4X

    4X is not an especially dirty movie, but maybe I'll get more hits for mentioning the possibility. 4X is a type of video game named for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. Civilization is generally considered a pioneer of the genre. My problem, of course, is that I only really like the first two Xs. The last one I try to avoid entirely, but that isn't because of my high moral fiber. In Civilization at least, you can get pretty tired of your jet fighters being brought down by bowmen. I'd just as well avoid the whole thing.
    Beyond the Sword continues to be big fun, but I think where Civilization IV (and III) differ from the first two is that you could do everything and win big in the early versions. Here, there's just too damned much to do and trying to do everything just gets you bogged down. I read some reviews. It's funny that where I, as a player looking for a lollipop game, found Beyond the Sword easier than just plain Civ IV, the serious god-setting gamers found it more challenging. I suppose this makes everyone happy.
    Some of the new features are just weird. There's an Apostolic Palace that's supposed to serve as a medieval UN, but I never got the chance to offer any resolutions with it. Apparently, it's only useful in specific situations that I didn't happen to meet. And the corporations might be cool and might be annoying (reviewers seemed to think the latter) but I haven't been able to found any, so I don't know. Lots and lots of stuff in this game; someday maybe I'll see it all. Or maybe I'll find a nice 2X game and be able to suck my thumb in peace.