Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

The Good
There are strategy games and there are strategy games. Alpha Centauri is the best thing that ever hit the strategy gaming world in a long time. How so? Well, I'm betting (of which I usually lose...) if your reading this review, you'd probably be well known to ol'Sid and his products, such as the acclaimed Civilization. Well, if you've played Civilization, you know the routine, build this build that until you have too many cities and they become to big and begin to die, etc.

Well, whoever made Civilization sure hell wasn't on the Alpha Centauri team. And thank the gods for that! Alpha Centauri is probably what you call "the PERFECT CIVILIZATION" (subjective opinion of course). I'll tell you why in a moment, but first I'd like to give you a description about what Alpha Centauri is all about (for those who have never played this game before).

Alpha Centauri started when Civilization ended (presumably), when you finish Civilization, well one of the endings anyway, you send a ship to outer space to conquer new worlds. Well, the blokes on Civilization (also presumably) landed on Alpha Centauri. They arrived safe and sound. Almost. Mankind always proved that they have the common sense of a warthog, and Alpha Centauri pointed that out by introducing the "Civilizations" in the game. Only, it not due to race. It based on ideology, each with multiple weaknesses and strengths. It maybe science fiction, but it sure hell was better than the real thing.

Now you have environmentalists, communists, industrialists and other ideologies of which I forgot, each have a unique way of handling problems. This can be seen from the technology tree, in a way it's similar to Master of Orion 1 & 2, except your only on one planet. Oh, you also notice that your not alone in this forsaken world. There are aliens...and they don't look friendly.

Enough said, back to the issue. What's so good about the game? Where to start... (In no particular order). The best way to compare this game is to compare it to Civilization, whom everyone adores so much (I got bored after Civ 3, same old same old...no Civ 4 please...)

Civilization had (and still I think) the worst diplomacy screen in the history of strategy games (Civ 3 got a little better). I recall in Civ 1 & 2, negotiation was not very interactive. In Alpha Centauri, the diplomacy is ALIVE! I felt as if I was playing AI with actual Intelligence! And the artificial intelligence of the computer players are really commendable. When they go to war, they really go to war! Civilization computer player always had an edge in expansion, but were mostly boring when it comes to battle. In Alpha Centauri, those guys (and girl) really know how move the muscle.

Like Civilization, every time you play a new random game, it's a totally different geographical map. But unlike Civilization, you probably wouldn't restart a couple of hundred times trying to find that "perfect" geographic location (not a desert again!). Alpha Centauri succeeded were Civilization was irritating. Geography doesn't matter. Even if when your surrounded by water, you can be as big as a city on land! What's the secret? Technology! Finally, the technology that actually makes a difference. You can even make cities on the ocean...there's no such thing as a "perfect" location in Alpha Centauri. Every place is a perfect location to build your city. There are also random events that may change the geography of the planet. One time a big volcano erupted and it was smack daddy in the middle of the map. Kinda cool actually, building cities around that hunk of molten rock.

What I like most in this game, is probably also what I liked most in Master of Orion. You can design your units. Weapons, armor, you name it, you can change it. You can make any kind of unit to fit long term or short term needs...this game was way ahead of its time...even way ahead of Civilization 3...how is that possible? Beats me.

The Bad
Well, geographical bonuses are random. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. There are a lot of unique geographical terrain that don't necessary show up in each game...it's useful at the beginning of the game.

The Bottom Line
This game will never be a classic. It's still way ahead of it's time to be old...

The Good
This is actually my third review of this game, and every time I play it I tend to feel a bit differently about it. My first review was thoroughly negative, the second thoroughly positive and with this one I hope to finally describe the game to the best of my abilities.

So lets begin. What makes Alpha Centauri one of the best games I've ever played?

• First thing to catch your eye about Alpha Centauri is its interface. Quite possibly the best interface ever created for a game, the huge amount of time spent perfecting the implementation is obvious in first glance. While the interface isn't overly simplistic, it is very simple to understand and control and makes a lot of sense for the beginner. On the other hand, an advanced player will find adequate control over the functions of the game, as well as automation features galore. While the original Civilization's interface isn't bad, Alpha Centauri's is almost perfect.
  Equally important is the visual aspect of the interface - slick design featuring small but very effective enhancements, effects such as pictures rotating about in the lower part of the screen and various other enhancements. These additions to the interface add a lot of realism and atmosphere to the game, and without them it would have probably been a lot more dull.
• Good graphics. While not mind-boggling, the visual aspect of the game will please any viewer. The landscapes are, unlike most isometric viewpoints, easy to figure out and make a lot of sense as well. Unit displays look reasonably good as well, and the interface is generally very well designed.
• Alpha Centauri features some of the best movies seen to date, and even if some aren't very interesting it does feature a few masterpieces (the Dream Twister movie comes to mind). The animations add quite a bit to the game. I also find the various historical quotes, as well as the ones from the faction leaders in Alpha Centauri, to be interesting and compelling as they add a lot to the general atmosphere of the game. There are also several in-jokes in the game which add a lot of flavor (the Network Backbone movie is a blunt joke on Microsoft, for example).
• Alpha Centauri features a decent plot -- yes, an actual plot in a Civilization-style game, and a good one to boot. While not a literary masterpiece, Alpha Centauri's storyline would have made a decent science fiction book I would have enjoyed reading. The way the designers made the threat of the Mind Worms, combined with the several "Interludes from the Book of Planet" and other plot elements meld seamlessly with the game is astonishing, and one possible conclusion of the game (The Song of Planet) is the best I could ask for. What makes Alpha Centauri an amazingly interesting game to play is the endless little hints and pieces that abound throughout the game.

With all these features, Alpha Centauri is without a doubt of one the best games I have ever played (although I still consider Master of Magic to be the best game in this style.

The Bad
Unfortunately, Alpha Centauri is - while being an excellent game - not perfect. It does have some annoying flaws:

• Diplomacy. Unfortunately, diplomacy has always been the bane of Civilization-style games. I can't remember even a single game of this genre in which the diplomacy was actually worth mentioning. The diplmacy in Alpha Centauri is no exception and is as weak as ever. Other leaders will be your best friends until they become bored, then attack you. So what else is new?
• Drone Riots will drive you mad. Every few games, towards the end of the game several of your citires which - until the point - were perfectly contect, will "grow" drones all of a sudden and cease to function. There's not much you can do about this really - either change government (which isn't always a good choice), or move more units into the base (which isn't always feasible). This can become really annoying after a while.
• Terrible music. Admittedly the menu music is actually quite good, but all other pieces are genuinely bad.

I most emphasize, however, that despite these flaws, Alpha Centauri is still a bliss for any Sid Meier fan.

The Bottom Line
The best game in this style since Master of Magic, and definitely another classic in the long line of Sid Meier games.

The Good
SMAC heirs the features that made Civilization a classic, being the most important replayability: a random map makes up for that, and so does adding different factions with unique abilities; personally, mission-based titles aren't in my preferences. Diplomacy, although limited, has very well configured messages to give the feel of talking to a leader with his/her own personality; add to that agendas and aversions, and the Council, too. The gameplay in general is also a strong point: like in Civilization, found cities (bases), terraform, expand at will in a terrain with infinite variations and landscapes. The finest addition to politics is the Social Engineering, with great Role-Playing stile statistics.

Some say the technology tree is confusing due to strange descriptions: I think those add a unique sci-fi flavor: personally, I get more immersed in the futuristic atmosphere when reading "Our scientists discovered Photon-Wave Mechanics" or "Pre-Sentient Algorithms" than reading "Our scientists discovered the Photon Wall armor" or "can now build the Hunter-Seeker project".

The game is also very configurable, and multiple paths to victory enrich the gaming experience. Now, instead of having pre-made units, you can design your own, but shortly becomes evident which are the best combinations for each situation; the possibility is nice, though.

Graphics and sound aren't outstanding, but make their work, and that's enough for a strategy TBS game; it doesn't need more. In general, SMAC is an empire-building game, and that's the feel it gives the player: of being building (or falling with) an empire through time.

The Bad
However, SMAC also heirs bad and annoying features from Civilization. And that's the matter: Civilization is a classic, with no doubt. But it was released in 1991, eight years before SMAC; and that's too much time. Many fans, I included, were disappointed by this game because hardly can be referred to as "evolutive".

First, diplomacy is still limited: instead of constructing your own proposals and counterproposals, the game forces you to take pre-defined options (what can I do when I want to demand or give 457 credits and the computer only allows me the fixed number of 300 or 150?). And diplomacy problems brings treaties and alliances problems: there's no way for a treaty to stand for long: if you're weak, the strong empires crush you; if you're strong, all other factions declare war on you even if they have no chance (apart of slave factions, of course).

Nothing to say about trade: the model is simple to death. "Tired of designing, guys?" is the question.

Developing of cities, also from Civilization, quickly becomes boring and repetitive: except on early stages of the game, it's a matter of "all buildings you can build". I think a model close to MOO1 or perhaps Ascendancy is much better. The "Talent/Drone" model, also, is too simplistic: does not include, for example, the effects of a sudden change of government (apart from varying Police indexes). What if a long-standing Democracy turns to a Fundamentalism in a turn? Will citizens remain so conformist? And so will they if the base is starving to death? And what if an obscure technocratic secret society is turning a base against its Eudaimonic government, or communists/ecologists incite uprising in a Free Market society? How can citizens stand quiet when unit after unit is destroyed in an endless war? Are soldiers mindless androids? Balancing Talents with Drones is enough to maintain peace?

But the worst of all is combat. Perhaps seems combat is not very important in an empire-building game, but is impossible to play a game without messing in several unprovoked wars (even with long-term allies; perhaps they don't know allied victory is possible). The "collateral damage" feature is annoying to say the least: I don't understand why 7 units sit while the 8th. is fighting against 1 attacker, who inflicts damage to all when winning; also, "automatic retreating" of tanks is a bad fix. Why not using a system like MoM? But even worse are the Attack/Defense stats: a battle consists of the attacker firing at the defender while the latter stays hoping its armor deflects all shots. A 12-1-1 Unit attacking a 16-4-1 Unit has all the chances of winning! Ridiculous! To make things even worse, armor values increase more slowly that weapons, making wars a matter of sending 13-1-1s. against 1-6-1s. in a base equipped with Perimeter Defense: outdoor battlefields belong to the one who attacks first. Air combat is still bad: although it's resolved comparing weapon forces, armor doesn't count. Why a land/sea unit cannot enter a square occupied by air unit?

Finally, although the AI is decent (decent, but not excellent), difficulty means more drones and ultra-cheating. The computer seems to know exactly where your units are, even without entering your datalinks or without having the Empath Guild. Do I really have the chances of success presented in the probe team operations window? No, I think. How can the computer discover Unified Field Theory and on the next turn send me a horde of marines equipped with weapon 12? He had only 150 credits to buy!

The Bottom Line
SMAC has almost all good features from Civ, and good new ones, but also has bad features from Civ (I say again: 8 years is enough time to get new and good ideas), and lacks some from Civ that were good.

Finally, even with the weak points, the game is worth a try, specially at reduced price. But i'ts far from being a true masterpiece.