Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Gold Edition

by Take 2

Product Features

• The ultimate strategy game, offering players the chance to lead their chosen nation from the dawn of man through the space age
• Build the most powerful empire and become the greatest ruler the world has ever known
• Civilization comes to life in a beautifully detailed, living 3D world--with all-new easy-to-use mod capabilities and intense multiplayer modes and options
• Includes both Civilization IV and the combat-focused Warlords Expansion Pack
• Gold Edition bonus items include fantasy-style poster, behind-the-scenes DVD, tech-tree poster, and Civilization IV manual

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000RHFZTM
• Item Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: July 17, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,313 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Sid Meier?s Civilization IV is the ultimate strategy game offering players the chance to lead their chosen nation from the dawn of man through the space age on a quest to build the most powerful empire and become the greatest ruler the world has ever known. Now, Civ fans can experience more world domination than ever before with Civilization IV: Gold Edition, which includes both Civilization IV and the combat-focused Warlords Expansion Pack!

Box Contents Include:

• Sid Meier?s Civilization IV - You won?t want to miss one of the most critically-acclaimed PC games ever from legendary designer Sid Meier. Play as one of history?s greatest leaders and battle, negotiate, strategize and explore your way to world conquest. All of human history is at your fingertips.
• Sid Meier?s Civilization IV: Warlords - In this first expansion pack to Civilization IV, players have even more options to win by military might ? including the devastating Warlords unit. Six new civilizations, ten new leaders and eight additional scenarios just scratch the surface of new content added to the already massive core game.
• Gold Edition Bonus Items:
  • Fantasy-style poster set within the world of Sid Meier?s Civilization from Greg Hildebrandt, the illustrator of the world famous 1977 Star Wars fantasy-themed movie poster, the Clash of the Titans movie poster, various Lord of the Rings calendars and posters and many others.
  • Behind-the-Scenes DVD featuring developer interviews, insight into the Civ IV development process and featurette on Sid Meier?s history in the gaming industry.
  • Tech-tree poster featuring the paths to researching and discovering all of the technologies needed to advance in Civilization IV.
  • Civilization IV Manual

Product Description

Features include:

•The ultimate strategy game, offering players the chance to lead their chosen nation from the dawn of man through the space age
•Build the most powerful empire and become the greatest ruler the world has ever known
•Civilization comes to life in a beautifully detailed, living 3D world--with all-new easy-to-use mod capabilities and intense multiplayer modes and options
•Includes both Civilization IV and the combat-focused Warlords Expansion Pack
•Gold Edition bonus items include fantasy-style poster, behind-the-scenes DVD, tech-tree poster, and Civilization IV manual

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compared to III - a great improvement, October 15, 2007

By 

L. Peary (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

I find that the improvements outweigh the negatives in Civ IV. I've played Civ III for a while, and was always frustrated with the unrealistic means of making it more difficult at higher levels - such as warriors defeating Knights in battle, other Civs building wonders in record turns, things like that. In Civ IV, those issues seem to be repaired. I've found that the rules they give us for combat movements, cost, etc., are not bypassed to make the game more difficult at higher levels.

I like the added variety of leaders and their abilities, seems more realistic and helpful for long term strategy. I also like the addition of more wonders, though they have changed some of the benefits of certain wonders so I needed to get used to the same thing being different.

I also am enjoying the new "Permanent Alliance" option. I just finally used that and really liked the dimension it added to game play.

The graphics do bother me a bit - too bouncy. I've changed settings as much as I can to get away from it, but it is still a bit bouncy and makes me dizzy.

I'm also not pleased with the bug that makes the game not work with my graphics card - which I have yet to find a fix for. I am playing it on another computer. One of my son-in-laws also can't use the game since his graphics card doesn't seem to be supported. He has a much bigger, badder, multimedia computer.

It also has a problem with the online updates. I updated and had serious issues which I had to call the manufacturer to fix - couldn't start the game, couldn't uninstall the game, couldn't reinstall the game - totally useless. A Direct X fix repaired that, but I don't think I even got the update after all the work! I'm quite leary of trying again. Then my son, who also has the game, updated his and it caused serious corruption for him too. I told him what my fix was, and it didn't work for his. He has to call and see what to do now. Updates aren't supposed to break the game, they are supposed to fix it. The game works fine without the updates, so I'm going to forego any future attempts to update.

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still can't top Civ II, January 7, 2008

By 

J. Marsano "Gerade aus Brooklyn" (Urban Gristle Mill) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

Sure, in terms of graphical sophistication and rules, this latest Civ is the most impressive yet. But in terms of sheer escapist fantasy power, it doesn't hold a candle to Civ II.

The problem with making things gorgeous to look at, especially at high resolution and in detail, is that the game slows down considerably. By the time you have invested 8 hours playing a round, and your little empire has grown, you want the game to proceed a snappy pace. Rendering all that detail, however, has a cost, even on a higher-end home system. Civ IV's big weakness is that game play becomes very slow.

Others certainly disagree and prefer the eye candy of animated rivers and watching individual units flex their muscles in combat. I've turned off all the detail and as much animation as I can get away with, but the game still isn't as much fun as Civ II, which I still play. Your mileage might vary, so give it a shot--the 'gold' edition is certainly a good deal.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome game, if you have a FAST computer, June 16, 2008

By 

Creation27 (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Gold Edition (CD-ROM)

I've been playing Civilization Games since the game first came out. Even when there were two different brands Sid Meier's and non-Sid Meier, I bought both to see which was better. (Obviously Sid Meier's versions was ;)

This game is FANTASTIC! The requirements are incredably high though and often my PC would lag as the game progressed, taking longer and longer for the computer to compute each turn. I upgraded my computer's RAM though and that largely solved the problem.

If you like ANY of the other Civilization games, you'll love this one. I wouldn't say this is a sequel though, because it's more like a whole new Civilization game.

Also, I would recommend getting the Beyond the Sword expansion along with this for a life changing experience.

Lastly, make sure you check out "Sid Meier's Alpha Centaury." It is INCREDIBLY hard but is FANTASTIC!!! It has Customizable Units and you can even take control of the native flora and fauna.

Make sure you have a lot of time on your hands if you're going to play this game though, as it can easily consume 8 hours of you day without you even realizing it.