Civ 5

[Cmdr. Zap]

Alright, so if you lads are wondering where the hell I've been lately, I'll tell ya. It's been a combo of the SAT, a full School schedule, and Civilization V. I'm here today to tell ya'll 'bout the latter.

 

I've played Civilization since Civ II when I was just a kid. In fact, that and Dark Forces were the main things I played when I was a kid. Thus, I'm a pretty avid Civ fan, and I was quite excited when I finally got my hands on Civ 5. That excitement was not misplaced. Civilization V is about the most different offering in the series so far, yet it manages to maintain the high level of complex yet enjoyable turn based empire building gameplay the series has always been known for.

 

First off, for those who've never played Civilization, here's a basic overview. In Civilization V you command a civilization, taking it from a single primitive city to a mighty empire using diplomacy, war, trade, imperial expansion, and scientific research to gain dominance over the other civilizations. It's a hex grid turn based strategy game, where you found cities, which can then be improved and expanded with buildings and can produce units to expand your empire. You can also select various societal options to customize your civ's system of government, and select technological research to keep your empire advancing. You'll need to keep your citizens happy and well fed, and your cities productive and protected from attack. You can win the game in a variety of ways, ranging from winning a science based race to build a starship, to simply crushing all other nations beneath the boots of your legions. Despite giving you a lot to do and quite a bit to keep track of, Civ 5 stays fun with a brilliant, streamlined, and effective interface. If you have even the remotest interest in strategy games, Civ 5 (and all the Civ series, for that matter) is definitely worth picking up.

 

The gameplay changes are striking right from the start for veteran Civ fans like me. Though much noise has been made about the switch to hex grids Civ 5 makes (which is a big difference, as it limits the movement directions more), the most important change is that unit stacking has been disallowed. Massive unit stacks of 40+ units have been THE way to win wars since the series began, and it fundamentally changes the way wars are fought. Wars between nations now consist of perhaps a dozen on each side, rather than the 40ish sizes that were regularly seen in older Civ games. Now, this might make it sound like war has been dulled down, but the opposite is actually true. The game makes up for the smaller unit size by making units harder to kill, meaning that each unit acts sort of like a stack in older games. Units are now far more valuable, and this makes individual combats much more dramatic, as well a slimming down the annoyance of having to move all those units in previous civ games. Still, I do find myself missing the old massive stacks of deadly units my empires once fielded, but it's a trade off I can accept. The other major change is the addition of City States, little one city civs who you can either squash flat and conquer, taking a hit to your relation with other civs, or you can ally with them, gaining some nice benefits that depend on the type of city state it was, but allying costs quite a bit o' gold.

 

The graphics have also gotten a dramatic overhaul, as has been the case with each new generation of civ games. The progression towards better terrain and water appearance the series has been making for years makes a nice move forward in Civ 5. The game also extends on Civ IV's graphical expansion of unit sizes, making infantry units often hold 10 or so animated soldiers. It's a nice touch, allowing the smaller unit numbers in Civ 5 to still look like badass armies. One of the best graphical improvements has been to the leaders of other nations, going from the kinda plastic-y looking animated heads of Civ IV to great looking full bodied characters, who move around and speak in their native tongues.

 

Now, Civ 5 isn't perfect, it does seem to have a nasty habit of CTDing on occasion, along with a few graphical bugs, but that might be related to my oldish vista computer. Also, it's still real new, so I'm expecting some patches. Another thing to note is that this game is tied to Steam. much like recent Total War offerings, which isn't a problem if your like me and love steam anyhow, but if you don't like steam this might be a big drawback.

 

All in all, I'd give Civ 5 a 9.0/10 it's a really great strategy game that's fun for newcomers and Civ veterans alike.

[D4Rk3lEmEnT]

it's more a 'expand-your-territory-while-exploring-the-world-and-terminating-your-opponents-with-a-bigger-cub-than-they-have'-game

[Falcon]

One question: is this game easily playable with 1 arm? (messed up my normal mouse hand and it isn't getting better ).

 

Good overview in this review. Planning on buying sometime soon.

[Cmdr. Zap]

One question: is this game easily playable with 1 arm? (messed up my normal mouse hand and it isn't getting better ).

 

Good overview in this review. Planning on buying sometime soon.

Yeah, this'd actually be a pretty good game for that. It's turn based, so you don't need to move fast, and everything can be done with just the mouse.

[Sharp]

Civs 5 IS awesome, im have decided im gonna do one of the "marathon" games with a few buddies

[PSPHaxZone]

great looking game, but I couldnt find it in stores in my town, but onces it arrives, im gettin it, I love the civ series

[NeVeR]

I have Civ IV. Pretty fun at first, soon gets boring. I haven't found CIV 5 but i would like to try it sometime