Introduction to Civilization Series
The Civilization Series is a series of videogames under the Civilization title. All of the Civilization series include turn-based strategy videogames in the 4x category. The Civilization Series originally started in 1991, and the latest part of the series was released back in 2016. The Civilization Series consists of six main versions of the series. Although the main series only has six main parts, several expansion packs, spinoff games, and even board games inspired by the Civilization Series were released.
Sid Meier is the mastermind behind the famous Civilization Series as he originally came up with the game's idea and the series. Sid Meier has played the most part in developing the Civilization Series. All the main parts of the Civilization Series share somewhat similar gameplay. The Civilization Series's main plot is to build a civilization from the start of time to the future.
In every part of the Civilization Series, the player has to use technology to research, perform military conquests, and overcome various obstacles to make their cities succeed in every aspect. Following are the list of the Civilization Series, each Civilization part being thoroughly explained.
Details of Civilization Games1- Civilization VI: Gathering Storm:
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is one of many parts of the Civilization games series. It is officially the second expansion pack of Civilization VI. Civilization VI: Gathering Storm received positive reviews by the gaming community when released in 2019. Since Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is an expansion pack, its purpose was to publish additional features such as different leaders, civilizations, etc. being added to the original plot of Civilization VI.
The main story of Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is based upon added weather and environmental changes based upon natural occurrences or human actions. The Civilization VI: Gathering Storm includes new tasks and features that were not available in the original Civilization VI, such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, blizzards, droughts, and even river floods.
The game's primary goal is to fight against any natural or human-made disasters and restore peace in the environment while also taking steps to ensure that the Civilization flourishes at all costs. Civilization VI: Gathering Storm portrays realistic features by showing the consequences of any action the player takes in the game or any naturally occurring issues that the player has to overcome without harming the Civilization itself. The following video gives the idea of how the gameplay is so you can consider playing it as well:
2- Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide:
Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide is one of the many parts of the Civilization games. Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide is officially an expansion pack for the original Civilization series' game Civilization: Beyond Earth. Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide came into development by Firaxis Games. It was published in 2015, the publisher being 2K Games. Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide is a single-player and multiplayer video game, which offers additional features included in Civilization: Beyond Earth, which was not part of the original game of the Civilization series.
The Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide videogame showcases many new features, the most prominent additional feature being the expanded water gameplay, which was highly praised by the gaming community for its floating cities. Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide also includes features other than the expanded water gameplay, such as expanded maps to explore and hybrid affinities, and last but not least: a revamped diplomacy system.
In Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide, the user has to face the issues of making a Civilization thrives on a floating city, which is more complicated than land cities as the floating cities keep moving, making it harder to defend them and less able to produce land and air units. For a better idea of the gameplay, the following video can be seen to see all the features visually:
3- Civilization Revolution 2:
Civilization Revolution 2 was a highly appreciated videogame that was originally a sequel to the Civilization Revolution. It is a spinoff of the original Civilization series as well, released in 2014. Sid Meier, the mastermind behind the Civilization series, designed the game like he created all the other parts of the series, whereas Firaxis Gaming developed it, and 2K Games published it. Civilization Revolution 2 has similar features to the original Civilization Revolution, including Abraham Lincoln and Napolean Bonaparte.
However, it also includes some new leaders such as John. F. Kennedy, as well as Winston Churchill. The main plot of Civilization Revolution 2 revolves around building an empire in countries such as Japan, U.S.A, or Russia by choosing to be one of the stated leaders. Civilization Revolution 2 allows the players to make a civilization thrive by enabling them to act as the leader and take any actions to make their Civilization the most powerful and the most successful and possibly take over other civilizations during the process.
The turn-based strategy game involves critical thinking and winning the desired goal in four different ways, which include: Domination, Economic, Cultural, and Science. The following video represents the game visually to get a better understanding of it:
4- Civilization IV: Colonization:
Civilization IV: Colonization is quite different from the other parts of the Civilization games. Every other part is a sequel, spinoff, or an expansion pack but Civilization IV: Colonization is a remake of Sid Meier's Colonization. Civilization IV: Colonization is a single-player and multiplayer turn-based strategy game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games in 2008. Like the name Civilization IV: Colonization suggests, the game is based on colonizing an area using various tactics, making its plot different from the other parts of the Civilization games.
In Civilization IV: Colonization, the players learn to negotiate with various tribes and groups of people in the land the players plan to colonize. Different tribes such as America's natives, other colonizers from other parts of the world, and the player's colonists from their home country are the primary targets which the players have to negotiate and please to colonize and expand their cities successfully.
Players can also take the help of founders to receive bonus points as well. The game's primary goal is to make the player's city thrive and expand as much land as possible. For more information regarding Civilization IV: Colonization, the following video is recommended to be watched:
5- Civilization IV: Warlords:
Civilization IV: Warlords is not one of the official parts of the Civilization series; instead, it is an expansion pack of the original part of the Civilization series known as Civilization IV. This expansion pack was released in 2006, the developer being Firaxis Games and the publisher being 2K Games. Since Civilization IV: Warlords is an expansion pack of Civilization IV, it includes additional features, tasks, and places to discover which the original game does not. Civilization IV: Warlords introduces many updated features such as a new unit known as "Great Person" called Great Generals.
Six new leaders, new wonders, unique traits, and new civilizations are also introduced in Civilization IV: Warlords. Players have to take steps to make their civilizations succeed and make successful attempts to take over other civilizations. In this single-player and multiplayer game, the player needs to negotiate, fight and take over other civilizations while protecting its own from attacks. The game also offers the feature of making vassal states in which the player conquers other civilizations and becomes their ruler. Following is a video which helps in getting a visual idea about the gameplay of Civilization IV: Warlords:
6- Civilization III: Conquests:
Civilization III: Conquests is one of the earlier versions of the Civilization series. Civilization III: Conquests is not an official part of the Civilization games. Instead, it is a second and, in fact, the last expansion packs of Civilization III. Civilization III: Conquests was released in 2003, as it is one of the earlier versions of the Civilization games. Civilization III: Conquests included various features as a part of the expansion pack, such as eight new civilizations to explore and conquer, two unique civilization traits, bonus resources, and two new government types.
Although it is a single-player and a multiplayer game, some features were solely introduced to the multiplayer mode, such as scenarios. The scenarios were not the main plot, but they were made to add extra short scenes to make the expansion pack more exciting and exciting. Another exciting feature which was added was the new buildings which even included the Wonders of the World. Civilization III: Conquests, keeping in mind that it was one of the earlier versions of the Civilization series, was worth appreciating as it included many unique features. Below is a visual representation of Civilization III: Conquests' gameplay:
7- Civilization III:
Civilization III is one of the original parts of the Civilization series. Civilization III is a turn-based strategy videogame officially released in 2001 as the official sequel to Civilization II. Civilization III is the official prequel to Civilization IV as well. Civilization III is designed differently from the other official versions of the game because it was not created by Sid Meier but by Jeff Briggs and Soren Johnson. Civilization III was followed by several expansion packs as well.
The main plot of Civilization III follows the official plots of the Civilization games. The game revolves around building a civilization from its base, starting from the earliest time of 4000 B.C to the near-future times. The player must use every possible tactic to progress their Civilization in every term, like building technology for its success, making the military and non-military units stronger than ever to conquer other cities and protect their city well.
The player has to keep in mind the diplomatic skills and tactics required to befriend other countries to continue trading with the player's town and act as a supporter in times of war and need to be more successful with every step. Following is the gameplay attached of the Civilization III to see how the game works:
8- Civilization Revolution:
Civilization Revolution is one of the many parts of the Civilization series officially designed by Sid Meier himself. Civilization Revolution was released in 2008, developed by Firaxis Games, and published by 2K Games. The turn-based strategy videogame is not officially included in the Civilization games as it is titled as a spinoff of the official series of Civilization. In this single-player and multiplayer game, the player is taken back into 4000 B.C., where they have to start Civilization from a very small area.
The player has to learn to survive by finding and harvesting food, producing goods to exchange, and learning how to trade. Civilization Revolution has a few main goals for the players: to survive, adapt, explore, and expand the player's Civilization. The player will have to fight against barbarians and trade with friendly villagers as well, depending upon which path the player decides to take every step in the game.
The game starts with the player exploring and learning to adapt and succeed to the player going on war with other civilizations to take over their land. The player has to build new buildings, discover the technology, and update its city's units to expand it and succeed. The following gameplay showcases how Civilization Revolution works and how to play it:
9- Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization:
Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization is a single-player and multiplayer turn-based strategy game released in 1996 by the developer and the publisher of the game: Microprose. Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization was one of the earlier versions of the Civilization series, paving the way for making the future parts of the series. Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization is not part of the official games of the Civilization series as it is the first expansion pack of Civilization II.
This expansion pack is unique from the other parts as the developer chose eight fan-made scenarios to include in the 20 scenario expansion pack. The new expansion pack also had new maps, an updated technology tree, new units, and worlds. This unique expansion pack also featured an option for the fans to make their custom scenarios. Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization follows the basic plot of building a civilization and expanding it.
Keep in mind that this expansion pack featured real-life events such as the Civil War, but it also provided fictional events that included fighting against an alien invasion. The expansion pack was quite ahead of its time, considering the feature of fan-made scenarios and customizing your scenarios to make the game more interesting. Below is a clip of one of the many strategies this expansion pack featured:
10- Sid Meier's Civilization:
Sid Meier's Civilization holds historical importance in the videogame industry. It was released in 1991, designed by the famous Sid Meier and published by MicroProse. This turn-based strategy game served as the basis of strategy games as it built the foundation of the 4X genre and was one of the very few and effective strategy videogames on the market in its release year.
Sid Meier's Civilization went through various changes with time as it became available for more video gaming platforms. Sid Meier's Civilization follows the main plot of the Civilization series. The player starts the game with one or two settler units and has to survive and build an empire to take over other civilizations and make their empire the strongest.
The player has to fight against barbarians and learn the art of exploring and discovering more land, trading, and even warfare in case of attack. The player gets to choose their desired Civilization and start from scratch. Sid Meier's Civilization will forever be remembered for being an inspiration to many game developers and making millions due to its creativity. Below is a walkthrough of the game's plot to get to know the game visually as well:
Conclusion:
The Sid Meier's Civilization series is truly a gaming timeline worth admiring. After 1991, Sid Meier's Civilization games progressed and gained more and more appreciation with every release. Sid Meier put his heart and soul into this series, and it is noticeable with every detail of every version of the Civilization games.
This post lists the Sid Meier's Civilization series ranking, including the spinoffs, the remakes, and the expansion packs. Although each version of the Civilization games is different from each other, the main plot remains the same: to build a thriving and robust civilization, conquer more land to expand cities, and protect your Civilization from any threats from other towns.
Each story of the Civilization games starts from a tiny piece of land while going back to history and progressing by using various tactics and skills to advance into the modern world while also making sure that the player's Civilization remains on top of the others. Here on Amir Articles, details and updates about various videogames (no matter how old or new) are provided for you. If you are interested in reading more posts like these, please share this to keep bringing such posts to you.
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