Sid Meiers Civilization IV Beyond the Sword

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Product Features

• 10 new civilizations
• 12 new scenarios
• 78 new units and 64 new buildings
• 16 new leaders
• 5 new technologies

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000PCLBE2
• Item Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: July 23, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,196 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

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Product Description

Product Description
The massive Civilization IV universe is about to become more epic with this 2nd expansion pack to the 2005 Game of the Year. The biggest Civ expansion set ever, Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword focuses on the “late game” time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 unique and challenging scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis as well as some esteemed members of the Civ Community.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sink your teeth into this hearty expansion!, August 13, 2007

By	The Patriarch - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Beyond the sword offers so much more than the previous one. Here is what I believe to be the best aspects:

Espionage is now a much larger part of the game. You may use funding to increase and decrease the amount you would like to concentrate on it. Just like science and culture.

Next war mod- This will add about thirty more techs to your tree in the end-game. Clones, mechs, and mind control centers are just a few examples. The only thing I don't like about this is you have to load the mod in order for it too work. Also, it is a tad annoying that the end-game music plays throughout the entire game if you choose this.

A bunch more leaders and few more civs- this is always a bonus. Holy Roman Empire and Byzantium are great choices. Being a fan of ancient Mesopotamian culture I appreciate the Babylonians and Sumerian civs being added as well. Native Americans are also a fun addition.

There is a new random event concept that actually adds a lot of fun to the game. Something good or bad happens at random and you make choices that either make things better or worse.

When it comes to the scenarios, it looks like they were going for a bit of experimentation instead of the usual. Still if you're anything like me you play these once and never look at them again.

There is one that is like a cyber-punk scifi where you fight zombies. Interesting idea but there isn't much to it. Just walk around in dark buildings while you are assaulted by wave after wave of zombies.

Perhaps the best one is an outer space scenario where you colonize planets. About ten new space civs to choose from and a brand new tech tree .

The Charlemagne scenario as you may have guessed involves the many countries vying for power during the dark ages.

Broken star is a russian campaign that involves a fractured russia. Choose a faction and attempt to find nukes.

I believe the animations have been improved and the units of different civs have been changed so they have more personality. ie. an asian civ will look asian while a native american civ looks native american, instead of the units of every civ looking the same.

Unlike the last installment I believe your getting your moneys worth this time around.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy Expansion, July 26, 2007

By	Robert Hudock "Linux User, Attorney, Hacker" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I have enjoyed Civilization since my discovery of this wonderful game in the mid-90's. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is a nice addition if your a "builder", Warlords the last expansion added some great features, but Beyond the Sword has hit the ball out of the park with new spy unites early in the game, more complicated game dynamics including corporations, religion, spy related point system, and new wonders. Another big plus, is the advanced technology tree, I always wanted to continue past the "Future Techs"-- now I can. PS -- to play civ on linux see [...].

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Problems solved., July 29, 2007

By	Alex Felix (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

As I understood it, the "Beyond the Sword" in the title referred to making the game more interesting in the period after most of the world's territory has already been staked out and all religions founded; previously there was little to do in the late-game apart from declaring war out of meandering ambition and/or boredom (which may yet have been some pretty spectacular social commentary though it didn't make the game any more fun to play). This expansion pack adds espionage, missing from Civ 4 until now, although as I understand it a popular feature in previous installments. I've so far heard mixed feedback as to how much weight it actually carries - and will admit that I didn't bother really trying it until my second or third game of Beyond the Sword - but I can confirm that it most certainly gives you something to do.

Beyond that, the game runs a bit better than it did previously, and the addition of neat little cause-effect events (i.e. "A dispute has arisen over a marriage between your citizen and a neighboring civilization's; offer money to boost foreign relations or decline and receive a boost in your cultural output") add a lot more than you'd think.

Meanwhile - as is always the case with expansions like this, there's hardly any way to react to any of the new tangible content (the requisite Civs, leaders, mods, etc.) other than to be glad of the fact that it's there, though that's no reason for complaint. Beyond the Sword makes Civilization IV a better game.