Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - PC

I wanted to give this game a -1 star. not bc the seller, or the game. The game is great, the seller was as well. The game will not operate on windows 8 unless you have a PhD is computer software and 150 years on your hands. I thought I could make it work, and I was terribly wrong. Hair-pulling, desk-tossing, dog-kicking wrong. Do not buy this game for an operating system which it was not designed to work, even under compatibility mode, or you are well and truly screwed.

Released in the late 1990's, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, now resting only inches away from the abandonware bin, cannot even hope to compete with newer strategy games in terms of graphics, though the ingenious and well-thought out storyline, which is told through futuristic "historical accounts" and quotes coupled with the ever-present pop-up notifications of newly researched or, in some cases, stolen technologies, still has something to offer for the "modern" gamer.An intensely cerebral, and strangely addictive title, Alpha Centauri casts you as the leader of your choice of one of eight separate factions, all with their own unique abilities and all desperately trying to lay claim to the newfound planet of Alpha Centauri. Play starts simply, a single base, (your headquarters, which, as with all your future bases in Alpha Centauri, supports a custom name,) a single scouting unit, supplied to protect your HQ from falling victim to Alpha Centauri's vicious native life forms, the Mindworms, and a single technological upgrade that differs between factions. From there, game play elevates to steadily higher levels of strategy, from signing and breaking treaties or truces, to forming Pacts of Brotherhood (or Sisterhood) with other faction members, you soon find yourself wrapped up in the storyline. Technological breakthroughs lead to better units and a steadily more refined means of pulling minerals, nutrients, and energy resources out of Alpha Centauri's surface or even from space itself. Learn to guide your researchers, change your social structure, or even complete secret projects before your rivals to provide yourself with the ability to build superior units and influence, manipulate, or even conquer your fellow faction leaders.But the gameplay goes deeper than just second-guessing the easy-to-predict, if not primitive A.I. of the game; in Alpha Centauri, one must learn not only to tame his/her rivals, friends, and Pact Brothers, but also the planet itself. A primitive neural network held together by the rampantly growing clusters of Xenofungus, Voice, as it is called, contacts you in event-triggered interludes, growing steadily more wary (and dangerous) as it studies the human race and it's seemingly inherent need to destroy the ecosystem of planets they colonize. As time passes in the game, Alpha Centauri's natural defenses are steadily increased, the Mindworms, evolve into both aquatic and airborne monsters, allowing "Planet" to hit you (and the other factions) with a three-pronged attack of increasingly more numerous (and deadly) specimens.In the spirit of Human tenacity and the need to tame this new planet, terraforming has also been built into the game, allowing you to build steadily better terrain modifications that can cut down the movement costs of your units, feed your bases, provide cover for your troops, or even pull water from an otherwise ungenerous sky.Alpha Centauri is by no means a graphically superior game; rather the opposite, actually. The maps, units, even buildings give a rough illusion of three dimensionality, but in truth, the entire game, much like other, older strategy titles, such as "StarCraft," is composed of the harsh, two dimensional graphics we have come to expect from classic games. That's not to say that Alpha Centauri's two dimensional graphics are not good. It's art is very well done, and it's smoothness carries a sort of dignity and artistic quality that is lacking in the polygon-rich environs of today's strategy games.A lot of Alpha Centauri's sounds are stock- that is to say, common, cheap, and obvious. The sound used for weapons fire is the same sound I've heard countless times in several dozen other applications, such as car commercials, and low-budget films. But it does have an extensive library of ambient beats, simple little files that play in the background, giving the game an eerie, alien feel that changes as the gameplay progresses, picking up during "high stress situations," and slowing during calm sessions of planning, plotting, and research.Featuring multiplayer and map-creation functions, Alpha Centauri's capabilites don't end at the singleplayer level. Play online with your friends, (that is, if you know anyone who still plays this game,) or make new maps to be tamed, not just by your faction, but by the seven other computer controlled factions as well.All things considered, Alpha Centauri's gameplay and storyline more than make up for it's inferiorities in graphics and A.I. I definitely recommend this title, that is, if you're willing to spend time fully immersed in an ocean of hard-core strategy that has the wonderful capacity to be utterly different everytime it is played; if not, it's still worth a try, who knows, maybe you'll end up enjoying it as much as I do.

I hate all of you non-gamer's that rated this a good game. I was looking for a game that was comparable to MOO2 and this is what you guys suggested!? I don't want to dog the game too much but I found nothing good or exciting about this game. You have a grid with stupid icons that roam about with what seems to be no direction and they do not seem to follow your commands at all. These icons in the shape of astronauts, dune buggies, and cargo carriers roam about searching a small area over and over finding absolutely nothing and never registering how many turns they are using and they all seem to get in each others way. You keep building more and they seem to go wherever they want and when you don't move them the interface asks if you are sure...as if they actually accomplish anything when they roam about except for running into some exploding fungus that seems to arbitrarily pop up whenever and where-ever. This game lacks direction and purpose. The colony base you are working out of is too complicated for what it is trying to accomplish. Also, you never get to see what you are building in a way that is practical. There is no practical organization thus it is understood why the designers of this game had to put pop-ups over and over and everywhere to explain what you should do and why you are doing it. You build a colony truck because it tells you to and you move it to a square on the grid of your choice and it tells you you shouldn't or cannot, and you build it to serve and accomplish what? To build more? This game just doesn't do it for me. I guess I'm spoiled by Master of Orion II and shame on me for thinking there is a game out there that could complete with such a masterpiece. Thumbs down for me...I'll try something else, don't waste your money.

It's pretty good. Sid really knows how to make an enjoyable and addictive game. Warning, this is one of those games that make hours go by like minutes. The graphics are a little dated but if you can ignore that then you will enjoy this thoroughly. I recommend this to any Sid Meiers fans or somebody who loves strategy games.

while the graphics are not that advanced it is still one of the best turn based strategy games available, the different cultures each have an individual feel to them and the advancement is both fast and enjoyable.

Sid Meier's is kind of a one-act-show when it comes to games, basically most of what I've seen from him has been turn-based strategy games with single-unit armies, such as Civilzation and this game, but I must admit, he's good at what he does, and I don't blame him for not leaving his comfort zone. Alpha Centauri is pretty much Civilization with an alien, futuristic twist. Definitely appeals to the game types that I like, and this game does not disappoint. It's always fun to see if I can beat my former accomplishments in this game and it never gets old.

Wow, what a disappointment. It is through no fault of Amazon, but this game is horrible, dated, and doesn't live up to any of the reviews.

Excellent sequel to Civilization II. A little bit of a learning curve when playing for the first time; a ton of new features, units, landscape, indigenous alien life forms, etc. The background music is OK though not loud, it would've been nice to have other music selections (like Civ II). If you enjoyed Civ II, you'll enjoy Alpha Centauri. Get ready for a whole new world!