Civilization II: Test of Time (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.2 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Elliott Chin
• Reviewed on: 08/26/1999
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 07/31/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: Civilization II: Test of Time (PC) Review

Civilization is probably my all-time favorite game. It is elegantly simple but far-reaching in scope and has virtually limitless depth. Few games have ever come so close to perfection, let alone in their first attempt. Of course Civilization II improved on the original, but only by filling in a few blanks rather than by revolutionizing the concept. And now that the Civilization concept is so refined, there is no excuse for milking the franchise and gouging us for another $40 only to force us to play the same damn game again, only with new names for the units and technology advances. I already own Civilization and Civilization II. I don't want to buy a carbon copy.

The fact is I tried my best to play Test of Time. I really did. I tried the fantasy game. I tried the science fiction game. And I dabbled in the Midgard fantasy scenario. I think it was sort of clever for the designers to add quests in the game and restrict certain units to certain races. The Mermen are the only ones that get certain underwater units, the winged Buteo are the only ones that get key flying creatures, and the Goblins are the only ones with the larger, more brutish foot soldiers. There are also new worlds to explore and colonize. But rather than being pleased with these almost clever changes, I was exceedingly annoyed. The unit names and technological restrictions make no intuitive sense, and the new worlds just add to the tedium. They screwed around with Civilization and made it worse.

The worst part about this game is that you simply cannot play any of the nontraditional games without always having the massive technology poster open and at hand. The designers renamed practically everything, and nothing makes sense anymore. In Civilization, you made informed choices in research based on your strategy. You could go for warrior code for strong military units, or you could go for writing to get diplomats. Try for a granary to boost growth or a temple to stave off riots. But in Test of Time's fantasy and sci-fi games, you can't make such intuitive decisions. You are constantly hobbled by the game's naming conventions. Even the poster doesn't always help, because the military units themselves are also renamed. Sagas lead to Ideograms, and that naturally leads to Beast Dominion, right? Do you know what the sorcerer unit is? It's like an airplane or a nuclear missile, for it can float over terrain but crashes if it doesn't land in a city. That makes no sense, and in fact, few or none of these naming changes make the game the least bit better.

Yes, not all the new names are nonsensical, like warcraft and horse breeding. But why rename warrior code to warcraft anyway? Why change horseback riding to horse breeding? It's ridiculous. Why rename the granary, such a vital structure in the early game, to a storehouse? Why screw around with what gamers already know? I understand the desire to change things around in the interest of surprise and variety, but all that this effort achieves is needless frustration.

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