Plenty for the Civ IV hardcore...
Normally an expansion pack will just be a bunch of new levels and perhaps a few new units to muck around with, yeah? If you’re lucky you’ll maybe get a few extras in the multiplayer arena and perhaps, for an RTS, a whole new campaign. But the gameplay at the core of the expansion pack is still based on the main game, meaning although you’re playing new content you’re still playing the same game…And this is where Civilization IV : Beyond the Sword differs so massively from just about every expansion pack I can think of for any game out there. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword doesn’t just give you knew units and levels, it gives you whole new gameplay options too… and frankly, this alone makes it bloody good. The fact that each of the new bits is superbly designed and fantastic fun elevates Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword from ‘bloody good’ to ‘^@*%!&$ awesome’. Seriously, it’s that good.
Click for larger imageSo what’s in here that’s so arse-smackingly good? Let’s deal with the standard stuff first, the usual expansion fluff that you’d expect from your typical extras pack. There’s a bunch of new stuff here for the Civ IV die-hards. You get 16 new leaders, 10 new civilizations, 25 new units and 18 new buildings… which I think you’ll agree is a lot. Sure, there’s not much to choose between some of them and some are so similar to existing units or buildings that you do wonder why Firaxis bothered with a couple of them. But that’s a bit like complaining the Ferrari you’ve just been given looks like every other Ferrari you’ve ever seen… so don’t be so ungrateful.
Even with the new scenarios, the point of Civilization IV : Beyond the Sword is still the same, be the first to get your ass to Alpha Centauri… but Firaxis have spent some time looking at the missions and scenarios running up to that crucial take-off point and, instead of it being a straight race to the launch pad you could, if you wanted, hang around a bit, develop your tech some more and go after the leaders with a faster ship, overtaking them in deep space and still wining the game.
Click for larger imageAlso, a big nod has been given to the Hollywood and novel cliché of huge corporations owning the globe. There’s actually quite a complex economics system running behind the scenes here and if you’re particularly sneaky you can infiltrate your corporation into a neighbouring country, forcing the poor buggers to support your own economy… hang on, isn’t that what goes on now? Nah…
The point is that all-out war is not actually an inevitable necessity. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword gives you options to infiltrate opposing countries with your spies and try and weaken it from within. It’s probably the most nail-biting time I’ve had in front of a PC, (other than that time I left the webcam on), as my enemies built up their counter-espionage teams in an attempt to find my spies.
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