What is Civilization: Call to Power?

Civilization Call to Power is a round based strategy game smiliar to Civilization II.

The game begins 4000years bc and the task is to raise a civilization.

See also: Civilization, Civilization II Gold Edition, Civilization III (Complete), Civilization IV

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If Civilizalion: Call to Power proves one thing, it’s just how good the original Civilization was. Ten years later, the latest incarnation differs only marginally from the first. That said. Civilization: Call to Power is a serious disappointment, and the completely revamped graphics and interface prove that new is not necessarily better. Moreover, the multiplayer game shares the underlying weakness of Civilization II: Gold. Its wildly outdated turn-based play is just as dull now as it was in the days when Strategic Conquest... was the hottest thing on the block.

The basic game remains more or less the same. Rival civilizations struggle to build cities and improve their technological abilities. They can construct combat and civilian units, make civic improvements, and even create Wonders of the World. A Wonder of the World is an architectural feat that only one city anywhere can create, sparking competition between civilizations to be the first to build one. Cities can establish trade routes to help earn the gold to spend on improvements, and players can negotiate swapping of maps, knowledge, or gold with one another.

We welcome some of the changes in the newest installment. You can now create and command armies much more efficiently since you don’t have to move each and every piece of a large force independendy. Also, this version reworks most of the civilian units, such as caravans and engineers, so you don’t waste endless amounts of time moving units around for construction and trade.

Unfortunately, Call to Power shares the greatest weakness of the rest of the Qvilization series — the basic structure of the game doesn’t fit the modern world as well as it does ancient times. The concept of a Wonder of the World works well in the ancient world as civilizations race to build great works like the Sphinx or the Labyrinth. In the modern world, however, Call to Power can’t seem to find anything that fits this model. Instead, the game clutches at straws, resulting in oddities such as intense races to build the Contraception. This concept is even stranger than it might seem. Modern wonders like this one are fixed in a single city, so you can actually “capture” the Internet, for example, by conquering the city in which it was created.

The most unwelcome change to the game is the totally revamped user interface. Gone is the simple, two-dimensional map game that you can place into the background like any other application. The new interface features an isometric three-dimensional worldview that fills the screen and locks out all other processes. While the new graphics are certainly more impressive than the old, they are touchy and difficult to control. Inadvertent clicks can suddenly send units charging in wildly inappropriate directions. Moreover, this turn-based game, which can literally take days to complete, locks out any other use of your machine. This is absurd. You should be able to multitask while thinking about a move.

The new entrant in the Civilization series is a profound disappointment. If you’ve never played Civilization before, this game’s worth a look. Otherwise, just go for Alpha Centauri.

Sammis, Ian. (May 2000). Civilization: Call to Power. MacAddict. (pg. 52).

Download Civilization: Call to Power for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.6 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

System Requirements:
Any Macintosh PowerPC 180MHz
603e/150MHz 604 or faster (or G3),
MacOS 7.6 or higher, 48MB RAM,
monitor with support for thousands
of colors at 640 x 480 pixels,
300MB free hard drive space,
CD-ROM drive, (28.8K or faster
modem required for internet play).

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II