Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword [PC]

Where Beyond the Sword will really win you over is with the new scenarios and mods. There is some truly wonderful stuff in here. Final Frontier is a complete makeover that sends Civ IV into space, rendering it all but unrecognizable and inviting comparison to classics like Master of Orion and Galactic Civilizations. This "mod" isn't just solar systems instead of cities and space ships instead of armies. It's a vividly realized sci-fi setting, with distinct factions, interesting terrain, and a lively unit balance among capital ships, squadrons, missiles, and star bases. If you buy Beyond the Sword for just one mod, this one would be it.

The Gods of Old mod fleshes out the godly subgame by introducing ancient religions with powerful magical effects. It's also an example of a mod that almost falls apart due to poor documentation. Next War adds a whole new sci-fi stage with distinct units and technologies at the end of the game. It even gives you an epic 5-faction world scenario to play with if you want to jump straight to the mechs, clones, and automatons. Defense is an amusing puzzle style diversion. Broken Star is a whimsical scramble to secure stray nukes in a crumbling Russian empire. Charlemagne is a clever scenario built around developing papal favor, while Crossroads of the World is a medieval money-making scenario that makes clever use of the rules for corporations.

Two of Beyond the Sword's fan-made mods deserve special recognition. The fairly dry and meticulous World War II scenarios are Dale Kent's shout outs to old-school wargamers who love shuffling armies around giant maps. The real stand out, however, second only to Final Frontier, is Rhye's and Fall of Civilization (creator Gabriele Trovato's online moniker is Rhye, hence the name). This mod combines the elegance of Civilization with the historicity of Europa Universalis. It's easy to jump into at the historically timed birth of the civilization of your choice, and it's infinitely replayable. See if you can accomplish each civilization's unique victory conditions, which play out like fiendish historical puzzles, or just try to survive while the ebb and flow of history plays out around the world. Rhye's and Fall is one of the most exciting and robust mods you'll ever see for a game. Bravo, Mr. Trovato!

On the other hand, two scenarios are particularly disappointing. The weird zombie X-Com mod called Afterworld gets points for style, and then immediately loses those points for tedium. Age of Ice, drawn from Derek Paxton's epic Fall from Heaven fantasy mod, is a canned puzzle map that plays like a Heroes of Might and Magic scenario. You're better off waiting for Paxton's latest version of the Fall from Heaven mod.

On the balance, there's really no doubt about Beyond the Sword. Whether you're a Civilization fan or someone new to the series, you're not playing Civilization IV to its fullest potential unless you're playing it with the Beyond the Sword expansion.