I am not faint of heart nor am I unschooled in playing pc games - there was a time when I played Civ II so much I could barely get to work the next day.  This incarnation of the game looked and sounded fun so I bought it based on the raves I heard....  The graphics are fun, its nice to have everything in 3D but that is about the only upside to this game.
The things that I was looking forward to the most, new trade and diplomacy options, are a bust.  Trade is easier now but you just really cannot get anything useful out of it.  Trade does not function well.  You have to have a sea route or a land route to an AI country to trade with it.  Once there is a sea route you and the AI need harbors.  But the AI's don't build harbors for centuries, even when they can.  For a land route, you have to build a road. You can expect that the closest AI will also always be your enemy so good luck trading with them or though them (you can but you lose the route when you go to war with your neighbor. All the AI's almost always demand more than the trade is worth.  Then they are very happy to drop trading with you and trade amongst themselves, cutting the human player out totally.
Trade and diplomacy are inextricably linked now.  This gets to the biggest disappointment - diplomacy worked much better in Civ 2.  Diplomacy is a misnomer in this game.  AI's demand, you basically have to give in.  You ask and MAYBE can get what you want by giving up everything you have, only to have the AI become annoyed or furious with you anyway.  This is not because I do not know how to negotiate - I do it for a living, you just cannot get anything but a bad deal in this game.
So that leaves just waging war mostly. Here, the game has picked up one of the more unfortunatel traits of Civ 2.  The AI's do not have to build any city improvements BUT YOU DO TO KEEP YOUR PEOPLE HAPPY.  The upshot is that they have the time and the money to spend building armies that you MUST devote to building other things.  A few good tactical victories during the inevitable war usually gets the AI to the peace table but you have to start rebuilding everything destroyed from scratch wasting more time and money. The AI just goes back to building Wonders and military units and then blitzes you with dozens of units the next time around.  It becomes dull and repetitous.
I would have been happier if they had just taken Civ 2 and improved the graphics -  that would have been enough.  Instead they ruined the game.  Now, I am mostly just bored by Civ 3.
I am not faint of heart nor am I unschooled in playing pc games - there was a time when I played Civ II so much I could barely get to work the next day. This incarnation of the game looked and sounded fun so I bought it based on the raves I heard.... The graphics are fun, its nice to have everything in 3D but that is about the only upside to this game. The things that I was looking forward to the most, new trade and diplomacy options, are a bust. Trade is easier now but you just really cannot get anything useful out of it. Trade does not function well. You have to have a sea route or a land route to an AI country to trade with it. Once there is a sea route you and the AI need harbors. But the AI's don't build harbors for centuries, even when they can. For a land route, you have to build a road. You can expect that the closest AI will also always be your enemy so good luck trading with them or though them (you can but you lose the route when you go to war with your neighbor. All the AI's almost always demand more than the trade is worth. Then they are very happy to drop trading with you and trade amongst themselves, cutting the human player out totally. Trade and diplomacy are inextricably linked now. This gets to the biggest disappointment - diplomacy worked much better in Civ 2. Diplomacy is a misnomer in this game. AI's demand, you basically have to give in. You ask and MAYBE can get what you want by giving up everything you have, only to have the AI become annoyed or furious with you anyway. This is not because I do not know how to negotiate - I do it for a living, you just cannot get anything but a bad deal in this game. So that leaves just waging war mostly. Here, the game has picked up one of the more unfortunatel traits of Civ 2. The AI's do not have to build any city improvements BUT YOU DO TO KEEP YOUR PEOPLE HAPPY. The upshot is that they have the time and the money to spend building armies that you MUST devote to building other things. A few good tactical victories during the inevitable war usually gets the AI to the peace table but you have to start rebuilding everything destroyed from scratch wasting more time and money. The AI just goes back to building Wonders and military units and then blitzes you with dozens of units the next time around. It becomes dull and repetitous. I would have been happier if they had just taken Civ 2 and improved the graphics -  that would have been enough. Instead they ruined the game. Now, I am mostly just bored by Civ 3.