Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
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ESRB:
Violence
Publisher: 2K Games Genre(s): Strategy Home Page: http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/beyond...
Artificial Dumbness upgraded
AI actually has learned a trick or two for city battles, and relies far less on cheating bonuses to provide a challenge.
Old Civilization IV AI offered little challenge to a human player, so the only way to offer a high difficulty level was to juice up the AI with ridiculous bonuses. Then the game turned into a contest on how to race the artificially buffed AI economy before it could outnumber you so badly that you could no longer repel the attacks. Beyond the Sword changes this: the new AI is so much better in developing cities and building armies that the "cheat bonuses" at higher levels have been scaled down drastically. Yes, AI still gets advantages when compared to human civilizations, but they are far more manageable. The new AI is actually so good in running the domestic side that for the first time you can actually consider using automated workers and governors, at least on less important cities. Automated workers now actually build improvements based on the city setting - if you, for example, emphasize food you get food-maximizing set of improvements from the automated workers. As most advanced players tend to specialize their core cities towards specific task to maximize benefit from wonders, AI can now copy this tactic using the new automation routines. AI improvements also carry to combat. No more CPU "assaults" with a couple of weak units every few turns, harmlessly chipping at your token defenses. Leave an aggressive civilization alone next to you, and you can be sure he'll park a huge stack next to your weakest set of defenders. Coastal cities are also no longer safe as the logic system has learned how to conduct proper amphibious assaults. The AI also now knows how to combine different unit types to a proper stack, and supports attacks with air units, sea bombardment and even nukes from time to time. Defense has also improved - it spreads out units smarter, concentrating defenses in the most obvious target cities. This also opens the way for quick surprise strike against weaker fortifications from an unexpected direction. Improvements also carry through to AI vs. AI situations. You can now see the CPU actually invading and taking over competing AI civilizations far more often. This means diplomacy (the art of making your enemies shoot each other) is far more important, and it's rarer to end up being hated by the rest of the world and having to fight against all AI players at once. Combat EvolvedCombat has also been re-balanced in some aspects. Siege units are no longer the universal hammer to bash down city defenders. All siege units now have a maximum damage cap, and they cannot actually finish off enemy units - you need proper assault units for that. Bombers and artillery are still important tools to soften up defenses, but you need to mix up unit types to succeed. New units also mix things up. Airships offer a weak early bomber unit that doubles as a recon unit. Ship of the Line is an answer to frigates. Attack Submarines provide a tool to combat normal submarines with your own hidden fleet and Paratroopers allow those lighting fast strikes to capture soft targets behind the main front. Mobile SAM and Mobile Artillery add up much needed mobility to modern mixed armies.
Subs can now carry multiple missiles, and with the addition of Tactical Nukes, you can rapidly soften up heavy defenses for surprise attacks more cheaply without going all ICBM on your enemy.
Related Stuff Games: Civilization IV
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