Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Expansion: Alien Crossfire

by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000K3Q2
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 30, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,813 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Electronic Arts' Alien Crossfire--created by legendary designer Sid Meier, maker of such landmark games as Civilization and Pirates!--is the official add-on pack for a brilliant turn-based strategy game,Alpha Centauri. The pack expands on the original game by adding seven factions, new facilities, additional secret projects, and new branches to the elaborate technology tree. Fans also receive many new enhancements to Alpha Centauri, including play-by-email mutiplayer mode, hotseat multiplayer mode, and numerous tweaks to the interface and unit properties. Alien Crossfire's new factions include cyborgs, drones, pirates, and two sets of alien societies. Factions are balanced by a set of predetermined statistics and characteristics, such as bonuses for particular government and production styles.

Game play means creating and maintaining a flourishing society on a hostile alien world. Players must juggle dozens of civilization settings--such as government style, unit production, and pollution prevention--and discover the best means of conquering enemies through a powerful economy, research and development, or military conquest. Alternatively, players and computer-controlled factions can become allies instead of enemies and trade technologies and unit designs to further bolster scientific advancements and economy.

With an exciting new story line, dozens of enhancements, and tried-and-true game play that adds hours of life to the original game, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire is a must-have expansion pack for Alpha Centauri fans. Remember that you'll need Alpha Centauri in order to play and enjoy Alien Crossfire. --Doug Radcliffe

Product Description

The official Expansion Pack features 7 all-new playable factions, new technologies and secret projects, and expanded plot that continues the story of Mankind's struggles on an alien world. New custom faction editor. Seven new technologies. Four new Secret Projects. Five new weapons. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri fans can choose to play classic Alpha Centauri (with the original seven human factions), the new Alien Crossfire story (with seven all-new factions, or customize the game by combining their favorite factions from the entire suite of fourteen!

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alpha Centauri enhanced with new factions and more, November 10, 1999

By 

Jvstin "Paul Weimer" (Circle Pines, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Expansion: Alien Crossfire (CD-ROM)

Seven years after planetfall, as the Gaians, Collective, University and other factions struggle to make their way on Planet, two alien spacecraft fight in the space above...and ultimately crash land, to make their own way on Planet.

Alien Crossfire puts the Alpha Centauri game in the center of this conflict, as the factions we all know and love are caught between the Caretakers and Preservers, two alien factions diametrically opposed to each other and any who would ally with the other. New Human factions to play such as the Cyborgs and Pirates just add to the fun. New unit types, and planetary features such as the Manifold Nexus make the Alpha Centauri experience even richer than the already excellent basic game.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great expansion to a great game, April 14, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Expansion: Alien Crossfire (CD-ROM)

So you thought Alpha Centauri is all there was? Well, get ready for an even bigger game experience.

Most companies just add a few frills to a computer game with an expansion. But the Alien Crossfire expansion not only adds the frills, it adds totally new thrills. In addition to the new human factions and their units, it adds two Alien races to the mix - making this one of the most original colonization / civilization games available.

There are new secret projects to build. There are new units to add to your already full arsenal. There are some new features on Planet that make exploration more interesting. Add to that the alien races - one which is bent on recovering "their" world at all costs, and one that is more interested in working with the humans that have colonized this new world.

My favorite new faction is the Nautilus Pirates. They start with a unique advantage - they build their first city in the sea, and they can very quickly achieve dominance of Planet's oceans.

If you liked Alpha Centauri, it might be worth your effort to try to find a copy of Alien Crossfire. My only dream is that both discs will be released as a single package someday. Still one of my most played discs. One of my very highest recommendations.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just when you thought it couldn't get any better -, April 26, 2000

By 

J. Berry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Expansion: Alien Crossfire (CD-ROM)

Take the winning formula of Alpha Centauri and a new twist in the story of Planet, and you have Alien Crossfire. Two alien factions are struggling to regain control of Planet, or Manifold Six as they call it, while several new human factions emerge.

This may become a little repetitive for those familiar with Alpha Centauri at the beginning, but play for long enough and you'll be hooked all over again. New native lifeforms, units, technologies, projects and facilities spark up Planet and allow you to rediscover the game. You can mix and match factions to pit your favourite side against the new, or try one of the alien factions and see how bizarrely they transform units and human technology.

The creators of this game tried to make it a cross between an expansion pack and a sequel, and they've succeeded amazingly. As addictive as Alpha Centauri itself, Alien Crossfire is a worthy successor.