Minimum System Requirements
1.2 GHz Processor (Pentium 4/AMD Athlon)
256 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9200 / GeForce 4

Optimum System Requirements
1.8 GHz Processor (AMD Athlon / Pentium 4)
512 MB RAM
128 MB Video Card w/ DirectX 8 support
DirectX7 compatible sound card
CD-ROM Drive
1.7 GB of free hard disk space
DirectX 9.0c

Test System
1.84 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2500+
1 GB of Dual Channel RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/128 MB RAM

I’m a Civilization veteran … I’ve been playing (dating myself here) since the original first came out. I’ve played everything Sid Meier has put on the market, but for the benefit of those of you who haven’t caught the bug, I’ll do my best to give you some ideas what you’re looking for in a turn-based strategy game.

Clouds roll around the Earth as you zoom out to see your vast empire!

For those not familiar with turn-based strategy games, the concept is simple. You’re building a world, an army, or some kind of regime in order to stomp your competition! Unlike real-time strategy games such as Warcraft or Command and Conquer, where the winner is more often the "fastest clicker", turn-based strategy games allow more thought to be put into gameplay. You can end a turn and sit back, like in Checkers or Chess, and really think about how you're going to crush your enemy most effectively! A good place to learn about this style of gaming may be found on Wikipedia.

In Civ, the starting point is always the same: You begin with one settler unit and a warrior or scout, with only a few visible squares about you. The world is yours to explore and conquer! Yes, conquer the world is the goal, albeit the variety of ways that can occur (Diplomatic, Cultural, Conquest, Space Race… the choice is yours).

How does Civilization IV stack up? Well to determine this, I started a new game with a random standard world tending on the large side for longer play. I let the game decide who I was to be (as in a leader) and let her rip!