Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri (SMAC)

I’d like to take the time to post about another game I’ve been playing a lot lately… This one is a classic and this entry will most likely make you nostalgia hard and install it.



This is easily one of the best games I’ve ever played. I’d rank it at #2 out of my top 5 favourite games. With Starcraft: Broodwars being #1. Easily the best “Turn-Based Strategy” game I’ve ever played. The Civilization games have NOTHING on this.



I don’t even know where to begin with this game. It’s old but it still holds up better than virtually every game I’ve played today. Not only for replay-ability but for how deep this game is philosophically and intellectually. If you honestly haven’t played this game; I highly recommend you do.

Depending on if you have the expansion or not but for the sake of this entry we’ll just talk about the original for now. You can play as 1 of 7 factions. Each with their own very unique agenda and personalities…

Copied from Wikipedia:

SMAC takes place in the Civilization universe, beginning in the 22nd century, and follows the space-race victory in Civilization II.[1] The premise is that the United Nations has sent the "Unity" colonization mission to the Alpha Centauri planet Chiron ("Planet").[2] Advanced aliens had conducted an experiment in planetary-level sentience on Chiron, leaving behind monoliths and artifacts.[3] Unfortunately, the experiment was a disaster, creating a hundred-million-year evolutionary cycle ending in the death of all animal life.[4] After the disaster, the aliens split into the Manifold Caretakers, who opposed further experimentation, and the Manifold Usurpers, who favored further experimentation. Immediately prior to the start of the game, a reactor malfunction wakes the crew and colonists on the Unity early and irreparably severs communications with Earth.[5] After the captain is assassinated, the most powerful leaders on board build ideological factions with dedicated followers, conflicting agendas for the future of mankind, and "desperately serious" commitments.[5][6] As the ship breaks up, seven escape pods, each containing a faction, are scattered across Planet.[7]



Out of the 7 factions I personally like University of Planet the most.



Granted each faction has their benefits and downsides, I think if you can rush the secret project “Hunter-Seeker Algorithm” and finish it first, you’ll be extremely far ahead.


My 2nd most favourite faction to play is Morgan Industries.



The amount of wealth you can amass early in the game is pretty high compared to everyone else. You can set up a pretty good infrastructure but the limited base sizes and lack of support for military units is pretty crippling.


I also have a few early game strategies built up for every faction. The Spartan Federation being the strongest I think since you get rovers immediately. Just rush your tech and get particle impactors. It lays waste to the other factions early game. This also works with any faction as well though, but I find it less effective.

The story in this game is also really deep. No matter how many times I’ve played this game I still find it interesting and very immersive. (With the expansion pack you can play as Alien factions which I feel add a whole new level to this immersion since they bring their own story into the game.) Over the course of the game you find out that the planet is actually a semi-sentient being, which is learning and observing you. Unsure if you’re there to help it or destroy it. Here’s a memorable quote that planet gives.

“You are the children of a dead planet, earthdeirdre, and this death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, but may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease?”

Just by posting that quote I don’t feel it does much justice without playing the whole game. I find that alone really deep, since the planet understand that humanity has come from a dead planet (Earth). There are a lot more memorable quotes. Most of them I find are done by Chairman Sheng-ji Yan. His quotes are more focused on the fundamentals of what makes us human and what our objectives in life are. Also he talks a lot about what is really the purpose of life.

“If our society seems more nihilistic than that of previous eras, perhaps this is simply a sign of our maturity as a sentient species. As our collective consciousness expands beyond a crucial point, we are at last ready to accept life's fundamental truth: that life's only purpose is life itself.”

“What do I care for your suffering? Pain, even agony, is no more than information before the senses, data fed to the computer of the mind. The lesson is simple: you have received the information, now act on it. Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output.”


Both of these are Yan’s quotes that I absolutely love.


I’ll continue with another entry later on talking more about my strategies and play-style. As well as my adventures on playing the 2nd hardest difficulty the game has to offer.

43 comments:

CPH said...

I love the Civ games.

Ketomaster said...

Alpha Centauri was pretty good. I liked Civ 2 better, but that's probably because I played it first and really got to know the game.

Skankin_Pete said...

I was playing Rise of Mankind A New Dawn mod for Civ IV earlier, now im going to have to reinstal this one too

JDOGMMA said...

This brings back memories.

Blupsy said...

haha i love these games, gj keep it up

Triper said...

Nice review, great game.

Jandro said...

Good thing school is coming to an end for me here for the semester. Gives me time to work but more importantly play these games I like playing. Its been a while since i had freetime =D

Blk Jesus said...

looks like civilization. ill have to check it out i have never played that!

n0kS Phr33d0m said...

Looks like a very interesting game. Nice post you've done!

Anonymous said...

Loved all the CIV games,
Great post, + Followed!

Intraman said...

sid meyer's games are always awesome

Unknown said...

I don't think there's a single Sid Meier game I don't like. They're all gold.

Alpha said...

I'll keep a look out for this one.

Stephen said...

Civ games are the best!

Michael Arsenault said...

seems like a cool story!

Nick said...

Sid makes pretty great games.

Patwa said...

mmm I loved that serie <3

Michael said...

I never did get a chance to play any of the Civ games, considering SC is the best RTS of all time ;)... I'll have to try them out sometime though it looks great. Going to follow.

m.m. said...

I've never heard of this game. Maybe I should play! I'm not usually one for turn based strategy games, and I think the closest I've ever gotten was playing Final Fantasy Tactics I and II.

Al3xaG said...

How old is this one?

Oivvad said...

Ah, I miss this game so much. Sid Meier is excellent.

Daniel said...

nice, thanks!

Anonymous said...

this game really takes me back. The Civillization games were great.

FarTooNerdy said...

looks like a decent game. Might have to get it!

Gravix said...

Was never a huge fan of RTS's other than Starcraft, so I never played Alpha Centauri. Might have to check it out though.

minecraft129 said...

I played Civ 4 alot. Id always play as Gandhi for super fast workers :)

pepsi_lover47 said...

Yeah i really miss Starcraft better get back into it

Mile2Marathon said...

Used to love those games!

Johnathan said...

Sounds fun to me

Michael Arsenault said...

Civ games I find are very addicting, Highly recommended.

Kunta Jay said...

Looks pretty cool.

sestrenger said...

Hours and hours playing Civ2, and in the end i reach Alpha Centauri. Id never know about this game. Nice post!

Air Fresher said...

this isnt sc2...

Anonymous said...

this blog is very good mmmm

Mike said...

Looks like it could be a fun game.

charmingguy said...

hmm, seems like i missed out on that one :( sadly, the graphics would piss me off now, so it's too late for me :P

Blupsy said...

Hey, I think you'll remember me, I used to run a World of Warcraft guide-ish blog.
I deleted that blog and made a new,improved one! Go check it out, theres a little bit of old content on there at the moment, more will come soon I promise ;)
I figured I'd let you know.

Daily Car Reviews said...

this remind me of the old games. still playing CiV 5 really awesome!
+follow

Makel said...

What a great game!

Unknown said...

seems pretty legit! following you :)

Max said...

The eyes in that one picture are fucking creepy... :O

You should check out my blog, I bet you'd be interested.

http://maxzfrancis.blogspot.com/

JackReviewsMusic said...

I like it :)

lighterside said...

Civ games where always the best. I learned so much from them as well!