14 DAY TRIAL // Civilization V is the latest video game from developer Firaxis and publisher Take Two, charging players with taking control of one nation from prehistoric times to the modern era in an effort to beat competitors while developing cities, discovering technologies and winning battles.
I knew about all the big changes, like hexes instead of squares, no stacking for military units and a revamped interface before starting my first game of Civilization V but I was not prepared for how different and completely fresh the game feels even to someone like me, who has kept up with Civilization V and its mods for much of the last five years.
At first the pace seems off, with the initial stages of the game going by far too fast and players advancing to Classic seemingly before I was able to get a Worker creating improvements and a Scout prowling my continent.
But once the game hits the later eras, more units come into play and the number of City States increases it feels as epic as its predecessor but much easier to control and with a higher number of variables that influence the road to success or failure.
The new Civic system, based on trees and customization is superb and allows very different play modes to get be viable.
The maintenance cost for buildings is a huge nudge towards making sure that each city does one thing well and role setting is simpler than ever with the options offered in the city screen on the right hand side.
The combat now requires a modicum of planning before battle is joined and attention to unit roles and to upgrades.
There are limited numbers of units and each one seems more important, with the game clearly designed to make each skirmish feel like it could determine the outcome of a war.
One thing which annoys me so far is that my neighbor Julius Caesar pops up every couple of turns comlaining about my weak army and level of civilization although I have a bigger empire and I seem to be ahead technology wise.
The Artificial Intelligence would do well to shut up more and try to get ahead using other means that trying to rip me off when I propose trade deals (come on, 900 gold for one piece of Fur?).