Super Ghost Blogger

Test of Time, released in the late 1990s, is one of the world’s all time favorite games. The Civilization series is based on the board game Sid Meier’s Civilization, a good game in its own right, and Test of Time was a huge hit when it was released. It did something few other games had ever even attempted at that pre- construction software stage, it created a large scale game concept, not a mission based, “Tiles R Us” type of game like Command and Conquer.

With Civilization 2, you could build a whole world, conquer a whole world, trade, fight nuclear wars, and colonize new worlds. You could fight aliens, build Wonders of the World, and explore strange planets. Civilization 2 was arguably the first “spend days playing it” computer game.

The game mechanics, now familiar, were pretty revolutionary then. You start in the Stone Age, then build up to space travel. You can colonize another world, and usually find yourself fighting a war with the aliens. In some cases, the aliens find you, and you have to turf them off your planet, and learn how to invade theirs. It may not have been intended as a “Conquer the world” game, but with up to 8 computer controlled civilizations able to attack almost whenever they feel like it, it is one. Sneak attacks are common, and so is provocative espionage.

The later Civilization games (3-5 with expansions at the time of writing) have been criticized as being a bit too heavy on graphics, slow, over-structured, and “kidsy”. Test of Time is only dated in terms of graphics, not game mechanics. Gamers don’t necessarily pay attention to production, when they’re enjoying a game. The game allows incredible situations and difficult, almost impossible competitions on the higher levels.

The diplomacy functions of Test of Time also allowed some real humor. A case in point: The Carthaginian empress Dido demands the withdrawal of intruding troops from territory surrounding its one remaining city, and threatens to attack with its “mighty army”.  When attacked by 20^th century level tanks and bombers, the “mighty army” turned out to be one Bronze Age phalanx.

The nuclear wars in Test of Time are unforgettable. An entire continent, covered in the gruesome cow skulls which indicate pollution, really does need some cleaning up.  If it’s a mutual exchange of nukes, two civilizations can be very effectively trashed. One memorable game required no less than 110 engineers to clean up the planet afterwards, and it took a decade of game time. Subs can carry nukes, too, and the naval wars can be long drawn out, difficult affairs.

Scoring in Test of Time is an interesting process. At the end of the game, you’re rated. Ratings vary from “So and so the Magnificent” to “So and so the Fool”. Top international scores range very widely, but a good score is 5000+ at Prince level. This game is more than addictive, it’s a game which really makes players play well to succeed.

Since the game was invented, many fans have introduced mods, and they’re worth trying out for the true fans. It’s the sort of game which you’d like to see in a 3D modelling format, even now.

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