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Sid Meier's Colonization
Crazy One-Shot #3
Type of Game
Simulation with a problematic name, a slightly watered-down concept, and still quite difficult to explain without disrespecting certain civilizations. But very cool otherwise!
Release date on our machines
1994 on DOS (nobody in the world knows the month, except perhaps Sid Meier himself), May 1995 on Windows.
Developer
MPS Labs, roughly MicroProse Software Labs, roughly the development division of MicroProse.
éDITEUR
MicroProse Software, Inc. Roughly which oversees games from MicroProse Software Labs, i.e. roughly from MPS Labs.
Before 1995, when a “modern” PC arrived at home, the only similar machine I had access to was in my cousin Walter the gamer's bedroom. I'm not counting my father's 486, which couldn't run anything better than Lemmings or Scorched Earth. Walter would talk to me about floppy disks and CD-ROMs, and I'd reply: “Well, how do they compare with Mega Drive cartridges? In terms of progress and potential fun?” I think he was taking a little pride in showing me games I hadn't even imagined in my wildest dreams. Wing Commander III, the first Doom, Heretic, but also Colonization, which left an indelible imprint on the memory part of my brain. I nurtured a boundless fascination for this management game that seemed to me to revolutionize the whole world (but especially pre-Columbian America). I immediately promised myself that I'd buy it one day, although of course I never actually did. And with a name like that, you can imagine that this title has probably aged very poorly. Let's find out.
The future of the past of the obsolete future
A Fake Civilization II
So, yes, Colonization is the first sequel to Civilization, the ultimate reference in management games imagined by the mythical Sid Meier. Well, the real Civ II would arrive two years later, and it would smear my face with even more chocolate-nostalgia spread. Here, we're offered a choice of four nations (France, the Netherlands, Spain or the United Kingdom) in 1492; no doubt a pure coincidence, this date huhuhuhuhu. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, and serves more than just to flatter the egos of the citizens living in the countries mentioned. Or not, whatever. I note that the ultimate goal doesn't require us to smash the skulls of every native population we come across, but to build colonies prosperous enough to declare our independence from the crown. Good news: the slaughter of the Indians will come later, but not in this game.
We can do that, but it won't earn us the victory. We can also choose to ally ourselves with as many tribes as possible and destroy the other colonial nations, or mix and match with invaders and invaded to varying degrees, depending on our desires and political affinities. Of course, whichever way you choose, you'll either come across as an ugly imperialist butchering natives, or as a cleaner, but erroneous, image of the White conquerors of the time. Let's face it, this raises a whole host of ethical concerns, but hey, I was ten years old and I couldn't even squash an ant. So that aspect of the game I didn't exploit at all, so to speak. HAHA! Exploited! Like... Oh well. Stop. No. Not funny at all.
From my innocent, privileged Westerner's point of view, I just loved pampering my trading posts and villages, making them grow by equipping them with specialized buildings, while avoiding conflicts as much as possible. It's bad enough that I turn into an eel when I have to take part in a real-life dispute, but it becomes even worse in a management game! And yet, in Colonization, you end up having no choice but to come to blows, at least once or twice. With all the diplomatic entanglements between the three other expansionist powers and the eight native clans, there's enough to get mixed up over a too-thin bale of straw, stabbed in the back over a badly tanned animal skin, and suffer the most infamous of plots if you sneeze a little too hard.
Especially when our regent interferes, telling us to strike a blow at this or that other protagonist, or else he himself will take it out on us. In any case, as time goes by, he just grumbles more and more, until we find ourselves unbearably subjected to his rule. And then we have to put up with his armies again when we declare our independence, offended as he is. So I prefer to see my cute colonies grow, even if it means wiping out a herd of reindeer and a thousand acres of primeval forest in the process. And what about trade? Oooh trade, with its dozens of resources to buy or sell, but also to transform into higher value-added products.
The premises of a highly addictive mechanic that made Anno a success, for example. Here's a game that knows how to do empire expansion without denigrating anyone. Unless... no, not really. Does it? Moving on to the atmosphere, what does that say? Seeing the graphics again today has made me lose the goofy grin I was wearing when I started writing the article. I remember falling in love with the game's pixel art back then, raving about the details our settlers discovered as they trampled Apache or Inca lands. Well, I don't think I'm going overboard by asking for a little more finesse here!
I can only think of Theme Park, which offered even worse at the same time. But I prefer focusing on the enchantment that gripped me when I discovered this highly original depiction of the New World as a child. So many wonders swarmed across the screen, I could see animals frolicking, gold coins glinting, encampments being built, diplomats being gutted, and whole towns burning... so much magic at work to make little kids dream. Kids living in one of the four playable nations, anyway. Fortunately, I was one of them.
Can do Better
Jeff Briggs, along with two or three other colleagues, brought Colonization's melodies to life. I remember his work on Civilization II pretty well; I really liked it. This time around, I'm having a little more trouble getting into the swing of things, especially on the military and happy tracks (which make up three quarters of the soundtrack); where you send colonists to pacify the savages of the new world, what a blast, my imperialist brother! In Civ II, Jean-François (Jeff surely means Jean-François, doesn't it?) offered us compositions inspired by various regions of the world, such as Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt. And while I expected less diversity from its predecessor, as well as sound quality that was a notch lower, I was still hoping for a little more. Especially since the vast majority of tracks are played for less than a minute and a half. Then again, MIDI files may not be enough to capture the “native American” vibes of the few tracks that could possibly be associated with the respective populations. And then, the album's three not too perky tunes make up for everything else, in the end. I would have loved and cherished them like the most nostalgic videogame tunes of my childhood (Castle of Illusion, Secret of Mana, you've got competition!).
Colonization (PC) - Bonny Morn
00:00 / 02:43
Not so terrible? Oh yes
Alright, even today, I understand why I drooled so much over Colonization. Leaving aside everything that's wrong with it, it's still a good little management game. And back in 1994, I wouldn't have minded killing pre-Columbians (as long as it was in a virtual setting, of course). Fortunately, neither would I have minded killing White settlers.
I mean, I couldn't see any difference between shooting Soviets in Red Alert, mosquitoes in Rayman or demons in Mystic Defender. Am I sinking deeper and deeper? Okay, I'll drop the justifications. There's no doubt that the Mega Drive would have been gathering dust a year earlier, if daddy-in-law had bought a computer sooner. But all things considered, I prefer the way my video game experience has turned out, at least on this point. If I'd succumbed to Colonization, Heroes II would have seemed less resourceful, Master of Orion II's planets would have seemed bland, and I'd have loved the Civilization franchise even more. Incidentally, I've learned that Civ IV, released in 2008, is none other than the remake of Colonization. 2008, that's starting to look more embarrassing for a game that puts us in the shoes of the “great conquerors of the New World”, isn't it? Yeah, I think I'll stay away from that one.
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