My take - feels like an epic mod.

[Lord_Zath]

So far I'm about 3 hours into the game as Japan. Please feel free to comment! My thoughts are:

- I was kinda put off by the fact that once I installed the game, I had to wait 2 hours for Steam to download 4 gigs worth of content. The DVD has 3 gigs on it; why wasn't the game just installed from the disk? Or perhaps I was foolish in thinking the game was installed when the "install complete" window popped up and I ejected the disk.

- Pretty game, but some things could've been added - trees swaying, rivers more fluid.

- Keys can't be changed. I'd love the ability to use the WASD keys to move about the map.

- The interface is nice, but there are things I miss from IV. For example, if I hold the mouse over a worker, it doesn't display what it's building and how long until completion. I have to click on the worker first. Another instance is if I put my unit to fortify till it heals, I don't know how long until it's fully healed.

- Hexes make for a much nicer looking Great Wall. You can also see a "work in progress" graphic for everything before it's completed. So you can see the foundation of the Great Wall, for example.

- I'm liking ranged bombardment. It's nice having an archer back up a spearman when it comes to taking out barbarians. Additionally, the fact that cities can bombard units that come close means I can sometimes take out pesky barbarians without even needing a unit.

- Music is nice.

- The game runs far faster than IV ever did.

- I am liking how culture expands; it makes the empire look far more scattered at the beginning, and it's fun watching borders move towards each other along a road.

- The tech tree is much more intertwined - so far I haven't hit any "dead-end" techs (Archery, Horseback Riding in IV).

- Policies are neat. Instead of religious stances and civics, policies allow you to fine-tune your gameplay. For example, I picked Honor, which allows me to have some bonuses from combat.

- City-states are fun so far. I've gotten missions from them - kill barbarian settlements, connect to road, build a wonder, research a tech, attract a great scientist. When I've completed these missions, I get rewarded, usually by upgrading my relationship with the city-state (friendship/alliance). The benefits depend on the type of city-state, but I've gotten extra food from one, and extra culture from another. Over time, these relationships dissolve unless you gift them money or continue completing tasks.

- I really like how diplomacy works now. No longer can you make an agreement with someone that lasts until the end of the game (open borders). Most agreements last for 30 turns and that's it.

- It's nice seeing individual people in units rather than the typical 1-3 in IV. Units reflect actual results of the battle, too - lose 3 strength, 3 units are gone.

All in all, I look at Civ V as more of a massive mod than a revolutionary game. Is it worth the $50? YES. Is it something you'll sit down to and be amazed immediately by? NO.

 

[squadbroken]

So far I'm about 3 hours into the game as Japan. Please feel free to comment! My thoughts are:

- I was kinda put off by the fact that once I installed the game, I had to wait 2 hours for Steam to download 4 gigs worth of content. The DVD has 3 gigs on it; why wasn't the game just installed from the disk? Or perhaps I was foolish in thinking the game was installed when the "install complete" window popped up and I ejected the disk.

uh what
Sounds like you did something wrong there champ, I didn't have to do any such thing when I installed off the disc.

As to the game feeling like a mod... you could say the same thing about Civ 4 vs. Civ 3, or Civ 3 vs. Civ 2, or Civ 2 vs. Civ 1. The series doesn't change much between installments. Hell, the hex grid and 1UPT alone are probably the biggest deviations from the norm in the entire series.

 

[nekom]

Yeah I have to agree with squadbroken, this is no mod, 1upt and hex make 5 a whole new ballgame. This isn't a rehash of civ 4 or a throwback to civ 3, this is something new and I'm so far enjoying it.

 

[DrJambo]

I disagree, Civ IV felt like a huge jump from Civ III.

Civ V definitely has some neat ideas and improvements - namely the 1upt and city states, but there's also a tremendous amount of cool features I liked from Civ IV that are missing. While the military aspect seems to have received the most attention, options are relatively limited for playing peacefully.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I feel the social policy system is the biggest addition for peaceful playing. For pseudo peaceful playing, there's City-States, but, unless you're Greece, I don't see the point in doing anything besides their mission requests before you get Patronage). Aside from that, peaceful playing has been limited to a degree with the removal of religion rushes and religion spreading, but the different diplomatic system limits the usefulness of that anyway.

 

[Lord_Zath]

uh what
Sounds like you did something wrong there champ, I didn't have to do any such thing when I installed off the disc.

As to the game feeling like a mod... you could say the same thing about Civ 4 vs. Civ 3, or Civ 3 vs. Civ 2, or Civ 2 vs. Civ 1. The series doesn't change much between installments. Hell, the hex grid and 1UPT alone are probably the biggest deviations from the norm in the entire series.

Yeah like I said - I ejected the disk after getting the message that the game was installed and when I went to start the game for the first time, figuring I didn't need to do anything. Apparently, that's when the game installs. Since the disk wasn't in the computer, my guess is that the game went to Steam for the files. Once started, I was unable to stop/cancel - only pause - the download. It would've been nice if there was a prompt stating to leave the DVD in the drive.

I disagree, Civ IV felt like a huge jump from Civ III.

Civ V definitely has some neat ideas and improvements - namely the 1upt and city states, but there's also a tremendous amount of cool features I liked from Civ IV that are missing. While the military aspect seems to have received the most attention, options are relatively limited for playing peacefully.

My sentiments exactly. Pop in IV and compare it to III - WOW, huge difference. Graphics and look and feel, the loss of offense/defense values, multiple people displayed in units, loss of roads giving commerce bonus, etc etc. Can't really comment from I - II or II - III, as I haven't played I or II. Go from IV to V and aside from hexes, nothing else exists that couldn't have been created in a mod of IV. And now there's a mod out to remove 1upt, making Civ V more like Civ IV. How ironic!

 

[Dementual]

I haven't played enough yet to have many opinions on the battle system, but from the one game I've been playing thus far, it's been really solid.