Civilization 5

[out there]

First, if you're anti-Steam (like I am), you should stop reading now.

When I first learned that this game would use Steam, I decided not to bother with it. One of my renters found a torrent that doesn't need Steam, it seemed like a good way to see if the game is worth tolerating the burns I would surely receive from Steam.

It's interesting that there is no longer religion as a mechanic (I was informed of this before actually playing), so I am initially thinking that they're trying to appease the masses and trying to appeal to the largest number of players possible. Cities don't have predefined borders for working tiles, because you buy new tiles as your city expands. Getting really big costs a significant amount because of the increased expense of tiles further from the center plot. Maintenance costs can start to creep up on you (upkeep for the roads, etc). Gold actually has a use early in the game, because you can use it to complete production faster. Culture allows you to buy civics, a very interesting approach. All in all, I think the city-expansion and civics research are probably the best changes.

The layout seems like Fisher-Price all over again; it was clearly made for consoles, and then sent out to the PC market as an afterthought. I guess that supports my thoughts about pandering to the majority. My biggest complaint: automatic unit cycling, it can't be disabled. That's right, the game will move the display to every available unit and make you do something with them

Having not put more than a couple of hours into this newest release, I think I can safely say that this iteration is either going to be aggressively attacked by the mod community, or completely dropped by most of the pre-5 players. My first impression would rate this game at 4/5, but further play just drives it down, as I start coming across more things that make me feel like I'm being treated like a toddler. Just as I mentioned in the email I sent to 2kgames about their choice to use Steam instead of a less intrusive protection scheme (CD key anyone?), if enhanced DRM and hand-holding are the new approach to games from this studio, I won't miss them.

I intend to continue playing for another day or two (to really give this game a chance), but it's starting to look more like gold-plating than solid gold.

[Jim]

Did you play Civ 4?

I've been a Civ fan since Civ 1... and I liked Civ Revolution too...

I actually like steam, they always have good deals on games and multiplayer is always seemless. I got TF2 on steam for $9.99 on a special a year or two ago... can't beat that.

[SPANISH-RICE]

Ive always been a big civ fan. I have it on my ipod and that game is very addicting as well. Ill probably get the new one.

[PSiedTSi]

I loved playing Revolution. I might try this game out.

[out there]

Jim;315996 wrote:
Did you play Civ 4?I really enjoyed all the modding that Civ 4 received, and I enjoyed all of the expansions through Beyond the Sword. I haven't played Colonization.

I've been a Civ fan since Civ 1... and I liked Civ Revolution too...
Revolution is on Xbox360, right? The only console-based Civilization I've played is the first one. Much like the first Final Fantasy, it works as a proof of concept, but doesn't really stand against the later versions.

I actually like steam, they always have good deals on games and multiplayer is always seemless.
I'm not against Steam per se, just when used as DRM. As a program, I think Steam would bother me a lot less if it were not used to control how/if I have access to my property.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from playing this latest Civilization game, especially since there's a demo. I think there are many things that were done well, but it plays so much like Oblivion without the Oscuro overhaul patch.