Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization

Overview

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a turn-based 4X strategy game (based on the European colonization of the New World) developed by Firaxis and published by 2K for the PC on September 22, 2008. The game is a remake of the 1995 game Sid Meier's Colonization using the game engine of Sid Meier's Civilization IV. Despite the name, it is a standalone game and does not require Civilization IV to run.

Players take control of a single colony from one of four nations (England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands) as they try to build and expand their settlements while maintaining their local economies and building trade relationships (or warring relationships) with the motherland, the colonies of other players, and Native Americans. Eventually, the monarchy demands too much from players, and the overall goal in the game shifts to being the first player (before a certain time) to declare independence from the motherland and defeat their homeland's usurping army.

Gameplay

Unlike Civilization, there is only one victory condition in Colonization. The player must establish a colony and eventually generate enough rebel sentiment to declare independence from its home country. After Independence is declared, the player must fight off waves of soldiers and if successful will win the game.

Thus, the main goal of Colonization revolves around establishing self sufficiency through trade and infrastructure while also outproducing other European nations. Initially, most starting cities will only be capable of shipping raw goods back to Europe and gains most of its population through immigration. By the end however, a colony will be able to produce its own manufactured goods and rebel sentiment, which is generated by town halls and is required to actually declare independence.

Unlike Civ IV, there is only a very small number of units. Regular colonists can turn into soldiers if given guns, scouts if given horses and dragoons if given horses and guns. There are also specialist colonists, who generate more of their specialized resource. Colonists can be trained in some specialties by visiting natives but others can only be obtained through the school building or European immigrants.

The game can be played through LAN, Hot Seat, Internet, play by email and Direct IP connection.

Colonies

There are four nations to choose from, each with their own special trait. Players also choose a particular leader from that nation, who also has their own special trait.

The English

Special Trait (Tolerant): Reduces the amount of Crosses needed for immigration by 25%.

Leader Traits

• George Washington (Disciplined): Reduces the cost of arming soldiers by half.
• John Adams (Libertarian): Increases the amount of Liberty Bells generated by 25%.

The French

Special Trait (Cooperative): Reduces the amount of time spent among natives (with good relationship) by half to learn a new skill. Natives are also more tolerant towards the player's territorial enroachment.

Leader Traits

• Samuel De Champlain (Enterprising): Doubles the rate of Converted Natives from missions.
• Louis de Frontenac (Militaristic): Grants the Grenadier I promotion (+20% attack towards settlements) automatically for all mounted and gunpowder units.

The Spanish

Special Trait (Conquistador): Increases the attack power against natives by 25%.

Leader Traits

• Simón Bolivar (Determined): Increases the attack power by the amount of Liberty Bells generated.
• José De San Martin (Resourceful): Reduces the amount of experience required for unit promotions by half.

The Dutch

Special Trait (Mercantile): Makes the European market less sensitive to the player's offers.

Leader Traits

• Peter Stuyvesant (Industrious): Increases the amount of Hammers generated by 25%.
• Andiaen Van Der Donck (Charismatic): Lengthens the time between tax increases (by the King) by double.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Windows Vista\XP , Pentium 4 or 1.1GH processor, 512MB of ram, Directrix 9.0c video card with 64MB of memory and shader 1.1 surport or better.

Recommended Requirements

1.8GH processor, 1 GB of RAM, 128MB video card