Just another opinion.

[nekom]

Got it today, and I'm nowhere near through my first game (I play Marathon games, always have, always will. ), but here's my initial take:

Download: I pre-ordered and didn't get back from work until about 5:00 Eastern time. Download was easy (direct2drive preorder which directed me to Steam's website), took less than an hour. I've got a 20MB connection on the worst of days, 30+ on the best, and their servers seemed to work fine.

Performance: No trouble whatsoever, however I have a rather high end system... that I bought TO PLAY THIS GAME! Well, I needed a new one anyway, but this was the tipping point. No crashes, graphics maxed out, this is on a quad core Intel 64 bit machine with 8GB ram and 1GB video ram. Absolutely no troubles, yet anyway.

Gameplay: Well... This is NOT Civ 4, which is a good thing in my mind. I did not want a rehash of 4, I already have 4. This is... VERY different. It will take some getting used to. I opted to choose a civ at random, and I'm Monty the 1st round. Barbarians seem to be a good source of gold, and this whole city state thing is VERY intriguing.

How long will I play tonight: Well I'm out of vacation days this year or I would have taken tomorrow off, but I might call off anyway.

My verdict: Even without finishing a game, I do not regret in any way, shape or form buying this game. Whether or not it will retain the same replay value as 4 (I bought 4 the day it came out, and played a game of it within the last few weeks. I can't say the same of any other game), but I'll be playing this one for awhile.

Can't wait for the patches, expansions, and... OH the mods! I give it nine thumbs up.

[CELTICEMPIRE]

I agree with this it is awesome im so glad they didnt mess it up like in Civ 4

[nekom]

Oh, but what IS the deal with rivers? Yeah they're going to need to fix THAT nasty business, that's my only major gripe.