Cheap Alpha Centauri (Jewel Case) (Software) (Windows 95, Windows 98) Price
CHEAP-PRICE.NET ’s Cheap Price
Here at Cheap-price.net we have Alpha Centauri (Jewel Case) at a terrific price. The real-time price may actually be cheaper — click “Buy Now” above to check the live price at Amazon.com.
Alpha Centauri employs the same basic gameplay, rules, and concepts as Civilization II, but features enhanced diplomacy and a new, slicker interface. Players begin by assuming leadership of one of seven colony factions, establishing a base on the unexplored world. Conquering territory, developing technology, expanding the faction's population, and dealing with native life forms are critical priorities that must be correctly balanced for survival. If a faction's military output is low, it may be vulnerable to attacks by others or by dangerous mind worms that roam the landscape. On the other hand, building war machines at the expense of scientific research may result in having to manage a massive but obsolete war machine or a rebellious population.
Within the game, you can now automate tasks that--in the earlier game--were repetitive and dull. The factions also have a better mix of leaders: three of the seven factions are headed by women. The computer AI for the other groups does a good job of making decisions in accordance with each faction's particular philosophy and worldview, and will often surprise a human player with an offer of strategic alliance or a sudden double-cross.
This easy-to-learn and thoroughly absorbing game takes the best features of the original classic and sets them in a brave new world. --Alyx Dellamonica
| PLATFORM: | Windows 95, Windows 98 |
| CATEGORY: | Software |
| MANUFACTURER: | Electronic Arts |
| ESRB RATING: | Everyone |
| TYPE: | Computer Games, Strategy (Strategic), Science Fiction (Sci-Fi, Scifi) |
| MEDIA: | CD-ROM |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 014633122015 |
Related Products
Customer Reviews of Alpha Centauri (Jewel Case)
Very fun, if you like this type of game This game was (correction, is) fun. It's more fun, of course, if you like this type of game. If you've ever played another one of Sid Meier's games, i.e. Civilazation I, II, and III, then you know what this game is like.
The difference between AC and the Civ games is that Civilizations take place in the past on Earth, and Alpha Centauri takes place in the (distant?) future, on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system that the colonists unimaginatively named Planet.
If it ever gets boring, as unlikely as this is, then the game is cheater-friendly, allowing, and, indeed, helping, the player to tinker with the different factions, giving the player advantage(s), or disvantage(s) if the game is too easy, or giving the enemy factions advantage(s)/disvantage(s).
I highly suggest that you buy this game. I like it much more than Sid Meier's other games, and it has replayability.
Sequels....Never Quite As Good...
Having been an avid player of both CIVILIZATION I & II, I was very excited about the prospect of this game. Hasn't everyone who finally achieved victory in the space race in Sid Meier's immortal Civ series wondered what happened when the space ship finally reached Alpha Centauri? This game picks up where the last one left off and shows a world where your colonist forces have factionalized upon reaching alien shores. The faction motives are all quite compelling and realistic and the inclusion of aliens is a nice addition. The game play is very reminiscent of its predecessors, albeit with high tech impetus that only grows more sophisticated. It, like its predecessors is a highly customizable scenario which makes it very replayable. So. Why only a 4 star rating instead of the 5 that I rated CIVILIZATION? Well, it lacks a lot of the charm of the Civ series with its lack of Earth-bound nations and leaders. One of the things that was compelling about Civ was its possibilities of the Roman Empire co-existing with the modern United States, and similar situations. Another problem is the very speculative technology race. In Civ, the tech advances were easy to understand and relate to, given that they were all actual discoveries through the course of time. Maybe this bias is a betrayal of my roots as a history buff, but it was a distraction for me. This is a very well done game with a lot of possible strategization. Whether or not you would enjoy it as much as its legendary forebear is really a question of what draws your interest to a game. If you are a sci-fi junkie, this might be right up your alley as long as you keep in mind that it is a strategy game.
If only days and nights were longer..
so I could play this masterpiece more often! When I ended my long and profound relationship with civ2, having attained one
of the first monster scores on the net, I thought that nothing would ever come close to the feeling I got out of diving deep
into the perplexity of Sid Mayer's classic.
I bought AC out of curiosity. I first went through the manual. Magic! I then started studying the game. More magic!
The offspring of the Mayer-Reynolds collaboration was nothing short of miraculous. The game had all the stengths of civ2 and none of its weaknesses! Micromanagement was introduced abolishing the tedious bits of civ. Customizing land,sea&air units was an absolute killer. The sound was smooth as silk.The overall display was devine.
And then it was the concept... That game's concept could easily stand alone as a great read in the sci-fi bookmarket.
Making some very simple changes in the text files such as city names, gender, quotes etc. the player can personalize a faction and actually become part of the story; and what a beautiful story it is. The living planet, the fantastic future science tree along with its mind-twisting excerpts from the "datalinks", a word that inevidably sends one back,momentarily, to the haunting intro movie, the combination of socio-political models producing incredibly unusual types of goverment, the eery peace emanating from the alien atmosphere... No matter how violent your strategy may be, the nature of the game is such that it will eventually force you to think more, kill less and try harder.
All of the above and much more will be experienced to their full extent ONLY by those who will invest time and effort in getting to know all the subtleties of this hard-to-master gem and not by those who think that they know the game because,after a few reloads, they finally managed to win at deity level.
Finishing this well deserved encomium I would like to point out the only flaw I found in AC. That is the use of a single
wav. file for all hand-held/turret mounted weapons regardless of class, power and age. Big no-no. The amount of research and attention to detail that ,evidently, the designers put into this game just goes to prove that this one just slipped under their noses.
Ah well, nothing's perfect after all...