Beefjack review (7/10)

[stannis]

Beefjack are not quite as positive as others about G&K, but like most, they think it's a fairly worthwhile addition to the Civ 5 experience.

With this fact in mind Gods & Kings redeems itself from being a wholly lacking expansion compared to it’s predecessors and instead merely shifts the focus. The inclusion of the new civilizations is welcomed, as is the improved religious system. The added scenarios and mod support almost make up for the disappointing feature elsewhere. It seems a real shame that the once excellent espionage mechanics are now something that fans will barely recognise and fail to add much to the game itself. If it had lived up to the previous versions then Gods and Kings would be a great expansion. As it stands, however, Gods and Kings is difficult to wholeheartedly recommend with the rather steep £19.99 price tag.

 

[Cicero63]

I find it interesting that he called the old espionage "excellent", it really seems some reviewers don't like the menu screens

 

[bonafide11]

Why are so many people complaining about the price? Isn't $30 pretty standard for an expansion pack? I'd much rather reviews focus on the game itself and what changes work and what don't than review the price for us. We can figure out the price for ourselves pretty easily.

 

[Ashbery76]

People are now comparing DLC prices to expansion packs.

 

[dexters]

I find it interesting that he called the old espionage "excellent", it really seems some reviewers don't like the menu screens

Subjective claims aside, he also seems to completely ignore that espionage was menu driven in civ3.

The espionage thing seems to really divide the community. When it was menu driven in Civ3 there were always complaints of wanting the spy units.

When they put the units in Civ4, people didn't think it was worth the effort and thought the whole system mediocre.

I think there's still a subset of civ players who want OP spies like in civ2, and attempts to introduce esiopnage in later civ games, menu or otherwise, have never satisfied this because more recent additions have tended to consider game balance more than just throwing an OP feature into the game.

I guess with G&K were back to half the players moaning about wanting the spy units back good times. This feels perfectly like Civ3 now.

 

[Andulias]

I like the menus, but I don't like that all you seemingly can do is find out the other civ's plans and steal tech. Like the reviewer said, what happened to production sabotage and food poisoning? I thought those would be in there, it's really a let-down for me. Otherwise, I could care less about if there is an actual spy unit, does it make any difference on the long run? Not really.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

People are now comparing DLC prices to expansion packs.

I'll of course have to play G&K to form a qualified opinion, but my impression is that it's not really expensive compared to DLC. The nine new civs alone would cost close to 20€ if sold separately, and on top of that we get a reworked combat system, dozens of new units/buildings/wonders and two new game mechanics.

 

[dexters]

It's lazy reviewing to mention price outside of rare situations where there is some sort of major screw up or if the developer is trying to sell a patch as an expansion. It makes the reviewer appeare more jaded and impartial to throw the onus back to the reader in the form of a question. "well it may not be worth $30 but it's up to you to decide"

Civ expansions have always been new civs + 1 or 2 new features + fixes to the vanilla game.

This one doesn't really break the mould.