Sid Meier's Civilization IV

 PC
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1176 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 926 out of 1176
  2. Mixed: 148 out of 1176
  3. Negative: 102 out of 1176
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  1. dlcatalin
    Jul 12, 2020
    1
    I really don't understand how people can find this ... enjoying or playable. The only good thing about it is claiming land where to build towns, the rest is a complete boring joke. Making roads turns into spaghetti mushed everywhere. Armies are nothing but stacks that take forever to fight, or instantly, that's it, just 2 options, wait 1 hour or 1 second with 0 animation. The battles areI really don't understand how people can find this ... enjoying or playable. The only good thing about it is claiming land where to build towns, the rest is a complete boring joke. Making roads turns into spaghetti mushed everywhere. Armies are nothing but stacks that take forever to fight, or instantly, that's it, just 2 options, wait 1 hour or 1 second with 0 animation. The battles are also unfair. It's like a dice roll, everything random, i mean basically caveman vs my 21 century soldier and still manages to kill 2 of my units? Really ? Spam towns, spam units, spam battles. Spam Civilization should be the name of this game.… Expand
  2. Wafzal2
    Oct 12, 2014
    0
    This game is absolute crap. Being a Major Gaming Critic, This is the worst one I have played. Sure, I would give a 9 to Sid Meier's Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword, but I really hate this dull and life-wasting game, with no good civics, not enough leaders, and not enough units.
  3. kristoak
    Sep 27, 2014
    1
    This game is a waste of money. You sit there clicking mindlessly when it prompts you for new research you just click some more. There is no point to the game, it wants you to believe that your choices mean something, but it doesn't. It's a turn based game of waiting for nothing to happen. How people can waste their time playing such a mind numbing game is beyond me. Avoid.
  4. CRL
    Jul 25, 2011
    4
    This game... average at best. Turn-based strategy has never been my favorite, but this game makes it monotonous. The higher levels are ridiculously difficult, and doing the same exact thing over and over is exactly as it sounds: repetitive and boring. Every once in a while I find myself enjoying it, but I can't play it for too much at a time before my eyes start to slip shut.
  5. Ian277
    Jan 24, 2011
    2
    I played this and and found the opening credits annoying. then i set up a game and there was no scenario maps! i started the game and played. the religeon aspect didn't impress me. i soon found the combat system has gotten worse. the nicely simpley animated wariors are gone they tried to make it look real but it looks worse. the game is a disapointment. all the people that have played theI played this and and found the opening credits annoying. then i set up a game and there was no scenario maps! i started the game and played. the religeon aspect didn't impress me. i soon found the combat system has gotten worse. the nicely simpley animated wariors are gone they tried to make it look real but it looks worse. the game is a disapointment. all the people that have played the recent civ's i know don't like this game. only new players like it. and that's because they dont know civ. disapointed. i am very mad that it has a better rating than 5, since 5 is great. i have played civ three for at least 1000 hrs. no im not lying. played from age 7 - 14 and i am still play off and on. this gets a F- as a grade dont be fooled by the overrated cliques. this is not CIV.… Expand
  6. AndreC
    Jan 13, 2010
    3
    What can I say about CIV4? Well.....I was an avid player of CIV2; I loved it; really cool game. I purchased CIV3 a long while back and didn't really like it's mechanics and it seemed to be a bit much of a chore to really improve your civilization or get anything done. I eventually got fed up with trying it and traded it in to EBX for a $1 lol. I then got Alpha Centauri; an What can I say about CIV4? Well.....I was an avid player of CIV2; I loved it; really cool game. I purchased CIV3 a long while back and didn't really like it's mechanics and it seemed to be a bit much of a chore to really improve your civilization or get anything done. I eventually got fed up with trying it and traded it in to EBX for a $1 lol. I then got Alpha Centauri; an amazing game! So I figured, ok Sid is back. With that in mind, I tried out CIV4. At first I really liked it. The graphics weren't really my main concern so long as the game play was similar to CIV2 or Alpha Centauri. Well I played it on the second to easiest level, just to get familiar and like the other person who voted, I also started getting frustrated and noticing something was up when I had an army tanks and mechanized infantry and they couldn't seem to take down a cavalry unit from the 1800s. Are you freaking serious? I tried very hard to like this game and it does have a lot of likable qualities. However, they really dropped the ball on the unit balancing and mechanics, which doesn't make it challenging, it makes it infuriating. I uninstalled it immediately and went back to playing Alpha Centauri for my turn based strategy fix. If they could fix that "cant take any of my units down no matter how powerful your units are because I'm a cheating piece of crap AI" it would be a great game. Oh and one other thing that was SUPER annoying was if you built your city too close to a neighboring civilization occasionally your city would revolt and join the other civ. omg, such an annoying game, I'm done talking about it. It's making me mad just think about it's stupidity.… Expand
  7. JimBo
    Jan 12, 2010
    4
    Yup, great graphics and cool new stuff. But I can't care about all this anymore after some hours of gameplay of Civ4, while I could spend days playing 3. Can't get hooked by all these new features because the game loses its power to immerse the player. Why? Diplomacy useless through centuries. No future: Once the map is covered into borders, change stops happening. You need long Yup, great graphics and cool new stuff. But I can't care about all this anymore after some hours of gameplay of Civ4, while I could spend days playing 3. Can't get hooked by all these new features because the game loses its power to immerse the player. Why? Diplomacy useless through centuries. No future: Once the map is covered into borders, change stops happening. You need long and boring wars to conquer territories that low culture won't allow to use before eons... So when taking a first "row" of cities, you need to destroy the next row in order to make your first ones' grow. The system seeks to prevent you from doing daring conquests. Then the only best option is tech race, while you resist a few defensive wars, and while your workers just stand for centuries on a territory all covered by roads and improvements (which also happened in Civ3, but late), waiting for a new tech that'll let them improve a tile or two. To sum up: fine innovations worth the try, not addictive at all once the learning curve has been climbed. Still, I'll be the first to buy Civ5...… Expand
  8. GrahamP
    Dec 12, 2009
    4
    Dissapointing. Once archers are in play attacking or launching a war is pretty much off limits for 50 turns of research. The eras don't last long enough for me. You start classical war and by time you just start to get into it, low and beholdit's medieval times already. And when you see archers able to defend cities vs tanks you know something is up with the game mechanics. The Dissapointing. Once archers are in play attacking or launching a war is pretty much off limits for 50 turns of research. The eras don't last long enough for me. You start classical war and by time you just start to get into it, low and beholdit's medieval times already. And when you see archers able to defend cities vs tanks you know something is up with the game mechanics. The game feels to narrow and doesn't give a chance for creativiety in tactics. There are to many gripes that ditract from mthe game. It's dissapointing becuase it had a lot of potential and could have been so much better, I was expecting better.… Expand
  9. AJL
    Oct 16, 2009
    3
    Civ IV is extremely disappointing!! The huge size of the military units, as well as the pointless upgrades make them unwieldy and extremely difficult to use. They don't have defense/attack values which totally destroys the fun and strategy involved in military campaigns. There is too much going on in this game, nothing is simple, everything is a chore and its simply a waste of time.
  10. ChrisS
    Aug 10, 2009
    4
    I see many mixed reviews of this game and as I am an extreme fan of the series I have to say I'm very disapointed with this latest effort. I keep hearing people say that the graphics are the only improvement in the game over previous versions. I have to say this is probably the main point in which I dislike the game over previous versions. The oversized units and confusing City I see many mixed reviews of this game and as I am an extreme fan of the series I have to say I'm very disapointed with this latest effort. I keep hearing people say that the graphics are the only improvement in the game over previous versions. I have to say this is probably the main point in which I dislike the game over previous versions. The oversized units and confusing City borders just make it very difficult too manage your Empire. If they had added all the improvements and stuck to the Civ 3 size & isometric layout I would probably given this game more of a chance. Unfortunately it lasted a few hours gameplay before it was uninstalled.… Expand
  11. TomS
    Jul 16, 2009
    0
    The worst Civilization I've played. Started with the first and played all since. This one forces all players to play the same game. It doesn't matter which civ you start with everyone ends up at the same place at the same time. No chance for playing outside the box or creating a unique strategy. In the end you may as well let the AI play by it's self, it would be just as The worst Civilization I've played. Started with the first and played all since. This one forces all players to play the same game. It doesn't matter which civ you start with everyone ends up at the same place at the same time. No chance for playing outside the box or creating a unique strategy. In the end you may as well let the AI play by it's self, it would be just as interesting.… Expand
  12. MarcelJ
    Jun 22, 2009
    3
    Loved Civ 2. Loved Civ 3 more, once I started a game I had to play "one more turn." This game never got me excited. The graphics are nice but I had to turn on the balloons to figure things out, and an army that was in your territory is sometimes overlooked. And devolping cities isn't as fun because each citie is different geographically....ok maybe in medevil times but not once you Loved Civ 2. Loved Civ 3 more, once I started a game I had to play "one more turn." This game never got me excited. The graphics are nice but I had to turn on the balloons to figure things out, and an army that was in your territory is sometimes overlooked. And devolping cities isn't as fun because each citie is different geographically....ok maybe in medevil times but not once you get to the modern age. The addition of religion is good I guess but it never seemed to matter. I'm gonna give this game a couple more shots and if that don't work I guess its time to buy Civ 3 on Ebay, and learn how to tweak "XP MODE" on my sys.… Expand
  13. JohnN
    May 31, 2009
    3
    Deeply disappointing. Above all, the geography stinks. What I mean by this is that in far, far too many cases one's civilization is bereft of any natural frontiers - obviously designed deliberately that way so that you HAVE to build massive armies. Unrealistic and tedious. A massive step backwards from Civ 3.
  14. BrianS
    May 15, 2009
    2
    If you are a fan of the Civilization series, don't buy this game. It will lessen what you think of the Civilization franchise. It is a very unbalanced game. If you have heard the game is like Civ 2, let me tell you it isn't nearly as good. It has somewhat sloppy graphics and devote a lot of timeto finish one game. This game is either loved or hated, I sure hated it.
  15. fh
    Apr 8, 2009
    4
    Well i thinkn that this was a good game but the taking turn thing needs to mbe taken because it make the game go longer and you have to let it load and stuff like that and the years need to go unlimited not just stop at a ceartin year and the game is over that would amke it more realistic.
  16. bb
    Jun 29, 2008
    3
    It's very frustrating seeing your entire army get wiped out by 2 archers.. the 2nd time it happened (after rebuilding it AND having a Military "Great Person" assigned to some units) i was ready to throw my fist through the screen... anybody want to buy and barely used version of Civ4 Gold?
  17. JamesH.
    May 25, 2008
    2
    Civ four falls hard coming to the worst of the series. The graphics are about a 6.5 and only on par with other games in its class just barely better then those of Civ 3. In what they have made up for in streamlining the game they have lost in strategy. There is no middle ground in this game it is either ridiculously hard or boringly easy. The AI show little to no improvement from that of Civ four falls hard coming to the worst of the series. The graphics are about a 6.5 and only on par with other games in its class just barely better then those of Civ 3. In what they have made up for in streamlining the game they have lost in strategy. There is no middle ground in this game it is either ridiculously hard or boringly easy. The AI show little to no improvement from that of civ 2 While the negotiation is much more complex even on the easiest of level the player will find 80% of negotiations wasted and unusable. The civ knowledges are so dumb down that most of them are nonsensically as wells as their improvements they lead to throughout the game. Its hard to build cites through the map because of borders and war constraints based on the layout of most of the maps and area that each city consumes. The movies also take huge steps back compared to those of 3 and 2. The palace and animated counsel are completely missing as well as the large array of units and improvements. Civ 4 is almost an identical copy of Age of empires 2 and Total War crossed over and mashed together. How Sid Meiers could slap his name on this crap is beyond me. Over all advice is to save your money.… Expand
  18. TJYale
    Feb 17, 2008
    4
    I am particularly surprised how this game got such a high rating from reviewers... that is unless they were bribed. Sorry, but "wow great graphics! 100!" just isnt a solid, or even truthful review. There have been many games with significantly better graphics and more organic play than Civ4. Hell, the original Myst had better graphics than this tripe. The gameplay is actually quite fun, I am particularly surprised how this game got such a high rating from reviewers... that is unless they were bribed. Sorry, but "wow great graphics! 100!" just isnt a solid, or even truthful review. There have been many games with significantly better graphics and more organic play than Civ4. Hell, the original Myst had better graphics than this tripe. The gameplay is actually quite fun, which warrants a solid 4/5 points from me - however it gets bogged down quite quickly with all the war micromanagement required to beat cheating computer opponents. Other than the gameplay... I can't give this game anymore points. It hogs system resources and has not significantly improved anything at all since the second addition.... unless you consider the massive cost increase to be an improvement.… Expand
  19. BilgeG.
    Jan 14, 2008
    3
    First time I have tried an 'epic strategy game' in some years, and what can I say? its just not a sufficiently interesting strategic challenge for the time invested. My old complaints from (probably) Civ2 remain: the AI is not at all interesting, surprising, or even rational, and must cheat to be 'challenging'. The game soon bogs down in micromanagement, unless maybe First time I have tried an 'epic strategy game' in some years, and what can I say? its just not a sufficiently interesting strategic challenge for the time invested. My old complaints from (probably) Civ2 remain: the AI is not at all interesting, surprising, or even rational, and must cheat to be 'challenging'. The game soon bogs down in micromanagement, unless maybe you want to use the in-game helpers, which are as bad as the opposing AI... and then the graphics... they are worthless and distracting in such a strategy game. I had to turn on this extra layer of silly balloons to 'clarify' what is supposed to be displayed in the graphics, and still, something as significant as a huge hostile army at the border is not at all clear... so you are left to make your strategic decisions with incomplete information. and although it proports to be not solely a wargame, wars seem unavoidable, and are the worst and most tedious micromanagement of all. there are a lot of interesting aspects to this... but it certainly cannot be seen as any kind of meaningful 'historical simulation', so all this 'stuff' is mainly clutter, and not really that interesting strategically. maybe the makers should just play 'go' for a few years, and get back to the basics.… Expand
  20. JacobT.
    Jan 7, 2008
    2
    The gameplay is fully identical with rise of nations and sizes are wery weird
  21. Sylvio
    Nov 27, 2007
    3
    Map system is a shame if we compare it with Total War series for instance, and the battles are really poor and frustrating. I love Medieval Total War!! But I hated Civilization after about 10 hours playing it. As you can I see, I tried. I'd really like to love Civ but I couldn't.
  22. MuffinBear
    Oct 4, 2007
    3
    Civilization 3 complete was better....Civilization 4 is horrible, the graphics are 3d but the game is more confusing, frustrating, glitchy.....I can't even uninstall the fuking thing from my computer because of some glitch...i hate this game with a passion, I smash the CDs into tiny little pieces and then set them on fire then sweet the ashes into a...container and weigh the containerCivilization 3 complete was better....Civilization 4 is horrible, the graphics are 3d but the game is more confusing, frustrating, glitchy.....I can't even uninstall the fuking thing from my computer because of some glitch...i hate this game with a passion, I smash the CDs into tiny little pieces and then set them on fire then sweet the ashes into a...container and weigh the container down and make it sink to the deepest darkest part of the ocean.… Expand
  23. RichardS.
    Sep 22, 2007
    0
    I have played CIV in most of its itterations for 16 years, and CIV IV is the worst game I've ever played. At the next to the easiest level, you have to contend with a never-ending supply of barbarians who can't be beat. If you build more than 6 or 7cities, the game crashes your economy. After playing for weeks, I still can't score higher than next to last. Now, I can't I have played CIV in most of its itterations for 16 years, and CIV IV is the worst game I've ever played. At the next to the easiest level, you have to contend with a never-ending supply of barbarians who can't be beat. If you build more than 6 or 7cities, the game crashes your economy. After playing for weeks, I still can't score higher than next to last. Now, I can't even delete it from my computer because it has some kind of error. The beauty -- I spent $100 to upgrade my computer so I could play this worthless piece of crap.… Expand
  24. FrankH.
    Aug 18, 2007
    0
    This is much over rated game. It looks fun, it have "everything in it" but...it cheats so badly and it is adjusted so hard (AI is not so intelligent, but barbarians are overpowered and there is WAY too many of them and if you take them off, game becomes boring). Very very very unbalanced game.
  25. KeithM.
    Nov 15, 2006
    2
    I played the game from beginning to end once, that's it. Civ 3 was amazing having me continually replaying the game, especially with the expansion. But #4? Honestly, I expected to have more race individualism, what happened, less races than #3? It didn't matter who you were really anyways. The 3D graphics weren't all that impressive anyways, just takes up more memmory to I played the game from beginning to end once, that's it. Civ 3 was amazing having me continually replaying the game, especially with the expansion. But #4? Honestly, I expected to have more race individualism, what happened, less races than #3? It didn't matter who you were really anyways. The 3D graphics weren't all that impressive anyways, just takes up more memmory to run! Don't sacrifice gameplay for crap graphics. I hope if there's a #5 that it lives up to #3's higher standards. Raise the bar!… Expand
  26. DaveR.
    Aug 13, 2006
    2
    This game is tedious, boring, graphically inferior, and the list goes on and on. Sid Meier is a wonderful game designer who needs to push the envelope with his next effort. Perhaps, a 3-D rendered remake of Gettysburg.
  27. ChrisP.
    Jun 11, 2006
    3
    Tedious, buggy and complete lack of pace - the worst in the series.
  28. Phil
    Mar 25, 2006
    0
    Ruined by technical problems. Customer support useless and slow. I'm never buying anything by these people again.
  29. Warmonger
    Feb 23, 2006
    3
    Boy is this game overrated!! I don't understand why it got such a high rating, it's really not that good!! don't get me wrong, I liked the older versions and had fun playing them but the reason I bought the special edition is because I thought it would be, well.... "special" there is nothing really special about this game!! other than the fact that it is the same old rehash Boy is this game overrated!! I don't understand why it got such a high rating, it's really not that good!! don't get me wrong, I liked the older versions and had fun playing them but the reason I bought the special edition is because I thought it would be, well.... "special" there is nothing really special about this game!! other than the fact that it is the same old rehash of the older versions. I was really expecting a big change but was sadly disappointed to see that, apart from the graphics, there was really none. It's the same old dull routine over and over again!! Oh wel,l guess as long as it makes money why bother to change it right? wrong!! these people seriously need to change the formula a little... because this game is really getting stale and tiresome..... I think it's time to do something different!… Expand
  30. RockitMan
    Feb 22, 2006
    1
    This game is plain stupid!
    I believe Sid Meier has done well paying off all the game reviewers as he consistently gets overinflated ratings for all of his games.

    Pirates was stupid too!

    Give me Age of Empires anytime anyday.

    This turn based system is for the birds.

    We're not playing Dungeons and Dragons Sid.

    I give this game a 1 only because there is no ZERO.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2005
7
#7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2005
8
#8 Most Shared PC Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. IGN
    94
    While the game hasn't lost any depth or detail, every aspect of the design has been streamlined to make it easier for new players to jump in and less monotonous for veterans. Die-hard fans will definitely find that the game offers up so much more variety this time around.
    Read full review
  2. Yahoo!
    90
    Firaxis shows an impressively consistent grasp of what to abstract and what to detail, and a remarkable talent for presenting large-scale strategic challenges in a format that's easy to digest.
    Read full review
  3. 1UP
    90
    From the mellow sounds of Leonard Nimoy's narration to the polished world view that allows you to smoothly scroll from satellite view to up-close and personal, this is the consummate update of a classic.
    Read full review
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