Play Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, full review, download free demo, screenshots

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Strategy game. It is the other part of Civilization, which provides the same plot as the previous one. You manage the growth of the whole civilization, and you begin as European explorers in a lone ship just off the coast of an unexplored continent. Once you make landfall, your colonists establish a new settlement and begin working to harvest raw materials from the land. Food, wood and ore support the growth of the new settlement and its population. Commodities like fur, sugar and tobacco can be gathered up and transformed into finished goods that you can ship back to Europe or trade with friendly natives. The natives can even teach your colonists new jobs that can help them make the most out of the unique resources found in this land. Try to progress in your development and to make your civilization the most profitable.

The atmosphere differs from the simplistic growing crops to the war battles. Military units have a whole list of possible promotions now, so you can reward and strengthen units that succeed in combat. A wide range of multiplayer options are also included and, given that a game of Colonization is substantially shorter than Civilization, it's much easier to get in and get your fix. The greatest addition of this part is the automation of trade. The new version lets you assign an import or export tag as well as stock limits to every single good in every single settlement. The interface is very clean and presents the game in way that makes it very easy to maintain awareness of what's going on around you. Summary screens provide all the detail you need to manage the big picture, while simple yield displays let you see what each and every settlement needs at any given moment. There are a few downsides, unfortunately. It takes a lot of switching back and forth sometimes to get colonists in the right jobs and the roads between your settlements are nearly invisible. Otherwise, the game's visual and audio elements are solid. The sound is amazing, with the pleasant background music giving way to swelling national themes in as you zoom in and mouse over your settlements.

Offline gameplay: 1 player Multiplayer: Yes

Publisher: Take 2 Interactive ESRB Ratio: Teen

Extras and features: · Stunning Graphics · Exciting Story · Gorgeous Sound Effects

Drawbacks: · Animation looks cheap sometimes.

Requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista,Processor: PIV 1.2 GHz,DirectX 9.0c,512 MB RAM,Free hard drive space: 900 MB,3D Accelerator with Hardware T&L and Pixel Shading 64MB DirectX 9.0c,DirectX-compliant Sound Card

Alternative names: Syd Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, Sid Mieer's Civilization IV: Colonization, Sid Meier's Civilizatoin IV: Colonization, Sid Meier's Civilization 4: Colonization, Sid Meier's Civilization Four: Colonization, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonisation.