Sid Meier's Civilization V

Speaking as a devout follower of the Sid Meier cult, I have to say I wasn't disappointed.

The last Civ game I played was III, having skipped out on IV for lack of processing (computer FAIL). Having jumped almost a decade ahead in the series, I was obviously surprised, and at first disappointed. Yes, the graphics are amazing, the hexagonal grid (as opposed to squares for movement) *amazing*. But it didn't have it's ... inherent Civilization feel. Maybe I'm just being old school, but at first I was freaked out over the addition of city states (cities that are not trying to win the game, and can be made allies, enemies, etc.), as well as the fact that you can't stack units onto the same grid square (excuse me, hexagon). I mean, I'd honed a beautiful military strategy to near perfection that depended on that one fact. However, despite this (and a couple other things, I'm a little finicky) I got used to it, even with the annoying new counterintuitive controls ("Right click for unit movement?! This is madness!")  It's so perfectly similar yet a bit alien that it gives you an entirely new game while seeming so familiar. Perfetto.

Advantage for new players: they dumbed it down. A lot. Go into Civ III as a noob and you're dead, even on chieftain [the easiest level. For suckers, in my opinion]. So many things to manage. City happiness, shield production, civil disorder, anarchy, even balancing your budget, for god's sakes. It was all very technical, represented on a series of screens by arcane symbols and sliders that are comprehensible only to true addicts (ahem. me.). Now, they manage everything for you except the actual gameplay. Gone was my perpetual fear about the budget. Just pillage something, bro. Speaking of pillaging: gone was the two option menu when you captured a city (Install a governor! or Raze the City!). Now you have the option of creating a puppet government, where they're under your command yet you are unable to dictate production. You can still annex the city, but it'll reduce happiness and production dramatically.

And, oh how I've waited for it, they have Multiplayer! Yes! Multiplayer. Powered by Steam (the company, not the water vapor, idjit), you can now have teams or every-man-for-himself games of Civilization. Even with it set on fast-paced, however, this is a long game, and without a saving option (I mean, there's other people playing with you. Don't be selfish.) you'd better not be going anywhere for a while.

So, summary: Good game. Weird controls. Simplified. Good for beginners. Multiplayer: yes.
Go buy one. A bit steep, but you'll be entertained for the rest of civilization. (see what I did there?)\]

//I SleepToDream


-The One With The Nose

Rating: 10

The new Civilization game, as the title and above article say, Civ V, is amazing. This is my first computer civilization game, so it was pretty exciting. Up until now, the only computer strategy games I have played were Warcraft III Reign of Chaos (amazing) and Spore (in the city stage). The movement control for units is the same between Warcraft and Civ, so that wasn't a shock. Also, Spore essentially had city states (small civilizations) so I am used to that. For those of you who have never played Civ before, don't allocate 10 minuets to play or even an hour! A game of civilization will take you many hours to finish, even on the quick mode. I was playing one day online with a friend (SleepToDream), and we were playing for 5 hours, and weren't even halfway done. The game was on quick mode, and we were both conquering stuff, so the game was advancing faster than the speed of a running snail. Still, civ manages to stay fun by having constant things that require your attention, such as war, famine, demand for recourses, and diplomacy. This is an extraordinarily well crafted game, and a flexible one too. In Civ V, you can play in a "Mod" mode, where you can download mods created by other users and play them. The mods can include wars of the past, new empires, new tech, and scenarios. Though I have never played a mod game, I know how fun scenarios were in Civilization Revolution, so I will play a mod level soon. In conclusion, buy Civ V. Send me an email at randomstudiosgamingblog@gmail.com to get my Steam ID.

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