Alpha Centauri necreview

Say hello to our first Necreview, where GU has a look at games we should have reviewed months and years ago, or in this case over a decade ago. Recently Good Old Games and EA announced a deal to give 25 classic EA titles the GOG.com treatment. Among the many gems in this collection is "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri", which we have thoroughly enjoyed replaying this past week.

Picking up where Civilization left off, Alpha Centauri puts the player in the role of a survivor on a damaged colonial ship that has just arrived at the titular planetary system. Sometimes called 'Civilization in Space', this game was truly ahead of its time, and introduced many of the concepts we now consider fundamental to the turn-based strategy genre.

With fantastic diplomacy, diverse AI, and deep game play, Alpha Centauri remains one of the most addictive and compelling examples of the genre.

The game is the better part of 13 years old now, and of course the graphics and audio have dated; but surprisingly the game play remains fresh, and as a result it is easy to lose yourself in the challenge and atmosphere.

Thanks to the great GOG.com packaging, the game is a breeze to get running. While some GOG.com customers have reported minor compatibility issues, we experienced none of these, and were able to get the game running without any fuss.