Civilization was very complicated to me since i was a hardcore action strategy gamer, games like command and conquer series, Dune, starcraft etc.

however, this game is complicated to those like me wishing to explore more in the realms of resources and population management.
but say a couple of hours playing it and i guarantee you will be addicted like i am.

good game but does have some minor issues to consider if you want to buy it

I would love to see the complicated gameplay incorporated into a simpler tutorial - if all the reading was forced to be smaller then we could get on with playing the game - love the sentiment though and I can tell that gaming is gonna go "Boom!" in the near future - cant wait.

Civilisation 3 is not as addictive as the final version of Civilisation2. IMO Civilisation 2.78 was the best version. Most of the bugs worked out and a playable game speed.
Civilisation 3 is better in some ways. Better units and many more ways to win, particularly in later stages which usually end (in Civ2) with a global nuclear meltdown. One great improvement is the sorting out of the old issue of obsolete military units in combat 'spearman' defeats 'mechanised infantry' or 'your Aegis missile cruiser has been sunk by a galley..'

Too slow, hours and hours of play to get from Bronze age to Middle Ages.
Too hard to browse the data base when you need information 'now' on that vital tech improvement to stop the Mongol hoard stomping you.

You start Civilization 3 and enjoy it for some period and then the bad things start. Other Civilizations demand things from you (Technology, Gold or Information like World Map) and if you refuse, they declare war. Even worse, the AI Civilizations (there are 7) gang up on you and attack from all sides.
The war system is also ridiculous, where the relative merits of the units make little difference. I had 1 single spearman kill my entire army of Infantry. So what's the use of upgrading your military units??

Civilization 3 does exactly what it says on the box. You build a civilization from right at the beginning of the "ancient age" and advance through time untill the end of the "modern age" whilst improving military and/or improving living conditions for civilians.

It has a tutorial, but not a very good one. I found myself still going in to debt even after viewing the tutorial. The problem is that civ 3 is such a complex and big game that only experience with it can teach you how to prosper, so keep going even if you think you will never prosper on civ 3 because you will with experience. Well that is what I found anyway.

Once you have learnt the tricks of the trade, the game suddenly becomes a lot easier and more satisfying. I find myself now easily beating the computer up the technology tree and using far better weapons against them.

The feature though that really makes it a unique game is the fact that you have to colonise or have strategic resources in your city's radius in order to gain these new military weapons from your technology research, whereas in other games you did not have to do this. This can be good or bad. It is good because it makes it more challenging and slightly more fun, but bad because these resources are usually at the other end of the map, making a long trek for your settlers in order to acquire them, which is very boring.

Finally, the last feature (but believe me there are quite a few more in the game) is the feature of government. This gives advantages and disadvantages. For example, if you research and bring in democracy, you gain an advantage with economic matters, but declare war and your cities go bonkers and don't produce as much, if anything at all. This is a major touch that gives it a realistic approach and makes the game better, I think.

So, this game is good if you keep with it, but can become very boring and not addictive at all at first. Keep with it though and I assure you it gets better.

Civilization 3 is one of the most addictive strategy games ever. Just when you thought you knew all the effects of the improvements you build and actions you take, referring to the game encyclopaedia will teach you even more.

The combination of possible gameplays seems infinite, and you are able to set yourself challenges in addition to 'winning', such as to build yourself better palaces or stock piling as much wealth as possible.

You can speed up gameplay to minimise repetitiveness, as after a while you simply do not wish to see how each and every one of your troops and workers move.

The game will allow you to refine your leadership skills, with the options of you being able to take different approaches to achieve the best for the people in your empire. Achieving a good balance of physical and scientific growth, positive income, and keeping your people healthy and happy is a challenge, especially when those darn Celts are trying to plunder your towns and cities.

With Civ 3 from Infogames Interactive, Sid Meier improved what people thought couldn`t be improved.