Customer Reviews

Civilization IV Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames))

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a fan of previous Civ versions, I am excited to have the much improved Civ IV. However, as any Civ fan will tell you, there's an immense amount of information related to the game, covering everything from religion to pollution or war to culture and so on. Any aide that helps package this information is welcome. But this "official" strategy guide lacks both scope and depth. It's a short book, with smallish pages, and most pages are consumed with screen shots. There's not even an index. The commentary that the book does provide is helpful, but there's simply not enough of it. Moreover, the explanations often overlap with the information in the Civopledia, limiting the amount of new information contained in the book. If you are completely new to the Civ series, this guide might help you get started. But don't expect detailed explanations, and the gaps in this book mirror the gaps in the Civopledia. The best aid to playing this game will likely be the fan sites that will eventually pop up.

This book was a complete disappointment compared to the strategy guides from previous Civ games. Almost half of info in the book can be obtained from the Civlopedia. There are some game strategies included that can be usefull but there is no game mechanic information. The bigest items missing are the Combat mechanics (of which there is NONE) and the customization information (NONE also) on how to customize the game or make maps using the included map maker. This book is basicly a print version of the Civlopedia.

This book is better than the manual that comes with the game, and the lists of units, cultures, improvements, etc. are easier to navigate. That's where the good points end. Like the manual, there is no index. The strategy and game basics sections will add no value for anyone who has played Civ 3 or read the pre-release reviews on the furums. If you are completely new to the Civilization series, this will get you a bit further than the manual. Otherwise, save your money.

I agree with the other reviews. This book isn't worth the price.
It's marginally useful only insomuch as it gathers civilopedia info into a print book that is just a step above the game manual. The strategy stuff is minimal, seems to concentrate on multiplayer strategies, and is rather basic, especially for anyone who has played any civilization game before. The screenshots don't add much and in some cases look more like space-filler. I'm not even sure what some of the shots are intended to convey to the reader.
This book certainly doesn't come close to previous guides for earlier versions of Sid Meier's games.

Oh my good god, this book is so full of typos and typesetting errors it's physically hard to believe. Nevertheless, there is some good information here. The strategy info is marginal, nothing eye-opening if you've played games much. The crunchy bits like the tables of units and improvements are nice to have. In the end, I would probably recommend you skip this guide just to punish Brady for allowing it out the door in such primordial condition. You can always get the same information (and way more besides) on fan sites like Apolyton or CivFanatics.

After reading all the pans of this book, I thought I would put in a dissenting point of view. I am completely new to the Civilization series and need all the help I can get. I think generally the book is doing a good job getting me up to speed. I do agree, though, that the drawbacks of the book are significant and make the book frustrating to use.

First, what works about the book:
* covers basic strategies
* reproduces tech tree and unit descriptions
* gives strategy and tactical advice for each unit and resource
* includes tips from the game testers
* doesn't assume reader is familiar with previous games in the series
* is good for people (like me) who don't want to read the Civilopedia online any more than they have to

What doesn't work about the book:
* text is too small! Much of the joy of reading the book is squandered by having to squint -- and I don't wear glasses.
* no index. Publishers that release books with no indexes might be trying to save money, but they really reduce the book's usability
* screenshots are so small (some are 1.5" x 1.25" -- what were they thinking?) and are in black and white, so they are mostly too frustrating to bother trying to understand. Whoever tried to save money by printing in 9 point text made the same decision with the screenshots.
* screenshots have no caption beneath them. What is the screenshot attempting to demonstrate? Text only sometimes can be counted on to refer to the screenshot. The combination of smallness, lack of color and no captions makes the screenshots mostly useless to this reader. Pretty quickly I learned that they add no value to the book.

Final assessment: I paid a grand total of $13 for the book and definitely am getting my money's worth. The thing is that, given the option, I would have gladly paid $20 for the above drawbacks to be rectified.

I expect a guide like this to pick up where the instruction manual leaves off. But this book spends 3/4 of its pages just reproducing what is already included with the book's online and printed help. The rest provides some very abstract ideas on strategy. It does not tell you what units or buildings to build or when to build them. Civ 4 is a great game, but you won't get much here. Stick to the game's manual and visit some of the fan sites for helpful hints.

I'll agree with other reviewers that the content doesn't provide much supplemental information, but I confess a preference for hard copy documentation when I'm using software. It's the booklover in me, plus the fact that I like to look at the manual and the game I'm playing at the same time.

My complaint with this book is that it is cheaply produced and difficult to read. I've grown used to the 4-color Prima guides. They are excelently laid out and easy on the eye. The Civ IV guide, however, is B&W and the font size is 9 at best. Unless you have great vision, you'll find yorself wanting to use a magnifier. It's fascinating. The Prima Sims2 Nightlife manual has 224 pages, all 4-color, and is a pleasure to read. The Brady Civ IV manual has 188 B&W pages and is a complete pain to peruse. Both have list prices of $19.99. One guess which company is delivering the best value.

This book is virtually useless. I have played all versions of CIV and bought the guides for them. Most of the information contained in this book is in the user documentation. To me, it seems the book was written by someone who never played the game. Don't waste your money.

This barely qualifies as a book, let alone a guide. This points out, vividly, one of the drawbacks of buying books online; I never would have bought this book in a store - I would have spent 30 seconds flipping through the book, shook my head in disgust, and gone on looking.

This book is such a rip off, amazon should do something about it -- like put a big red border around this pages w/a "everyone hates this book" warning -- or better yet, stop ripping off your customers & remove this from inventory.