Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001NTSO
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: February 9, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,677 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Fans of earlier Sid Meier games, such as Civilization and Railroad Tycoon, will love Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, the strategy game where players lead a colony expedition on a new planet. This game employs the same rules and concepts as Civilization, but with a new, slicker interface. Within the game, you can now automate tasks that--in the earlier game--were repetitive and dull. The factions also have a better mix of leaders; three of the seven factions are headed by women.

Players begin by assuming leadership of one of seven colony factions, establishing a base on the unexplored world. A balance of priorities is critical: conquering territory, developing technology, and expanding the faction's population are all crucial factors in your survival. If a faction's military output is low, it may be vulnerable to attacks by others or by dangerous mind worms that roam the landscape. On the other hand, building war machines at the expense of scientific research may result in trying to manage a massive but obsolete war machine or a rebellious population.

This easy-to-learn and thoroughly absorbing game takes the best features of the original classic and sets them in an exciting new world. --Alyx Dellamonica

Product Description

Legendary designer Sid Meier presents the next evolution in strategy games, with the addictive gameplay. Explore the alien planet that is your new home and uncover its myriad mysteries. Discover over 75 extraordinary technologies. Build over 60 base upgrades and large scale secret projects for your empire. Conquer your enemies with a war machine that you design from over 32,000 possible unit types. Included with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is Alien Crossfire Expansion Pack. It adds seven new playable factions, new technologies, new secret projects, new base facilities, new weapons, armor, special abilities and an expanded storyline.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Civilization in space? Sounds good!, April 21, 2004

By 

hjonkers (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

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

And it is! I had always loved Sid Meier's Civilization II, and the idea of playing this game with better graphics and in a science-fiction setting sounded great to me: wouldn't that lead to almost endless possibilities? And Alpha Centauri does not disappoint. The story is based on the following: in the end of Civilization II, a space ship is sent to the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to colonize a new world. But then, the passengers in the ship separate into different ideological groups. Right before the landing on the planet, the ship encounters technical problems and all passengers have to leave it. Of course, what'd you expect, all seven factions are spread equally over the planet and the whole familiar game of colonizing a planet starts all over again. But now in a completely different setting: space.

The makers have tried to copy many familiar Civ features to this game: the pirates have become `mind worms': natives of the planet that attack your units now and then. The goody huts are also present, in the form of wrecks from the spaceship that sometimes contain nice stuff. The landscape looks a little different (by the way, it's in 3-D, unlike that of the later game Civ 3) from Earth, the resources have other colours, but in the end it's very easy to recognize. It is again possible to build things like mines, roads, irrigation and much more. Maybe the most important difference considering the terrain options is the fact that you can build sea towns later on in the game. Oh, and cities are now called `bases'! The familiar system of city buildings (now called improvements) and Wonders still exists.

Considering the units, there is less variety than in Civilization. But it would be impossible to include as many units as the original has: this game starts in the near-future, after all. The makers have done the following: there are a few basic prototypes (infantry, artillery, fast cars, air jets, ships, etc.) that can be upgraded all the time through the game. This was an excellent idea, as too many weird new units would make the game very confusing. Also, it is now possible to construct your own units with the various upgrades!

One unit I mention in particular: the Planet Buster rocket. The name says it all: it is a devastating weapon that blows away entire bases and leaves behind nothing but water squares. So this is a much more powerful weapon even than the infamous nuke missiles from Civ. But this WMD is considered as a crime against humanity (quite logical, eh?) and the use of it will turn all other nations against you. But it can be declared legal at the Planetary Council.

As said, there are seven factions, such as the University, the Spartans, the Human Hive, the Peacekeepers, the Believers and so on. Each faction has its own characteristics: the University researches very quickly (therefore it's my favourite side); the Hive (sort of communists) has a very loyal people; the Spartans can sustain armies easily etcetera. Also, during the game you can twist the characteristics of your own faction endlessly. But the different groups also have their own behaviour. For example, the Believers keep demanding all sorts of things from you and often declare war after a refusal. On the other hand, the Peacekeepers and the University are nearly always trustworthy friends.

The existence of so many complex factions makes a good diplomacy inevitable, and this is where the game excels. You can talk almost endlessly with your neighbours and use your friendship for many things. For instance, when two neighbours are at war, you can kindly ask them to end these reckless activities. If you have built up a good reputation during the game, there's a good chance that they will stop the war. This is a great aspect of the game: especially on the higher levels it makes you feel like you're a great diplomat! On the other hand, when you're not considered trustworthy (which happens when you start wars against friends too often) they won't even consider listening. The programmed texts are also very funny, especially those in the conversations with the Believers! There is also a Planetary Council in which all nations can vote for a proposed measure. And it's often just as divided as the UN...

There are several ways to win the game. Of course, it's possible to kick all six competitors out and conquer the entire planet. That's probably the most challenging and funny option. It is also possible to build the greatest of all wonders: the Ascent to Transcendence. This wonder, believe it or not, creates a new kind of human beings and ends the human era as we know it. A less complicated ways to win, is gathering a lot of bucks and conquer the global market. And finally, the members of the Planetary Council can elect you General Secretary, which makes you the democratically elected ruler of the planet.

The presentation of Alpha Centauri is simply great. Notice the nice flap-out box. It also has a very thorough manual and a nice poster of all technologies in the game (at least, in my version). The in-game setting is also very good. The terrific Wonder movies of Civ II (often I built Wonders just to see those clips) are back, now even better and very `informative' about the world you have built. The music is not as prominent: most of the soundtrack consists of dark background music that fits the science fiction setting of the game very well.

Well, I could go on for hours about this endlessly complex and fascinating game but it's enough for now. Alpha Centauri is every bit as interesting as its earthly predecessor Civilization and that should be enough to convince every fan of the franchise. But a warning for those new to this kind of game: it's... pretty addictive!

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Strategy Game Ever, March 23, 2000

By 

Prauge Traveler (Germany) - See all my reviews

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

For those who have freqented the worlds of Sid Meier before, this purchase should come as second nature: you will not be disappointed. Alpha improves all of the original concepts of Civilization 2 and adds some of its own- such as borders, social engineering and unit design. Territorial borders is a simple improvement that is just plain wonderful. Social engineering takes some getting used to- I was a sceptic -but after a few tries it is a necessity and adds a new standard to the genere. The technologies also will confuse those of us who are not physics and advanced microbiology/genetics majors; however, the general idea will not take long to grasp. Trade is improved and varies in ways that the far surpasses Civ 2. Unit variety is, well. . . amazing. The Graphics in game play are well done and the cinematics that appear throughout are top notch. One slight downer is the diplomatic relations: a few more choices, but not much change overall. When advancing the difficulty setting Alpha still falls into the old trap of just making the computer's units stronger, which can be frustrating. On the other hand, perhaps it is just reducing the advantage the player's units hold in easier settings.

A word of warning: this game can be detrimental to one's GPA if not used with caution. Addiction will follow quickly if moderation is not enforced. I recommend having a friend or roommate hide the CD on occasion.

Few games will provide as many hours of enjoyment as this one will. More fun for your dollar!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior game!, December 28, 1999

By 

Daniel Jensen (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

Awesome game from Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds. The division of factions by ideals instead of nationality, the great AI and diplomacy, the complex technology progression with its divisions of Explore, Discover, Build, and Conquer, the thousands of options available, and all the differing levels of management from almost complete automation to micromanagement make this game enthralling. I am not particularly into science fiction and wondered if I would like this game, but they did such a great job with it that it is very fun. There were several things they could have improved, including the tech tree, making more ways to win, and some slight improvements to the factions, especially the religious faction, but it is worth 5 stars nonetheless.