Haven't we been here before? Civilization gets yet another overhaul to keep us interested in next year's Civ III.
Steve Owen

It's been the year of the Civ remake, it seems. While 1999 may have lacked a true sequel, turn-based strategy has already proved popular. Judging by the reasonable successes of Sid Meier's own unofficial sequel, Alpha Centauri, and Activision's rethink in Civilization: Call to Power, hopes are high for Civilization II: Test of Time, an official expansion of the original game from MicroProse.

Well, sorry to disappoint you, because as an expansion it's pretty rubbish. The score at the end (don't spoil it by looking now) is almost entirely constructed from the joys of the original game, with points taken off because Test of Time's new bits are so dog rough. The problem is that while the original is a classic, it's looking old now. The in-game graphics are acceptable because, well, this is a turn-based strategy game after all, but what's unforgivable is that the introductory screens and menu system are so archaic. Test of Time is nothing more than a sordid collection of add-ons and minor adjustments, rather than the rewrite that it so desperately needs to be.

The original game is still buried within Test of Time (Test of Patience, more like), but you can now opt for an extended ending or for futuristic and medieval alternatives. The original game looks virtually identical but for some amateurish animations, while the new concepts are appallingly illustrated. Ugly tiles require constant referral to the help system to remind you as to their purpose, while fantasy creatures lumber like cripples to demonstrate the "all new animations".