14 DAY TRIAL // Civilization V is the new turn based strategy game from Jon Shafer, Sid Meier and the team at Firaxis, allowing players to take control of a nation as a mythical leader and lead them to glory in search of victory via domination, science, social policies or democratic world vote.
One of my constant needs in my years of playing Civilization and spin offs like Alpha Centuri has been to always try and put up the Wonders of the World, even if they offer actually offer little to my faction and to my current playing style.
For example I just got the options of creating the Hideji Castle, which is designed to allow players who need to have a small defensive force get some bonuses in their own territory.
I feel compelled to built it.
At the same time I have the options to creating The Oracle, which gives one free Social Policy options and would really push me towards the Utopia based victory that I strive for with my French civilization.
It's clear that I should build The Oracle and leave the Castle for later but I just can't contain myself and start both, one in my capital and the other in an outlying city, hoping that it's increasing population will help reduce the time needed for the build.
Wonders seem more attractive in Civilization V because they seem to have smaller build times than at any other point in the series when compared to buildings and units.
The time needed for the Oracle was pretty close to creating a Colosseum and a Worker which, to my builder brain, sound far less appealing.
But the game balances the quicker Wonder building with a policy of not allowing “hammers” to be bought, meaning that production cannot be hurried up, and with the downside that monetary compensation is very low for those Wonders that someone else gets too before the player.
And, to top things off, there are no announcements when a rival begins or is closer to finishing a Wonder, which makes the decision to actually begin a build one of the toughest to make in Civilization V.