Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization

About

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization is a strategy game that reimagines the 1994 classic. Players lead a European nation in the New World, starting from colonization to fighting for freedom and independence. Based on the Civilization IV engine, it offers enhanced gameplay, visuals, and addictive strategy set in the age of exploration .

Genres & Tags

Strategy

Play Modes

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization screenshot

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,439 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

grinding18 negative mentions

The game offers a unique twist on the Civilization formula, focusing on trade and economic management while building a colony.
With mods like 'We The People' and 'Religion and Revolution', the game becomes significantly more enjoyable and adds depth to the gameplay.
The graphics and interface improvements over the original Colonization enhance the overall experience, making it visually appealing.

The base game can feel shallow and frustrating, lacking the depth and replayability of other Civilization titles without mods.
There are significant issues with micromanagement, making the game tedious, especially in the late game when managing multiple settlements.
The AI is often criticized for being unchallenging and can feel like it cheats, detracting from the overall competitive experience.

gameplay
134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
76%
6%
The gameplay of the game is a blend of classic mechanics from the original Colonization and modern enhancements, offering a unique experience that emphasizes economic management, trade, and strategic expansion. While many players appreciate the depth and variety introduced by mods, some criticize the game's pacing and certain mechanics as outdated or frustrating. Overall, it provides a compelling and engaging experience for fans of strategy games, though it may feel repetitive after extended play.
- “The gameplay is similar to civilization in its focus on expansion via founding cities, but has a number of differences including a need to develop an economy based on exporting goods (preferably finished goods - e.g. cigars over tobacco, cloth over cotton) to the old world.”
- “This game offers you gameplay that feels quite unique and fresh even when compared to Civilization 4 and 5.”
- “The immigration mechanics are very cool, and the trade system is deep and rewarding.”
- “Graphics are great, gameplay is shit.”
- “It is even quite fun at the beginning, but the gameplay gets simply dull and boring very fast.”
- “You can still continue playing after winning the colonial war and try out the new rules that come with your individual constitution, but I challenge anyone to actually suffer through more than a few extra rounds of that same monotonous boring gameplay.”
graphics
106 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
60%
9%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the modernized visuals derived from Civilization IV, which enhance the overall aesthetic and gameplay experience. However, some players feel that while the graphics are improved, they still appear dated and lack the charm of the original game. Overall, the graphical updates are seen as a positive step, but opinions vary on their impact on the game's character and playability.
- “This version has a nice modernized UI and graphics.”
- “Using Civilization IV’s graphical engine, Colonization looks very good, and also the soundtrack is almost on par with the main game.”
- “While the game was released over a decade ago, the graphics have a beautiful unique style to them and hold up really well, and the game mechanics are great.”
- “But the graphics and the interface were bad, even by 1994 standards.”
- “The graphics are a strain on your eyes, the new world feels very crowded and the controls are far from intuitive.”
- “Better graphics but lacks the character of the original.”
replayability
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
44%
9%
Overall, the game offers high replayability, with many players noting its enduring appeal even after years of play. While it features a wealth of customization options, random maps, and various civilizations, some critiques highlight that it lacks the depth and variety of victory conditions found in the main Civilization series, which can limit its replay value compared to those titles. Nonetheless, mods and additional content can significantly enhance the replay experience.
- “For some reason, it still has replayability after 15 years... but it really does.”
- “With a new map generator, 99 goods, dozens more units (mostly ships and slaves), and numerous civilization and leader combos, there is a near endless amount of replayability that keeps me entertained for far longer than vanilla.”
- “And the game truly lives up to its promise and can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay and replayability.”
- “This is a fun and challenging game, but lacks the replayability of the base game due to fewer victory conditions, less leaders to choose from, and almost no single player content.”
- “The game has a single victory condition, so replay value is low compared to other civ games.”
- “And the game truly lives up to its promise and can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay, and replayability.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
58%
12%
The music in Colonization is generally praised for its catchy and immersive quality, with many players noting that it enhances the overall experience of the game. While some feel that the soundtrack has modernized and strayed from the original's charm, others appreciate the improved quality and find it memorable. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing to its appeal and replayability.
- “With catchy music and a graphically pleasant game, this will bring a whole new experience to even the most devout civilization players.”
- “The music is spooky because of how well it fits the game.”
- “It has more polish and I have to admit a better soundtrack than the original.”
- “In all honesty, it is not much improved from the old one, except better graphics and music (and it seems maps are bigger).”
- “Some things were better in the classic one: it did teach history by providing more information about founding fathers and the Continental Congress relevant to the game, and it had a better soundtrack.”
- “I'm also sad it didn't keep too much of the original style music, just modernized.”
story
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
75%
13%
The game's story revolves around the colonization of the New World, emphasizing the challenges of establishing and maintaining colonies while navigating relationships with both indigenous peoples and the motherland. Players experience a dynamic narrative where their primary adversary is often their own homeland, as they strive for independence and cultural assimilation. The remake successfully captures the essence and gameplay of the original, offering a fresh yet familiar take on the colonization theme.
- “This is a 'modern' remake of the colonization story which I now, 20 years later, enjoy very much.”
- “This is an awesome recreation of the original that stays very true to not only the story and feel of the original but very closely mimics the original gameplay.”
- “The game tells the story of the colonization of the new world: America! You can randomize the continent as much as you want to make each game very different!”
- “Early on, they are happy to trade and even teach your people skills (for some, this is the only way to gain them. Europe does not supply master planters.) but eventually, no matter how carefully you place your colonies, they reach a point where they don't like you, even when you flood them with gifts and Jesuit missionaries (the elite type, even if your country was Protestant in reality!). The best you can hope for is that smaller, peaceful ones assimilate into your culture.”
- “Too bad that natives didn't react to the pillaging of ruins/cemeteries and the addition of missions too.”
- “In a sense, your primary enemy is your own motherland rather than competing empires, and your mission is to develop your colony quickly and strongly enough to achieve your independence.”
grinding
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, particularly in the late game where micromanagement and trade route management become overwhelming. While some appreciate the strategic depth that comes with this complexity, many criticize the impractical UI and the AI's obstructive behavior, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from overall enjoyment. Despite these issues, the game retains high replay value for some players.
- “I can't recommend the vanilla game, because it's very tedious, there's a lot of micromanagement, the UI is impractical (and it's easy to accidentally click something wrong) and, as in any other Civilization game, the AI is cheating and playing only to put obstacles for the human player instead of competing for who has the most sustainable and strong empire.”
- “However, even with the mod, the game becomes very tedious later on, when you have established your trade routes and achieved high resource yield.”
- “It's very tedious, even after automating the trade routes.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game is generally considered unstable, with numerous bugs and balance issues reported by users, particularly when compared to its predecessor. Despite these problems, it performs well on modern hardware, allowing for extended gameplay sessions without significant performance drops.
- “Still runs great on modern machines.”
- “However, it is still a buggy mess, cloned from old colonization, with better graphics and no other enhancements.”
- “In comparison with the original, it is a buggy and unbalanced mess.”
- “It is a bit buggy after many solid hours of gameplay.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The optimization of the game is highly praised, with users noting that it runs smoothly on their systems, even considering its age of nearly 15 years. The ease of mod installation further enhances the experience, allowing players to focus on building and optimizing their colonies.
- “The installation of the mod was easy, and it runs smoothly on my system.”
- “I enjoy building an optimized colony more than anything else.”
- “(And yes, I mean every aspect, engine included... it runs so well optimized you can hardly believe it is almost 15 years old.)”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is described as fun and immersive, with graphics and textures evoking a pre-colonial America setting. However, some users feel it lacks the depth and ambiance of the original game it attempts to emulate, comparing it unfavorably to a clumsy mod of Civilization IV.
- “It's super fun and has an atmospheric feeling; the graphics and textures remind us of pre-colonial America, even when the game somehow makes the map turn into an archipelago.”
- “In a nutshell: a clumsy Civ IV vanilla mod which completely lacks the atmosphere of the original game it tries to imitate.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a sense of frustration and disappointment, as players feel that essential and beneficial elements are being denied or overlooked, impacting their overall experience.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game often stems from the AI's amusingly flawed decision-making, leading to situations where they create more settlements than they can manage, resulting in comical overextensions. This recurring theme adds a lighthearted touch to the gameplay experience.
- “The funny thing is the AI wasn't reprogrammed to accommodate for this, so they'll overextend themselves by making more settlements than they can support.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a growing frustration among fans regarding the monetization practices of recent Sid Meier titles, with many feeling that the games are being produced primarily as cash grabs rather than for quality or innovation.
- “I was and still am a big fan of a lot of the Sid Meier's titles, but as of late it seems like they are just churning out crap in a shameless cash grab.”