Hmmm, It is good on the surface. I've only played enough to get my hands wet so I'm looking to play more before I make up my mind. It is definately better than Civ3. The changes they made by building it from scratch hae also meant that there is some real gameplay changes (unhappyness doesnt create revolts, tedious micromanagement has given way to more of the fun stuff) Overall Its pretty good. I only have it cause I picked up a copy on eBay for $20.