Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword

arguably the most customizable gameplay in any civ game. lots of attention to detail too, sometimes with stuff not even civ vi paid attention to.

Great game, still holds up in 2025. I play unmodded and it's fine, if you really are pressed about old ui, there are mods available.

Civ IV is one of the if not the best civ game there is. Its has a very complex and deep game loop that can keep you hooked for hours on end. It is definitely the best 'old school' civ game (as v+ have deviated from their roots).

fun, educational and engaging

I enjoy Civilization IV because it is a combination of enough complexity, the enjoyment of playing from 4000 BC until the modern era (keep in mind this is 2000's modern), and through mods, unit art and distinctiveness. I have yet to find another game that exceeds it in all these areas.

Civilization IV is the game I learned how to mod on and the number of mods for this game is staggering (look into the Civfanatics website). If you want to play the best iteration of the base game, look into the BUG Mod. If you're ready for the AI to be MUCH more capable without cheating, you can get Better BUG AI, which combines the two. Want the units to look more distinct based on each civilization, then BAT Mod adds that. Many of these mods can be combined, and how my circle plays is with my own derivative of Better BUG AI, with custom civilisations added for us, and many tweaks to gameplay. There is really a lot you can do just through simple XML editing to refine the game to your tastes.

Truly, I am not recommending just the game, but the modding community. It was a very welcoming, helpful and PROLIFIC community that has produced a true bounty of custom art, models, game mechanic tweaks, all free. Many of the modders have 'retired' from the community, as it is an old game, but the archive of discussions, step by step guides, and directly answered question threads can teach you how to do anything you want.

So if this sounds like a game you might enjoy, check it out, then if you'd like to really make it shine, check out the civfanatics website. I hope you find this helpful.

I hope Sid Meier won't do away with playing single civs like in Civ 7. Too similar to Human Kind. I would prefer Civ 8 to be more like Civ 4.

Best Civilization game with great mods & replayability.

As of 2025 it is still the only Civilization that matters, if you don't count Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

I finally understand why this is so critically acclaimed. Started playing this when Civ 7 dropped, have played Civ Rev (Console), 5 and 6 previously (and Test of Time as a kid).

There’s so much detail and charm in this game that the other Civ games just don’t have. There’s levels of detail and mechanics that I wish were in more modern Civ games - there’s really too many to list. I loved Civ 5 and 6 but I always felt like it was still lacking a few key parts that I assumed would come out in future DLCs/Editions.

If you love Civ or 4x games, you need to try this! Don’t let the old date fool you, this game still has so much to offer. I haven’t even gotten to the C2C mod yet which I also hear is a banger. I wish I had more than two thumbs to put up

As younger generations would say, this version of civ is goated af.

No one knows how to make Civ games anymore. This twenty year old game is THE REAL DEAL. And there are TREMENDOUS mods (like Realism Invictus).

No I will not accept open borders.

best civilization, simple to play

Is perfect classic game

This is my childhood nostalgia game

Great classic game. To this day one of the best in the series

Unironically, can someone please explain to me how you deal with the AI seemingly cheating in a million units and running death stacks at your city- while still enjoying the game?

The game is fun and stratigical

Great game. Tried newer ones, and this one is better.

very good game, my first version of civ Ive have played was the original civ 4 game. This just adds so much more to the game and very fun 10/10

Best iteration of Civ, the hours listed here do not reflect my total play time of this game, which is in the thousands of hours on the original dvd rom release.

Awesome mods great easy play style.

games stake a long time but you never get bored
winning in the game is very awesome
get this game if your considering
(still holds up today in everything but graphics)

Spyes, religion, really good improvment over Civ4 base game

An iconic and timeless CIV game. I used to watch my dad play CIV III and IV over 20 years ago, I ended up playing IV as one of my first strategy games. This game means a whole deal to me that I sung Baba Yetu with my Highschool choir class, it was quite a majestic experience that I will never forget. As for the game, I like that the UI is easy to get along with as it doesn't feel like your screen is clogged up with so many tooltips, the icons are easily distinguishable, and there aren't many buildings or objects in the game that overcrowd the world map (later CIV games are filled with so much stuff that it's hard to tell what's going on sometimes). The soundtrack is simply legendary (I cannot emphasize this enough) with the iconic Baba Yetu Prayer and the Civ leader themes which are super fun. The combat is simple but hilarious at times because of the insane doomstack units you can muster. It also contains many material for learning the background history behind leaders, empires, units, wonders, and technologies. Don't forget the memorable narration of Mr Spock himself, who will make the tech quotes embedded in your mind! And lastly, the mod support is IMMENSELY EXTRAORDINARY. You will find many great mods and scenarios engineered by some of the most creative minds of the CIV community. Some of my most favorite mods are the Road to War (An Interwar-WWII mod), Rhye's and Fall of Civilization, Dune Wars, and Caveman to Cosmos. Yes indeed, the mods can make the game more fun by 100x if you get bored of the vanilla game.
If you're considering on buying CIV IV as your first game, I say go for it! You will not be disappointed!
10/10

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword – A Beautiful, Merciless Mistress of Strategy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Somewhere around 3 AM, halfway through a cold pizza and my sixth "one more turn," I realized I was in deep. Too deep. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword had me by the throat, and I wasn’t even struggling. This was a game that didn’t just ask for your time—it demanded it. And like a fool, a willing fool, I gave it everything.

This isn’t some cutesy little time-killer. No, this is war in slow motion, a cerebral battle of empires fought in the trenches of diplomacy, espionage, and outright carnage. It’s a game where you’ll shake hands with Catherine the Great in 1500 BC, make a trade deal with her in 1600 AD, and then watch in horror as she burns your cities to the ground in 1750—because, surprise, she never really liked you.
The Crack-Laced Genius of Civilization IV

Beyond the Sword doesn’t hold your hand. It doesn’t coddle you. It throws you into the meat grinder of history and watches with glee as you try to claw your way out. The espionage system? A beautiful, backstabbing nightmare where spies slither through the shadows, poisoning wells and stealing technology like medieval cyberpunks. The corporations? Ruthless, capitalist engines of cultural annihilation, turning your proud civilization into a soulless McGlobalist wasteland in exchange for a few extra coins.

And the AI? Jesus Christ. If you thought you were smart, wait until you see what the computer does when it smells weakness. Montezuma doesn’t negotiate—he just decides you should die and then spends the next 300 years making that happen. Gandhi? That peaceful little bald bastard will be your best friend—until he’s not. Then he’s nuking your cities faster than you can say "ahimsa."

A Symphony of Chaos and Glory........

You don’t play Civilization IV—you survive it. Every game is a glorious, absurd, tragic epic. You’ll start as some nameless band of club-wielding savages and, if you’re lucky, crawl your way to the stars. But the journey? It’ll be paved with war, betrayal, and some of the most deliciously infuriating moments in gaming history.

You’ll rage. You’ll curse. You’ll stare at your monitor in disbelief as a civilization you barely remember meeting suddenly decides to wipe you off the map. And then, like a true addict, you’ll start a new game, convinced this time will be different.

It won’t.

But you’ll love every g#!@!##@@ second of it.

Final Verdict: A Masterpiece of Madness!

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword isn’t just an expansion—it’s a love letter to strategy masochists, a slow-burning descent into a world where power is fleeting, betrayal is inevitable, and every choice you make carries the weight of history itself.

So play it. Lose yourself in it. Let it consume your life for a few hundred hours. You’ll come out the other side a little more paranoid, a little more ruthless… and desperately craving just one more turn.

Best civilization game. Skip the rest this is the best!

Best of the Civ series... just one more turn.

Still the best Civ, or at least the best I've played, the final refinement of the classic Civ formula. An interesting aspect of it is that Civ 4 is a toybox: my 800 hours, over almost 20 years, aren't all grinding away at the same basic loop, but represent everything from classic Civ to _Master of Orion_-style space games to RPG-ish fantasy to tower defense. Plus that one scenario set in Russia in the 1990s that would be amazing, if only the unaligned cities weren't acting together as if they were a single faction...

Civilization IV is honestly the greatest civilization to exist out of all of them. I only stopped playing it because I felt like I had to play the newer CIV versions.

BtS expansion without a doubt is how Sid Meier originally conceptualized and is his Magnum Opus. Doom Stacks, Leonard Nimoy technology discovery narration, baba freaking yetu is the CIV IV theme song!!!!!!! So much customization in this game makes the newer versions feel so empty and lackluster. Religion was actually cool in this game and could cause world wars and defined friendships. In the newer CIVs that literally would never happen. The only thing I really liked from the newer Civs is the better AI, district planning, hex tiles, and city states. This game also had the vassalage and capitulation options like where the hell did that go in the newer ones that is one of my favorite features in this game. The graphics in this game are kinda aged but at least it doesn't feel like an 8 bit game and is good enough for 2025.

If you think any other CIV could possibly be better then YOUR HEAD WOULD LOOK GOOD ON A POLE!!! >:3

Probably the best civ game to this day, extremely moddable, and the last game to have stacks of doom. It's a little old now, but it's still recent enough to have ui that's better than civ 7...

The perfect game playing as yourself and crushing capitalist pigs beneath your feet. Would crush Imperialistic American over and over again

better than 7... from what i can tell so far.
if you wanted to have nations swap every era base them off of the overall region and let you customize your bonuses as such. but guess what? that isn't civ!

lots of cities, lots of monuments,----no national wonders,,,,beware of the stacking of troops......fun vinatge game

This game has been a lot of fun for me over the years. Mods added, it always changes dynamics and strategy and the whotnot.

The epic mods. I've casually played this game since it came out and now I have over 1,000 hours on it.

Ive played Civ since the Civ 2 on PS1. Got all the ones up to Civ 6 and, imho, Civ 4 is the best.

The last great game of Civ.

Best civ game there ever was

Every games different, Load a Mod, Select parameters and go.
Strategise, Conquer, be challenged and just enjoy it, I do, that's why I've done over 4500 hours

its great and fun

One of the classics. I think this was the best version of Civ they created.

Playability / Enjoyment 8/10
Graphics / Sound 5/10
Woke / ESG score 0/10
Story / Writing 3/10
Replayability 8/10

This introduced a huge overhaul to the graphics and gameplay. The graphics were improved significantly and new game play mechanics added (although some like espionage were implemented poorly). You actually see the World Wonders being built which I enjoyed and the new civics were good but not great. The main issue with this game is the notifications on the other civ actions, that appear and disappear at the top of the screen meaning they are very easy to miss. Another smaller issue is that the processing time between turns increased fairly significantly since Civ3. Overall this is a huge improvement on Civ 3 and highly recommended.

I played this game mostly by myself. No one ever wanted to play with me, but I bet it would be a lot of fun playing multiplayer for many days in a row.

1000's if not 10's of 1000's of hours playing multiplayer, Love this game

is reel good

Combined with the astonishingly good mod "Realism Invictus", this is by far the best Civilization to this day.

Civilization 4 is a Amazing Turn based Strategy game! Not as great as Civilization 5 BUT still my second favorite Civilization game! I spent many weekends playing hotseat games with my Friends. I recommend trying a MAX Opponent game on the smallest world size! This makes it where the place you spawn in at is where your only city will be since the world is instantly filled. So the only way to gain new cities is to either overwhelm your rivals by force IF you're lucky enough to have iron or copper in your city or by overshadowing them via culture. This way of playing makes every aspect of the game more thought provoking since you're limited with the one city but so are your opponents! On normal difficulty and Fast speed games take typically around 24 hours to complete!

No offense to the later games but I like squares over hexagons and I love my death stacks. Removal of unit stacking imo made defense and offense to one dimensional.

fun