Should I buy Civ V?

Y

ygfbv

Chieftain
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
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Should I buy Civilization V? I play a LOT of Civilization IV, but from what I've seen of Civilization V, it looks like it took three steps forwards graphically, but five steps backwards gameplay-wise.

Is the gameplay any better than Civ IV, or is what I've seen from gameplay videos correct? A lot of my friends have told me that it just doesn't feel like a Civ game (one even said that Freeciv is better)..

I should be able to easily max the game (Phenom II 945, 6gb of ram, hd 5850) but I really care about gameplay far more than graphics.
 
Long story short:
Don't buy it right now.

Wait for at least three months, most probably even longer and then check here again about the response.
At the moment it is not worth the money and it is very questionable if the patch being expected to come during the next weeks will change it for the better.

Edit:
Since the demo was mentioned: It was cut at turn 100 for quite some reason.
100 turns don't allow you to check much of the gameplay.
The weaknesses typically start raising their ugly heads later than turn 100. So, don't rely on the demo (not to mention that it hasn't been patched, as far as I know)
 
I'd agree about playing the demo -- and understanding the limitations of 100 turns...

Without going all hater, I guess -- owning V and knowing what I know in retrospect, the "now me" would have probably told the "then me"...

Ask yourself these questions...

1) Do you "play to win" in IV -- that is, are shooting for certain victory conditions and generally playing maps and speeds that make actually winning (i.e., seeing the victory screen) conceivable? I personally played epic speed only on huge maps in IV... I rarely cared if I won -- I enjoyed micro-managing my empire.

2) Have you ever or could you ever conceive of yourself playing IV without ever going to war? Is war to you in Civlization -- no better than "first among equals"?

3) Do you enjoy managing your workers and micromanaging your cities?

I'd have answered 1) Not really - the journey beats the "win/lose", 2)Yes - I don't mind war and the threat of war, but I ultimately play to build things, and 3)Yes, very much.

The future me would have told the then-me that V wasn't a title that would interest.... us :-)
 
Keep playing CIV 4 and stay happy for a couple of months. Come back next year and see if CIV 5 is better by then.
 
You know, the game has a lot of potential, and it is a lot of fun, but I'd wait. In the future, balance issues will be worked out, there will be more content, and fact is, it ain't going anywhere. You'll get a better experience a few months from now, a year from now, etc.
 
Yes, you should buy it right now - the rest of us need your help with the beta testing! ;)

I'M KIDDING DONT FREAK OUT GUYS :D
 
The game is a major change from the last version. Considering some of the games I've spent $50 bucks on it's acceptable. It's just not as easily accepted if you are a die hard Beyond the Sword lover. I don't think it's true to the fanbase they dissed us and made a game for somebody else. Also, if you enjoy complaining and creating conspiracy threads this game has no equal.
 
Has anyone compared the balance issues of the first 100 turns between the demo and vanilla? I still feel the demo was a little different than the actual game. I am not an expert though.
 
timtofly said:
Has anyone compared the balance issues of the first 100 turns between the demo and vanilla? I still feel the demo was a little different than the actual game. I am not an expert though.
Click to expand...

I think the big things one would miss in the demo that become more stark in vanilla --

1) 1UpT seems to work reasonably well when you're all using what amount to medieval units... I firmly believe that 1Upt on a strategic map and just pretending you can play tactical on a strat map is a dead end -- but I think it becomes really stark once see a wider variety of units in play.

2) For the builder - I don't think I'd have gotten a sense of what's missing from my style of play in 100 turns... It's basically late renaissance/early industrial when I start to feel like the game becomes long strings of nothing but NEXT TURN-NEXT TURN-NEXT TURN if not at war. That starts creeping backwards the more I played - i.e., now - I'm basically in that mode once I've explored the map.

That's the hard part of a demo... they can't very well give you the whole game as a demo, but I do think the demo would have misled me.
 
I'm glad I bought it, and would buy it again. I found that, in Civ 4, I enjoyed the early game most; by the time I got to around 1500, having to move 45 units (or combinations thereof) to different points on the map was just beyond me. Having a combat system that supports smaller armies makes it a lot more enjoyable for me. Indeed, I find the mid-to-late game the most fun for Civ5.

You're right, graphics are much better, and that is something that makes it a bit more enjoyable as well.

I remember purchasing Civ 4 when it first came out. The arbitrariness of so much of the game drove me nuts, and I eventually dropped it. Warlords made it more palatable, and it really was fun with BtS. If I were to compare Civ 4 vanilla to Civ 5 vanilla, no question - Civ 5 is way better. However, Civ 5 vs Civ 4 BtS is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Zonk put it best - it really depends on what you like in a game.

BTW, there are also a ton of mods already out which at least partially ameliorate some of the issues with Civ 5. I've used CCMAT and a Diplomacy mod (can't remember the name, but very well done anyway) which make the game that much more enjoyable.

Bottom line - if you're enjoying Civ 4 right now, maybe keep on enjoying it. If Civ 4 was any indication, there will be a lot more work done on the product before it's "done", and you may or may not like the direction it takes.
 
lschnarch said:
Edit:
Since the demo was mentioned: It was cut at turn 100 for quite some reason.
100 turns don't allow you to check much of the gameplay.
The weaknesses typically start raising their ugly heads later than turn 100. So, don't rely on the demo (not to mention that it hasn't been patched, as far as I know)
Click to expand...

And in addition to that, the crashes also start much later than the 100th turn. For me it was and still is, around 320 turns. I did once play OCC without almost any crashes, though.
 
I'd still buy it. I don't regret buying it. I played Civ IV way too much over the years, it got boring for me, so I needed a new Civ game to play. Civ V has been fun so far; there's some improvements, but also some changes that I really don't care for.
 
I like civ 5. It is very different from other civ games and there are some elements that are still not right and out of balance. But it is a fun game and you will get your money's worth.
 
Dont buy Civ5. You would be getting a POS of untested garbage. Even the defenders favorite line here is 'it has so much potential. In X patch it will be great game'. Get it when, if ever it actually gets there.
 
I used to play Civ4 a lot. 1800 CE cultural victories were routine. Since Civ5 arrived, I've not played Civ4 at all; I've simply not felt I want to go back. I grump about Civ5 with the rest but, despite that, there's too much that keeps me here. Civ5 has shortcomings, but it's still worth getting now.
 
ygfbv said:
A lot of my friends have told me that it just doesn't feel like a Civ game (one even said that Freeciv is better)..
Click to expand...

freeciv is not better :crazyeye:

get a free demo or just buy it.

free sid meiers open source stuff do pretty good on their own, but not in direct competition to a new iteration of a franchise. for example freecol is awesome, but when civ4 col came out, despite its many many problems, freecol really went down the ladder compared to the new game, so to speak.
 
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