Civilization 3 Gold

by Atari

Product Features

• Bundle of classic strategy game with huge expansion pack
• Practically endless gameplay
• Includes new civilizations, techs, powers and more
• Scenario Editor allows user-created games
• For one or more players using LAN or Internet connection

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009THMU
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,215 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Sid Meier’s Civilization III--the game of epic proportions where players match wits against the greatest leaders of all time in an all-out quest to build the ultimate empire. Now fans of strategy games can enjoy this highly addictive journey of discovery with its much-improved follow-up expansion pack Civilization III: Play the World. Together, the Gold Edition provides more ways to win, pathways to explore, strategies to employ as well as exciting online modes of play. Civilization III Gold Edition gives Civ fans the opportunity to enjoy unmatched strategic gameplay alone or against players from around the world. Experience the ultimate in world conquest.

Civilization III

Rewrite history with the greatest PC game of all-time. Sid Meier's Civilization III is the ultimate version of the original and definitive empire building game. Civilization III is an exciting journey through time where you are challenged to create your own version of history as you match wits against the world’s greatest leaders and build, expand and rule a world dominating civilization to stand the test of time.

Civilization III: Play the World

This exciting expansion pack to the multi-award-winning game adds all-new civilizations to play and multiplayer support, so Civilization fans around the world can challenge one another. Included is a powerful Scenario Editor, giving you access to scenarios created by the thousands of members of the Civilization III: Play the World community. Play scenarios created by others, or build your own--replayability is now truly limitless with this new benchmark in strategy gaming!

Product Description

Experience the Ultimate in World Conquest!Product InformationFrom Firaxis Games and Sid Meier the creative genius behind some of the mostcritically acclaimed computer games ever produced comes this Gold Edition ofCivilization III. Now there are more ways to win pathways to explorestrategies to employ and exciting online modes of play. Civilization III: GoldEdition gives Civ fans unmatched strategic gameplay for solo heroic ventures orto battle players from around the world.Few computer games have ever received the level of praise attained by SidMeier's Civilization III - the highly addictive game of epic proportions whereplayers compete in an all-out quest to rule the world. Now both Civilization IIIand its improved follow-up expansion pack Civilization III: Play the World aretogether for the first time. Product Title Included Civilization III Civilization III: Play the WorldProduct Features Negotiate alliances with famous leaders from 24 civilizations Conquer vast territories with powerful armies and a variety of fighting methods. Challenge opponents from around the world in a variety of multiplayer games. Build an empire and culture that is the envy of other civilizations. Play against human and computer opponents via the Internet email hot seat or LAN in turn-based simultaneous or even "turnless" games.Product OverviewCivilization IIITheCivilization Legacy:  Sid Meier created theoriginal Civilization computer game in 1990. Civilization instantly set thestandard and defined a new genre of empire-building strategy games and is stillrecognized as one of the greatest games of all time. The game is an addictiveblend of building exploration discovery and conquest. Players match witsagainst some of history's greatest leaders as they strive to build the ultimatecivilization to stand the test of time. The legacy of this incredibly funaddictive series continues today with t

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

617 of 623 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shameless marketing by the publisher!, December 9, 2003

By 

P. H. Soares Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civilization 3 Gold (CD-ROM)

First off, Civilization III is a fantastic continuation of the 'Civilization' series of PC games which I've been playing since the first one hit the shelves back in 1991. However, I'm not here to give a review of this great game (there are plenty of reviews out there already) but rather to guide potential buyers for choosing which Civ3 version to get (or not get as the case may be).

The Civ3 games are as follows:

- Civilization 3 was originally released in 2001. It is the full, stand-alone game title.

- Civilization 3: Play the World was later released in 2002 as an add-on to the standard Civ3 game. It was generally considered buggy and incomplete and took a few patches to get it (almost) right.

- Civilization 3 Gold, released this year (2003), is essentially the original Civilization 3 game packaged with the "Play the World" add-on.

- Civilization 3: Conquests was also just released (2003) and is the latest add-on to the standard Civ3 game. IMPORTANT: the Conquests add-on includes EVERYTHING from the Play the World add-on plus adds a whole lot more goodies!! In a nutshell, Conquests fixes many of the problems with the PTW add-on and has a bunch of new stuff to boot.

So, my advice to anyone considering buying Civ3 Gold is thus: DON'T! Because you're better off buying the original Civ3 (which is extremely cheap now) with the Conquests add-on. It will cost you about the same for both anyway and you're essentially getting THREE Civ3 titles instead of only TWO.

I hope this helps save you a few bucks to spend on something else this holiday season. Enjoy!

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice Game but Unnecessary Purchase, February 7, 2004

By 

Chris (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Civilization 3 Gold (CD-ROM)

Civilization 3 Gold is really nothing more than the original Civilization 3 game packaged with the first expansion, Civilization: Play the World. While this may seem like a good deal, you can actually buy the second expansion in the Civilization series, Civilization: Conquests, which is included with the first expansion as well. So if you'd like an even better deal, buy a copy of the original Civilization game (which sells for a VERY cheap price new or used) and then buy the Civilization: Conquests expansion and you'll spend the same amount you would for the Gold Edition, get the expansion Civilization: Play the World as well as new content in Civilization: Conquests. If you'd like to know what the Gold Edition brings to the table, basically the purpose of the Play the World expansion was to enable multiplayer, a feature once originally promised in the original game. Atari probably realized it could make more money holding out multiplayer in an expensive expansion pack but if you never gave in to Atari's demands, now is your chance to try it. Multiplayer is a bit of a disappointment in Civilization. The online community isn't large and it's not the same thing as randomly joining a server in a first person shooter or other poppular online game because of the dedication required for long online games. One reason the community isn't that large is because when Play the World was first released it was a buggy disaster! The online game was full of lag no matter what game mode or connection speed you used. Some of the common problems have been fixed with patches but multiplayer has never been a great success with Civilization. Play the World even introduces a simultaneous turn mode which allows the game to speed up and imitates the mechanics of a real-time strategy game. Unfortunately, Civ 3 really isn't meant to be a real-time strategy game and it doesn't run as smoothly as a Rise of Nations or Warcraft game would. If you have a home LAN, that's probably the best way to play Civilization against others. The most successful method of play is still singleplayer, though, so I recommend you buy the Conquests expansion along with the original Civilization game like I mentioned above because that expansion does a better job adding more features for singleplayer but also comes included with the content in Play the World.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Civilization III - Three Times the Fun, November 30, 2003

By 

Bruce Gray "gurpsgm" (Shenandoah Valley, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civilization 3 Gold (CD-ROM)

OK - I admit it - I'm a "Sim" game addict. I've played previous versions of Civilization, and many other world building style games, and this one takes the current crown.

This game is a lot like its predecessors. You take the position of the leader of a great civilization and must build your nation into a true world power. From its tiny beginnings as a single village (Watch where you build your first city!) to a true world power, you are in control. You can discover new areas of the world, build your cities and infrastructure (like farming and mining to name two examples), and strike out to explore new areas of the world - all at the same time.

The new national leaders are much more interesting. Do you want to conquer and explore, or are you more interested in scientific approaches? Do you want to enter the space race or just stay on Terra Firma? Note that the computer controlled characters have the same goals as the ones you can choose at the beginning of the game. You can use this info to decide if you want to trade discoveries or fight.

The new unit hit point display allows you to see if your unit(s) are damaged, and by how much. I really appreciated this feature. The graphics are much improved over older editions. The other leaders seem much more intuitive and really give you a challenge, especially early in the game. Even if you want to discover and explore, you will, sooner or later, run into another nation that's more interested in killing you and taking what you've worked so long to build away from you. That's where things get interesting.

The Multiplayer supplement disc included not only allows you to challenge other players of Civilization III online, but has even more national leaders for you to choose from. This game is just about perfect. The added scenario editor allows you to not only change the conditions by which you win in existing scenarios, but allows you to create whole new worlds to share with other players so that they too can explore your creation and download other's creations and see if you can beat the scenario they designed.

BTW, there's a new add on pack that adds, believe it or not, even more world leaders to choose from, even more discoveries to make, and even more challenges for you to take on. Try looking for the "Conquest" expansion pack and really have the best of the best.

Of the World Building games, Civilization has long held the crown of leader of the pack. This great new version of the game regains that crown for Sid Meier. If you play games like Settlers, Pharaoh, Caesar III, Tropico, and older versions of Civilization, you owe it to yourself to check out this great new version. Highly recommended for "sim" fans, and recommended for anyone who wants to see what it would be like to own the world.