There's still a lot more history ahead.Īssuming you're not crushed by rivals or by barbarians during the early part of the game, sooner or later, your primitive civilization will advance its way out of the Stone and Bronze Ages, but then what? Well, if you play on the standard-sized map using the default 'continents' world setting, odds are you'll find yourself with a decent-sized civilization with approximately five to 10 cities. So in this preview we'll give you an idea of what the later part of Civ is like. That changed recently, when we got our hands on the first playable version of Civ IV ahead of everyone else on the planet. That's due to the fact that while we've been able to play with the early eras of the game, when you're busy clawing your way out of the Stone Age and researching such groundbreaking technologies as the wheel, Firaxis limited our time with Civ IV to basically everything before 1AD, leaving out the 2,000 years that follow. While there have been many previews of Civilization IV, there's hardly been any coverage of the game's middle to late stages.
