, I would buy it.  That’s how I discovered the fun of Darklands as well as the Master of Orion series.

So now, they’ve added another title to Civilization franchise.  I had thought that Civilization 4 was pretty much the pinnacle of the series … covering religion, culture, espionage in a fun and easy to utilize fashion.  Of course, when Civilization 4 came out, I had thought that Civilization 3 had pretty much covered all the bases and that they couldn’t add anything meaningful to the game.

I tore myself away from Modern Warfare 2 on the XBox and away from City of Heroes on the PC long enough to give Civilization 5 a try. Now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go back …

The biggest change with Civilization 5 is that it now uses a hex-based grid map, like the wargames of yesteryear.  It adds the concept of city states — independent cities that will work with you as long as you keep up the diplomacy.  They’ve removed the need to build transport ships to carry your military around; instead the military units “convert” themselves into ships to cross oceans (I’m undecided on whether or not I like this feature).

Civilization 5 is still the massive time sink that all the Civilization games have been.  You’ll find yourself saying “just one more turn” frequently.  And for this, I say, “Damn you, Sid Meier!”

Maybe one day I’ll get around to doing my chores.  Anyone else addicted to this game, or is it just me?


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