I tried the demo. The opening movie said a lot to me. Old white male dreaming about his "peoples". Sounds like a genetic experiment. I see combat as better. The game is even more simplified(good and bad), and better jazzed up graphics.
The game is just a continuation of the civ series. Nothing wrong with staying on the type of thought and be successful at selling a game. I mean does any other game allow you to play from a different viewpoint of history? Not really. Just another game though to me.
The game has to sell to a crowd of people who I just disagree with I guess. Just like the MMO crowd I am not that interested in playing a game to repeat things over and over that is usually focused on kill this or that.
This just takes some stance of somehow there is some culture that pervades through the entire history of time. You pass it down through the genetic offspring with the knowledge. That is what the majority of society believes in. I am hoping I guess for a title that is more focused on how technology improved different regions of the world, and so how unique these are as in how just "corn"(Maize) effected the globe in the long run. I am looking for the simple steps not just to jump a thousand years in time. For example the Water mill.(which I thought I got way too early in the game)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermill#History
Oh here is Damascus Steel since many people are not aware of what I am talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus_steel
I would rather have more details on how small advances shaped history more so then to hurry to get a unit and then claim this is all abstractly represented. I mean at this point Greek Democracy and the modern version are abstractly the same.
When I say compromise for the sake of balance I mean balance so much and simplification that there is nothing but flashy buttons to click now in race to get the next tier of units. Why does everyone need to get a unit on one particular tech? Why could there not be more in between steps?
I know why because that would be too distracting to the majority of players. While I find it annoying the level of abstraction. That does not mean I am correct in my view to market the game. You must have a base to sell the game to. I am just not part of that base.
I may be wrong but I am guessing the base is.....Color of skin "white"..Gender "male"...Education"varies from PhD to Junior High"...Occupation"Not a history or anthropology teacher"....Nationality"Only one from some industrial country"...plus most have only ever lived in one country.
I am saying this is the norm. I am sure there are some that do not follow this description. So it is an introduction to history in an abstract form. Made in America so it has the viewpoint of Americans on history.
For example the stupid Native American civ really says a lot. I mean the name is only found in America I believe, but it is true many modern Native Americans have a pan-USA movement linking themselves together as one group.
Anyway I did not say that Eurocentric is the worse thing on this planet. It is hard to explain to people though when all they see is the same old same old that the rest of the world does not function the same exact way. So it is hard for people to know what is different so that they know what is Eurocentric.
Any theory that starts with the assumption that Europe is superior has already made a judgment that is not agreed to by the entire planet. I mean it is like debating about God's people. You must assume God exists before you open a discussion.
Small footnote on other cultures around the world is the same that could really be said for Europe if looking at the entire 6000 years portrayed in the game. Imagine playing China and having the gun by the 12 century, and then deciding to wage war versus dismantling later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_firearms
There are plenty of things that have came much earlier or later in history that are presented in time sense of when Europeans got it. The rest of the world does not matter in time sense. Yes Europeans built improvements on earlier technology is some cases but I don't think gun just should begin when the Europeans finally used it.
It is funny though with the Americas. There are small things employed in diet of most Europeans and they tend to think that it is unimportant. These changes drastically effected how much food was produced. Germany would not be what it is without the potato. The potato helped in the production of pork of individual farms which led to higher yields in smaller areas. Just one example. Everything that people usually found that was brought from somewhere else has very useful reason of it being used. I mean what would be Italian culture without the Tomato?
Every culture practices what they think is norm and everyone else is different. Humans have not gotten past that, and whatever is fed to them in the form of information is what they perceive as the truth. So the game is only an abstract representation of modern views on the world coming out of America. Would you rather have the view from China? I doubt it.
If anyone is interested in modding the game to give it some more detail in relation to technological advancement, and playing cultures that existed for a period of time versus 6000 years...well click my signature links. If you don't care and are reading this you will probably will be happy with less knowledge more get straight into the action of the game. Have fun
My point is not to insult. It is a hope to find other people who want to add some details to an abstract of an abstract of an abstract of a game. And don't please tell me to play Game A or Game B to get more detail on Europe with more oriented combat and diplomacy. I am looking for a game that shows technology improvement and culture diversity around the world for the last 6000 years. Cultural diversity does not mean dropping in just a civ to represent the aka "primitive" society of some group we can not pronounce. It means showing the other three fourths of world technolgical history.
Again have fun
. I am not the majority. I do not claim to be righteous. I do claim though this is Eurocentric and falls in line with most of the games that would come out of America. Not bad in this relationship. Just another game in a pile of others. The only exception to the game is how far the game can be modded. I am going to duck now for all of replies on you are a troll because you do not love the game.