Colonization

MicroProse

1995

commercial

English

1995 classic Amiga game - strategy-economy games

Strategy-economy game that gives player a chance to see how the New World was conquered - on a ship full of settlers we arrive to a new continent and we build the first villages for our king (of France, England, Holland or Spain).

Colonization was based on idea by Sid Meier, but unfortunately he did not took part in the development, which lead to cutting corners and horrible simplifications. The whole concept is derived from history of United States, which unfortunately means we ALWAYS have the same aim - gain independence from our homeland. This would not be that bad if the demand for independence wasn’t so fast (even less than 20 years from arrival to new land) and the fact that colony is still depending on the economy of homeland, which makes no sense to start revolution if you are not self-sufficient. To make things weirder a turn or two after we proclaim independence the huge army of the king will attack us. Again it would make sense, but not in such short time - large military operation would require some preparations, unless the king was suspecting such event and kept his whole army on alert for some years. The fact that the attack is so quick also puts strain on the player - from the beginning the colony must be built with military power as the main aim and not economy.

But the absolute top achievement of idiocy is when we first met the locals - tribes of Indians, after a traditional pipe of peace (that actually wasn’t traditional for vast majority of the real tribes in North America) they demand from us waggons full of "fire water". This is strange - Indians that never saw Europeans before and they never used wheel somehow know what is a waggon, no to mention they are already addicted to alcohol... I guess they are the progressive Indians.

The background music in Colonization is very good - it sets the atmosphere without being too pushy. The graphic side is also very good, but the whole project is a step back compating to Civilization - there is only one scenario of events and in each game it will remain the same.

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