Gamerevolution review (3.5/5)

[stannis]

Here.

The sum is an expansion that adds a lot of little things that make the game feel a bit nicer and shinier, but culminate into the same overall experience. It simply isn’t enough to warrant its price tag unless you’re a hardcore fan looking for some extras to chew on.

 

[headcase]

Then there are the little things that Firaxis have packaged into the mix. The AI no longer suffers from a case schizophrenia and makes more rational decisions. The technology tree is much improved with a better sense of direction and some additions, especially toward the late game where the future era has been split into the Atomic Era and Information Era.

Cool!

a lack of end-game replays

I'll take this as a sign that the end-game replays are still in that little button in the corner that so many people, including our reviewer here, miss.

 

[blackcatatonic]

For someone who hates features so integral to CiV as 1UPT and global happiness to actually give 3.5 out of 5 is quite impressive.

I still think 1UPT is the best thing that's ever happened to the franchise. The solution to the problems with the combat AI is to FIX the combat AI, not go back to SoD.

 

[CivilizedPlayer]

The fact that espionage is too "menu-driven" is actually something I see as a plus. Of course, I haven't played it yet so I might change my mind, but the previous system was silly. Civ4 was the one where a girl in tight black pants charged around the map doing backflips, right? I think a menu will be simpler and make much more sense.

 

[JonnyBigBoss]

I'll take this as a sign that the end-game replays are still in that little button in the corner that so many people, including our reviewer here, miss.

I've removed this line from my review for accuracy. Thanks for the correction. I played Civilization V before they patched replays in.

 

[blackcatatonic]

Yeah, I'm not at all annoyed about the absence of actual Spy units.

Presumably having Spies posted in enemy cities should make it easier to spot who is building which Wonder, although sadly it seems there won't be an option to sabotage production.

 

[Barghaest]

I'll take this as a sign that the end-game replays are still in that little button in the corner that so many people, including our reviewer here, miss.

You know, when I press that button all it does is bring up charts and the like of stages of the game... is it supposed to do a video recap?

 

[JonnyBigBoss]

The fact that espionage is too "menu-driven" is actually something I see as a plus. Of course, I haven't played it yet so I might change my mind, but the previous system was silly. Civ4 was the one where a girl in tight black pants charged around the map doing backflips, right? I think a menu will be simpler and make much more sense.

It's how it's integrated into the core experience that falls flat. It feels like a mini-game on the side. I was more excited about espionage than any other addition in G&K but was disappointed once I used it for a few turns.

 

[bcaiko]

You know, when I press that button all it does is bring up charts and the like of stages of the game... is it supposed to do a video recap?

There's a drop-down menu on the replay screen that you can change to "Messages," "Graphs" or "Maps." The map is a mini-map that replays the growth of boundaries. It's pretty rudimentary, but it is fun to watch sometimes.

 

[nokmirt]

The Atomic Era, now I can play to the Cold War. Interesting. Usually, I will play to certain eras. Sometimes to the Medieval, Renaissance, or the Industrial Era. For the most part I was not into modern wars, stealth bombers and GDRs, just did not seem to fit in my context of thinking. I am a WWI and WW2 guy mostly.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Now this is new:

The technology tree is much improved with a better sense of direction and some additions, especially toward the late game where the future era has been split into the Atomic Era and Information Era. You can find things like the Bomb Shelter and Hubble Space Telescope that help make the last turns as interesting as possible.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

It's how it's integrated into the core experience that falls flat. It feels like a mini-game on the side. I was more excited about espionage than any other addition in G&K but was disappointed once I used it for a few turns.

Thanks for the insight!

Personally, I've never really been a fan of any of the iterations of espionage, but I understand why some people would be.

 

[dexters]

Eurogamer called the diplomacy broken, when it hasven't been for at least a year.
This one referred to Gods and Kings AI as 'no longer' schizo implying ir still is pre XP, which again it hasn't been the case for a year.

Did these people play the original beyond the first month? It seems like an increadibly biased starting point to come from especially when trying to review an expansion pack to a game that effectively alreadt received half an XP pack worth of content patches for free in the past 18 months.

 

[bonafide11]

Eurogamer called the diplomacy broken, when it hasven't been for at least a year.
This one referred to Gods and Kings AI as 'no longer' schizo implying ir still is pre XP, which again it hasn't been the case for a year.

Did these people play the original beyond the first month? It seems like an increadibly biased starting point to come from especially when trying to review an expansion pack to a game that effectively alreadt received half an XP pack worth of content patches for free in the past 18 months.

I think most of us would disagree with you and say that diplomacy and the AI are still broken in the game even after all of the patches (prior to G&K).

 

[nokmirt]

I think most of us would disagree with you and say that diplomacy and the AI are still broken in the game even after all of the patches (prior to G&K).

Yes, and because of this I am glad the patches were free.

 

[dexters]

I think most of us would disagree with you and say that diplomacy and the AI are still broken in the game even after all of the patches (prior to G&K).

That's a fair but vague point. I'll find out when I play it. But I don't really sense much have changed diplomatically outside of religion and SP choices giving more tools to the player to work within the framework already there.

It will be interesting if that's all that's changed and it's all a placebo effect that's being reported back.

 

[Buccaneer]

Eurogamer called the diplomacy broken, when it hasven't been for at least a year.
This one referred to Gods and Kings AI as 'no longer' schizo implying ir still is pre XP, which again it hasn't been the case for a year.

Did these people play the original beyond the first month? It seems like an increadibly biased starting point to come from especially when trying to review an expansion pack to a game that effectively alreadt received half an XP pack worth of content patches for free in the past 18 months.

Obviously not. Most of these reviews populating the forum today are not worth the time to read, much like the "reviews" that came out when Civ5 1.0 was released.

 

[Bechhold]

Perhaps play several games before reviewing. As for the Hubble behind a last turn wonder, eh?

 

[Calouste]

Now this is new:

The technology tree is much improved with a better sense of direction and some additions, especially toward the late game where the future era has been split into the Atomic Era and Information Era. You can find things like the Bomb Shelter and Hubble Space Telescope that help make the last turns as interesting as possible.

That would be the Modern era, would it?

 

[JonnyBigBoss]

Eurogamer called the diplomacy broken, when it hasven't been for at least a year.
This one referred to Gods and Kings AI as 'no longer' schizo implying ir still is pre XP, which again it hasn't been the case for a year.

Did these people play the original beyond the first month? It seems like an increadibly biased starting point to come from especially when trying to review an expansion pack to a game that effectively alreadt received half an XP pack worth of content patches for free in the past 18 months.

I sure did. I am a huge fan of Civilization. However, as far as the A.I. goes everyone's experience is a little different. While playing vanilla Civilization V I ran into so many cases of bad combat A.I. and horrible diplomacy. I ran into none of these during my playthrough of Gods & Kings, hence the mention during my review which is based upon my personal experience.