As said by many, this is probably the best strategy-world-simulation game ever made. One of the many games created by the great Sid Meier, Civilization 2 expands on the predecessor (Civilization 1) by creating more units and more abilities. Opportunities to direct your nation to greatness are endless.
You first can decide what type of game you would like: Customize a world, Play a pre-made world, begin a new game, load a game, or begin a scenario. There are also online capabilities in Civ 2 as well as the Multiplayer Gold Edition created by Microprose.
The game-play is excellent, as you start your nation off with 1 (or sometimes 2) settlers and some certain scientific technologies that are determined randomly. You can then build your capitol and choose your path to greatness. You can choose to be a warmonger, and build barracks’ and city walls, developing you military might to crush you enemies. Or you may choose a peaceful path, by developing commerce and pleasing your people with luxuries and trading with other civilizations.
The game-play can take very long, in fact one of my own games lasted nearly a month! This, of course, is great because of its addicting nature. The more your civilization grows, the more you have opportunities as commander of your people to research new technologies,
develop your domestic aspect with city improvements, or build a wonder that will make all other nations stand in awe of your power.
As the game progresses through time (it is a turn-based game), you can see how the units change from club-bearing warriors, to horse-backed spearmen, to knights, to musketeers, to even armored divisions of tanks! You can, of course, consult your high council, who give you insights about how to run your empire. This is useful for balancing your power, as well as a humorous aspect of the game.
The best part (well, my favorite at least) is the diplomacy. You can ally, sign peace treaties, or go out to all war with other nations and people. While your scientific technologies improve, you can create spies and diplomats to learn the secrets of your enemies or to develop a strong nation to combat your enemies. No game quite compares to the depth this game has. Playing scenarios can be fun as well, the game giving default scenarios of World War 2 and Rome during its prime. Overall, this is a MUST-HAVE game.
