Civ games virgin: Where to start?

[Mr. Adventure]

I've never played any of the Civilization series of games (or any 4X game for that matter) and was looking for a recommendation of what would be the best to play for a total newbie to the series.

I believe Civ II is considered a real classic but that was a while ago so would III or IV be a better choice? Would Civ Revolution on the 360 be a good place to start for a beginner?

Let me know your opinions.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Civ4 is probably the best game, but Civ2 is a bit more simplistic (although some things in that game are even more complicated. There's a lot of micromanagement that's been simplified over time). Basically, Civ2's problem is that the AI is terrible (which can help overcome the learning curve problem because you can make mistakes without problems). Civ Revolution's not a bad choice (I would assume, I haven't played it). It's basically Civ4 simplified.

Civ3 with the Conquests expansion is not a bad game. It's closer to Civ2 with updated graphics, although there are plenty of changes as well. Honestly, I think Civ4 is the most diverse game in the series, but they're all great.

 

[firehawk12]

The only thing about Civ Rev that I've heard about is that the game encourages combat more than anything else because the AI will constantly rush you.

 

[D Man]

Civ IV is my favorite game from any genre, and definitely the best entry in the series. I highly recommend picking it up. Civ II was where I started the series and it too is a great game, though by now it's pretty outdated, both graphically and in terms of some comparatively (to more recent strategy games) simplistic gameplay. Civ III I found to be INCREDIBLY annoying due to a few tweaks they made to the system (i.e. corruption) but all of that game's problems have been taken care of in Civ IV.

 

[BigFoot]

Civ IV is definitely a good place to start. Civ Rev is a lot of fun, but it's definitely much more simple then the "proper" Civ games.

 

[dragunzng]

I'd recommend Civ Rev personally. I think it's a nice, smooth introduction to the basic mechanics, and from what I understand it's heavily simplified and streamlined.

It depends on your tastes though, I'm not generally into God-games, the inevitable micro-management drives me nuts. Despite this, I had and am having a great time with Civ Rev, it seems to strike a good balance.

 

[Hermiod]

I'd go with Civ 4. The difficulty scales up well as you play it and you've always got Leonard Nimoy to explain everything.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

I'd go with Civ 4. The difficulty scales up well as you play it and you've always got Leonard Nimoy to explain everything.

I thought all Nimoy ever did was read quotes for each new technology.

 

[Hermiod]

I'd go with Civ 4. The difficulty scales up well as you play it and you've always got Leonard Nimoy to explain everything.

I thought all Nimoy ever did was read quotes for each new technology.

Pretty much, but it still sounds cool and inspires you to keep playing.

 

[drasche]

I'd go with Civ 4. The difficulty scales up well as you play it and you've always got Leonard Nimoy to explain everything.

I thought all Nimoy ever did was read quotes for each new technology.

He also read the introduction when you are lauching a new game ("In the beginning...").

 

[D Man]

The way he says "You have discovered Animal Husbandry" is like a symphony. Too bad they couldn't get him to do the quotes for the expansions, though.

 

[Lindley]

My advice: If you don't go tech-heavy yourself, be really nice to a civilization that does. Often you can convince them to give you all their tech.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Or, if you're curious, download FreeCiv, an open-source remake of Civ 2.

 

[Harvey]

Alpha Centauri is not a bad place to go, either. I suppose it's not technically a Civ game, but I've always looked at it as a sort of Civ 2.5.

Civilization IV is a lot of fun, and probably the most refined, though.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Alpha Centauri is nice and it definite need of a sequel. But it does have a pretty cool sci fi angle.

 

[Timewalker]

My own favorite is Civ II: Test of Time. But any Civ II variety is the best one to start with -- if only to understand the frustration of experienced players when they swap stories of how a primitive unit can completely vanquish an advanced unit.

In other words, how a spearman can defeat a tank, or a trireme can sink a battleship!

 

[Alidar Jarok]

My only reason to suggest Civ2 is similar to that. I love Civ2 and the experiences I had with it. I'd hate anyone who starts with Civ4 to get a superiority complex and refuse to play Civ2. BTW, in Civ2, forget a Phalanx killing a tank, a Phalanx can kill a Battleship

 

[Trubinator]

Start with Civilization Revolution on the XBOX 360. Give it a rent and see if you like it. If it seems tedious or unentertaining, you'll absolutely despise the computer versions of Civ. If you don't own an XBOX, start with Civ4. But before you do, I'd recommend visiting www.civfanatics.com and reading their strategy guides. They have a million of them on every possible subject, as well as a great beginners guide. Hope this helps.

 

[Kegek]

Alpha Centauri is not a bad place to go, either. I suppose it's not technically a Civ game, but I've always looked at it as a sort of Civ 2.5.

I think it was implicitly intended as such, wasn't it? One of the endings of Civ2, IIRC, had you leaving the world to colonise another planet because our home planet was pretty hopeless. I'd always seen Alpha Centauri as the 'what happens next' game, though I know that isn't officially the case.

Alright, maybe only I thought that. Neat game though.

 

[Canadave]

My own favorite is Civ II: Test of Time. But any Civ II variety is the best one to start with -- if only to understand the frustration of experienced players when they swap stories of how a primitive unit can completely vanquish an advanced unit.

In other words, how a spearman can defeat a tank, or a trireme can sink a battleship!

Let's face it: A Civilization movie would be 10 times more awesomely over-the-top than 300.