Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years Amazon Minimum Age: 60 months Binding: CD-ROM Brand: Electronic Arts EAN: 0014633140583 ESRB Age Rating: Everyone Format: CD-ROM Label: Electronic Arts Manufacturer: Electronic Arts Model: 14058 Publisher: Electronic Arts Sales Rank: 16331 Studio: Electronic Arts
Amazon.com Review: Electronic Arts' Alien Crossfire--created by legendary designer Sid Meier, maker of such landmark games as Civilization and Pirates!--is the official add-on pack for a brilliant turn-based strategy game,Alpha Centauri. The pack expands on the original game by adding seven factions, new facilities, additional secret projects, and new branches to the elaborate technology tree. Fans also receive many new enhancements to Alpha Centauri, including play-by-email mutiplayer mode, hotseat multiplayer mode, and numerous tweaks to the interface and unit properties. Alien Crossfire's new factions include cyborgs, drones, pirates, and two sets of alien societies. Factions are balanced by a set of predetermined statistics and characteristics, such as bonuses for particular government and production styles.
Game play means creating and maintaining a flourishing society on a hostile alien world. Players must juggle dozens of civilization settings--such as government style, unit production, and pollution prevention--and discover the best means of conquering enemies through a powerful economy, research and development, or military conquest. Alternatively, players and computer-controlled factions can become allies instead of enemies and trade technologies and unit designs to further bolster scientific advancements and economy.
With an exciting new story line, dozens of enhancements, and tried-and-true game play that adds hours of life to the original game, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire is a must-have expansion pack for Alpha Centauri fans. Remember that you'll need Alpha Centauri in order to play and enjoy Alien Crossfire. --Doug Radcliffe
Amazon.com Product Description: It is a time of upheaval on the planet. As five new factions fight for recognition, Alpha Centauri's original inhabitants return to do battle above the skies of humanity's new home. As the survivors of the alien civil war fall to the surface, the factions of humanity struggle with the implications of their impending arrival. Will the humans band together to overcome the alien threat? Or will diplomacy prove more effective in dealing with the invaders?
Double the gameplay of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri in the Official Expansion Pack, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire. With seven new playable factions, a host of new gameplay additions, and a custom faction editor, this is a must have add-on for every Alpha Centauri fan.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Expansion is a rip off;
The game is fun to play and the graphic change is tremendous improvement over the original Alpha Centauri;
However the time it took to change a few graphics and one or two game points is so little; I was hardly worth buying originally; this is why so few people bought it and why its value is higher;
I like the improvements to the interface and story line the alien crossfire yields; but it is weak as far as an improvement; however I'll probably keep my copy.
The two alien race factions Manifold Caretakers and the Manifold Usurpers and the terraforming icons for these factions is pure genius and artistically great; my favorite faction is the Nautalis Pirates;
And the fungal tower is a refreshing improvement to the creatures of Alpha Centauri;
Rating: - Still fun after all these years!
I was one of the beta testers on SMAC and SMACX and sank far more hours into it than I'd ever want to admit to. Burned out, immediately after the retail release I set it aside for a couple months but came back to it and never left. I've probably spent more time with SMAC/SMACX than any other game and I'm still playing. Why? Because it's truly a classic piece of work--a story within a game and a game within a story. I know of no other game in the genre that is quite like it. And guessing at the amount time, effort and money that went it making SMAC, I don't expect to see another one like it either. If you're a fan of the TBS genre, then for that reason alone you should have a copy of this--its a reminder of just what can be done by a talented, dedicated crew of artists working in pixels and code.
If you've not experiened this game, then there is really only one question you need to answer to know if you should get it: do you like turn-based strategy games? If so, then you need to try this one. A few people are put off by the Science Fiction setting but unless that's a fatal flaw for you then find a copy of this and enjoy. Some things you need to know:
* This game isn't new so don't expect state-of-the art graphics and eye-candy. However, the graphics hold up pretty well tho' and they serve the purpose extremely well.
* Yes, it will play on the latest machines running WinXP. At least it does on machines I've tried running P4 processors and Win2000, WinXp Home and WinXP Pro. There are a couple of tweaks you may or may not need available to make it fully compatible and with a P4 processor the game will warn you that 'your CPU isn't supported' but it plays just fine.
* Don't rush through this one. Play the game like you're reading a really good novel--read everything, look at stuff, watch the cut scene videos, etc. There's an incredible amount of 'back story' for the game and its easy to miss just how rich it is.
There aren't many things, much less games, that can be called unique but I think SMAC/SMACX is one of them.
Rating: - Even with it's flaws it's a great expansion!
Alpha Centauri is such an absorbing game that completely outpaces anything similar that has come out over the last 12 years. The Alien Crossfire expansion adds enough to the game that it surely is worth owning and using. Be sure to get the patch though as the game has a lot of bugs!
The new human factions (Pirates, Drones, Consciousness, Planet Cult, and Datatechs) are fantastic fun! The alien factions are overpowered, irritating, and suck the life out of the game in my opinion. Fortunately you can play without them. Too bad you can only have seven factions max in a game as playing with the 12 human factions would be incredible fun!
The new planetary features are worth having for sure. The Manifold Nexus is mysterious and worth fighting over. The crash site of the Unity spaceship has lots of goodies to dig up, and the borehole fields are nice to build near.
The new technologies add a lot of excitement to the game along with new base installations like the Aquafarm which gives you more food from kelp farms or the Flechette missile defense which gives you better defense from missile attacks. Brood pits make even bigger and more dangerous mind worms, spore launchers, sealurks, and isles of the deep. New Technologies like marine detatchments can be added to ships so you can board and capture enemy ships! Four new secret projects are also made available: Planetary Energy Grid (energy bank in every base - nice!), Cloudbase Academy (air complex in every base - definitely the most valuable secret project!), the Nethack Terminus (probe team bonus - yawn!), and the Manifold Harmonics (nice for extra food and energy but the game is almost over!).
Once you play with the new factions and buildings, it's doubtful you'd go back to playing just the original as much if at all.
Rating: - It took me forever to find this
This is one of those, 'don't ask us about' it addons. Seems the owner and a head developer when seperate ways. If you really only want to play the game and are not stuck on collecting it, or the box artwork, do a search for 'The Laptop Collection', and just buy the thing for 19.99 along with Alpha Centauri and like 2 other games. If you need to show the box to your friends, or want to resell it on e-bay, you'd better buy it used for like $75 to $125 here. Whatever you need. Cool game. Next time I won't wait so long to get what I wanted. Collectors glut just about ruined getting a hold of this one. Barely made it. Notice, I don't need the pretty box. :)
Rating: - Great!
If you manage to get your hands on a copy of this, hold onto it as strong as you can! It was discontinued maybe five years back, but it still holds strong with nowadays games. Alien Crossfire gives you a larger diversity in factions, along with the ability to make your own. The only downside is it sells for $$ or more. The new units and technologies, not to mention factions, are great!
- Expansion is a rip off;
- Still fun after all these years!
