As strategy games go, you'd be hard pushed to find a more venerable dynasty than Sid Meier's Civilisation series. First appearing on PCs running MS DOS back in 1991, the original recruited a legion of strategy fans, with many becoming lifelong fans of the genre. Subsequent iterations elaborated on the theme of nurturing a people through ever more complex technology trees on the path to world domination.They certainly take their time with Civ games, with the gap between the release of Civ II and III standing at five years. Now, another four years or so on, Sid Meier and his indomitable Firaxis team have returned to offer you another chance to grab your tribe's destiny with two immortal hands. Civilization IV is here.In the turn based strategy to end all turn based strategy, choose from one of 18 tribes. Each of the tribes has its own characteristics, with some exhibiting peaceful tendencies, while others are veritable warmongers. Start off scratching at the dirt with sticks and stones and advance headlong towards mastery of terrifying modern weapons like H-bombs, helicopters and aircraft carriers, proceeding of course via bows and arrows, swords, muskets and warships. The AI of the civilizations you're up against has been improved and sped up, and as the game progresses you'll come up against some of history's most famous rulers. Boring micromanagement has been minimised to make the game more exciting, but you'll still uncover a wealth of subtlety. Not only can you expand by use of force, as ever you'll be able to use diplomacy and a web of alliances to safeguard your interests. You'll also have more control over your country's religion and form of government than ever before.The adventurous among you can customise the game to your heart's content, with modding tools included that enable you to design your own maps, units, scenarios and tribes. Also thrown in is a ton of multiplayer options, so you can prove your strategic supremacy over your peers on you own terms. So well known that the buzz surrounding its release extends far beyond the gaming fraternity, Civ is back to stake its claim.