14 DAY TRIAL // Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty played it safe. Blizzard created a real time strategy sequel that fans waited for the better part of 10 years but made very small actual changes to the game formula.
Clicks per minute were still crucial to multiplayer success, counters needed to be learned and resource gatherer protection was still one of the most aspect element of the set up.
Where Blizzard evolved the franchise was in the quality of the presentation, with better music, more complex cutscenes and a hub area that feels like a throwback to adventure games from the '90's with a visual upgrade.
Of course, a backlash started against Starcraft 2 and Blizzard because of their limited innovation, with some fans claiming that the franchise could have used the time to push the genre forward, like Company of Heroes or Supreme Commander have done.
A lot of people were afraid that the same kind of evolution would be apparent in Civilization V, the latest in the series from Firaxis, but the game felt more like a revolution, especially when compared to the very successful fourth installment.
Civilization V surprised gamers by being a very big departure from the past of the series, a revolution to Starcraft's evolution.
All information coming out from developers before launch pointed to some important changes but only by playing the game can one see how far from the previous game the experience is and mostly in a good way, making a game and genre that seems as old as PC gaming feel fresh again. Civilization V is a very specialized game, where each choice made in the first few turns determines a big chunk of future evolution and where changing paths is hard and often a quick way to defeat.
Civilization IV was much more forgiving in this respect but the new game is very clear about presenting mutually exclusive choices between military, culture, economic and scientific paths to success.
Of course a bit of everything is needed in present in the later stages but a powerful military requires sacrifices to happiness and to culture spreading while tech advances and wonders often mean that defenses get overlooked.