Taking the “Civil” out of “Civilization”

Considering the value of an expansion pack can be a tricky task. Often times the improvements made to game play make you wonder why they weren’t there in the first place. And, with the explosion in the modding community, players often ask themselves, Why pay for new scenarios when they can download them for free?

Fortunately, Civilization IV: Warlords adds just enough in the way of original gameplay and content to make it worth the price, although it still might fail to satisfy some critics.

The centerpiece of the expansion, as you might guess, is an upgrade to the combat system. First, they’ve introduced a new diplomatic option: vassalage. This unique option allows you to take a lesser civilization under your wing, taking advantage of their resources while protecting them from your mutual enemies. Or, it gives a way for civilizations at the brink of extinction a way to escape destruction by pledging their allegiance to their conquerors.

This can be a great strategy in certain circumstances, especially when going for a conquest victory (vassals count as “eliminated” rivals). However, it comes at a price – you pay extra maintenance in your cities for each rival civilization you support.

Next on the list is the Great General. This is one of the options I always thought should have been included with the original game, to compliment the great artists, scientists and prophets. Of course, you can’t really put any specialists towards generating a great general – you have to prove yourself on the field of battle (much like the great leader units of Civilization 3). The generals can lead your troops on the field, giving them experience and free upgrades, or stay in the city to increase military production or new unit experience.

Other additions include new wonders, civilizations and leaders. Some civilizations got short shrift, while others are now up to three possible leaders, including the controversial Stalin for the Russians. If you’re going to add in a ruthless Communist dictator, why not throw in Franco for the Spanish, for example (a somewhat less controversial Fascist leader)?

Finally, or possibly more importantly, the game adds several scenarios to the game. Personally, I’m not sure a city building game lends itself well to combat scenarios such as Alexander’s conquests or Ghengis Khan’s rampage through Asia and Europe, but the Chinese Unification option at least adds in some interesting diplomatic options.

A big gripe is the division between the new game and old game save file; if you want to load an old saved game or scenario, you have to manually rename the file so it will work in Warlords.

So, with some imperfections, this expansion pack is at least worthy of sitting on the retail shelf, rather than being an overambitious patch you should get for free.