So. Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

I’ve messed around with it before, but I was never able to give it the full amount of attention it really deserved. Partially because it liked to crash at inopportune moments (guess that’s what happens when you’re playing a 12 year old game, though), and partially because there always seemed to be other games that were competing for my attention. So all my attempts at the game mostly involved me derping around and never getting to finish an entire game because it would crash or I’d get distracted or something. Recently, though, inspired partially by a pretty neat Civ IV mod called Planetfall, I actually sat down and played an entire game and allowed myself to be swept up in the story and the atmosphere.

Oh

My

WORD

It’s like, if you threw Civilization, some of the best quotes I’ve ever heard in my life, and this insanely great science fiction story into a blender and then spiked it with the most addictive drug you can think of, you’d get SMAC.

I DON’T EVEN KNOW

Guys. Just. Okay. First, I’m going to talk about the characters. They get mad. Easily. A lot easier than they do in, say, Civ IV. They’ll come after you if you so much as look at them funny, unless you manage to appease them with a tech or something, and who wants to do that?

So you’re fighting a lot.

While you’re doing this, you’re also trying to deal with the native life on Planet. Which is incredibly deadly and has this backstory that will send chills up your spine.

Then, Planet starts talking to you.

(Planet is basically GLaDoS before GLaDoS existed, by the way. In that Planet has this bizarre and thoroughly great way of talking and says things that will make you giggle for minutes.)

So you’re trying to figure out this mystery, and you’re still fighting this war and trying to manage your bases and trying to tech and trying to deal with the native life (although you can start using the native life to your advantage if you get on good terms with Planet), and then spoilers happen and more spoilers happen and pretty soon you’re on your way to transcending mere mortal humanity.

Sounds pretty great, right?

Except by this point, if you aren’t careful, you’ve got even MORE on your plate to deal with. Like your own people rioting because you didn’t manage them correctly. Like your enemies flinging around missiles that actually permanently destroy portions of the map. Like rising oceans that will wipe out your carefully tended bases without a single warning. Like everyone racing you to become one with Planet.

I DON’T EVEN KNOW

Has a video game ever been so tense? Has a pile of pixels on a screen ever made me grip my chair so hard? I don’t think so.

This game is far, far more obscure than it should be.

And I think it’s my new favorite. And I haven’t had a new favorite video game in at least a decade. Not because I’m stubborn. But because this is the first game I’ve played in ten years that hasn’t made me add “It’s almost as great as…” under my breath after my accolades. Games like Starcraft or Ocarina of Time were my favorites for years because, back then, they blew my mind on multiple levels and set a whole new bar for what video games could do. SMAC has done that again. I’m just disappointed that I didn’t figure this out, I dunno, in 1999 like I should have. Better late than never though, right?

Also, if Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds haven’t been promoted to godhood yet then I don’t know WHAT is going on.