Sid Meier is a true artist in the realm of software, but with each new addition to the Civilization family the games become more oriented toward conflict and less fun to play. In AC the Believers will appear on your  borders within the first 50 turns and you will never really be at peace  again. Forget about the fun of managing a nation: this is a non-stop  Darwinian struggle to keep your head above water. (Some players might like  this, but I find it tedious.) There's no point in trying to negotiate with  other factions because they'll just turn right around and violate your  territory or declare war. Then after you have spent decades trying to build  up your industry, when your output reaches a certain level the planet  itself will being to attack you with an inexhaustible supply of mindworms.  *Every* game of AC is a race to achieve the victory conditions before the  planet itself defeats you, and there's not much sense of satisfaction in  that. Add to this the fact that the game runs unbearably slowly. You will  spend more time watching units go plod-plod-plod across the screen than you  will playing. I really wanted to like this game, but after a while its  defeatist atmosphere and tedious play just got too wearisome. Let's hope  that in his next game Side remembers that growing an empire is more fun and  challenging than beating one.