That’s a long story involving sales of rights. Regardless, Activision won part of the battle and has released Civilization: Call to Power, a game that is both engrossing and frustrating.

Much of what’s here is familiar to Civ veterans. The player is, simply enough, placed in charge of a fledgling culture at the dawn of civilization and must grow to power, ultimately conquering the world or heading to the stars. All of the basics are familiar, and anyone who’s played Civilization before should be able to jump right in.

Okay, well maybe after skimming the manual. There are a lot of changes here.

For one, settlers are only used to build cities. Terraforming and improving the land around those cities now relies on a much more logical — and satisfying — system called "public works." Basically, a certain portion of each city’s production is put into a separate pool that can be used to build farms, roads, mines, fisheries and all manner of other landscape improvements. Be patient with this feature; it takes a lot of getting used to, but really pays off later in the game.

Trade is also improved. Instead of sending caravans across the country, a city builds a caravan (yes, it’s a camel even into the future) and is then allowed to trade wares on the open market. That’s all done via a separate window; the player sets up a deal and waits for another civilization to take it, or just trades items domestically between cities.

The oceanic depths and upper atmosphere can now be colonized. A whole range of new improvements helps these cities develop.

All of the changes drastically affect strategy. Civ vets, throw out every easy way to win you thought you knew. Enemy cities can no longer be purchased, which was my favorite tactic; instead, they revolt and form another civilization unto themselves. All of the Wonders have changed, and the lack of a Leonardo’s Workshop (which automatically upgraded units) is a huge problem (see below).

The new pieces are deviously nice. Units like televangelists and corporate franchises can drain portions of enemy gold or production and transfer it to the player’s civilization. Later units can drop from space onto unsuspecting enemy cities. Eco-terrorists and Infectors wreak havoc on enemy landscapes. A quick read through the manual should be enough to help players get a sense of what they’ll have to do to win.

And now… the problems.

Unfortunately, they range from nitpicks to full-blown head-scratchers that made me quit the game in frustration. And there are so many that even folks like me who are now totally addicted have to say, "Okay, breathe deeply and remember the good parts."

For instance, all caravans are camels. And all workers in the city resources screen are farmers — even when they’re floating in the atmosphere or under the sea.

More serious problems abound. Especially on the easier levels, the player’s civilization advances at an astronomical rate. That means most Wonders and units will be made obsolete before the player ever even has a chance to give them a try. A good fix here would’ve been Leo’s Workshop from Civ II, which automatically upgraded units. Yet I’ve found nothing of the sort.

Combat is ludicrous. It was made so with the best intentions in mind: Where past Civilization games let even stacked units fight one-on-one, CTP pools their ratings. Yet there’s some balance missing. When a tiny band of enemy phalanxes and samurai brought down my stealth bomber, I sat and stared at the screen in disbelief. It happened again moments later, when just as small a band of ancient warriors was able to destroy a War Walker (a giant mecha-artillery robot) while defending their city.

Sure, the player learns fast to create groups of attackers and defenders after a few such losses. But, come on, how would men with swords utterly destroy a stealth bomber? Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

Roads and railroads no longer seem to enhance production or trade, but only move pieces from place to place more quickly.

Technology advances are no longer explained except through the Great Library, a pop-up window that gives the story behind the innovations. At least, I can’t find an automatic-inform option. Yes, that got old fast in the previous games, but for this one and all of its new features it’s absolutely essential during the first few plays.

Again, Call to Power is seriously flawed, but it’s seriously addictive. It lets the player step back and say "Huh?" one too many times to be ranked among the absolute greats, but it certainly deserves accolades for find the ways it did to improve a classic.