Civilization V: Gods & Kings Review

[OniaPL]

I'm definitely interested, but the price is too high considering that the vanilla Civ V was pretty... mediocre. I don't want to pay 80-130 euros for the experience I want.

 

[mephet]

Is the opening cinematic still the loading screen? Because that's, like, the ONE thing that really annoys the crap out of me every time I boot up the game.

No, you can skip it now and it brings you to a new loading screen.

 

[Gabanuka]

Now all we need is a Fall From Heaven mod

 

[Mullahgrrl]

But why does Gustav II Adolf look Like Gustav Vasa?

 

[cahtush]

The Civ games are great, but all they seem to do between games is make tweaks to the same basic formula. I think the city-production game play element is becoming a bit outdated.

What I would like to see is a new system based upon more complex macro-management. Perhaps an option to build libraries or other basic public works in all cities by taking out a certain amount of gold for a certain amount of turns. I think it would also be nice if you can have the ability to micromanage the resource distribution of the cities so that they can improve certain works, or give their garrisoned army better training/equipment, instead of just allocating certain citizens to certain plots of terrain. Just having a city produce one thing every certain amount of turns is a bit simplistic.

I'd also like to see the game move from combat centered on single units to armies comprised of several different types of units. This way one could specialize one's army for certain things. I'd also like to see customizable units where you can modify their equipment in order to specialize them for certain things; e.g. make them more maneuverable by cutting down their defense. You could modify the formation of each military unit too; e.g. put the archers in the back behind the phalanx and put the spear-men on either side to protect against cavalry, or make the phalanx form a V as opposed to a straight line.

Instead of each city producing one unit of a certain type after a certain amount of turns you could change it so that each city can produce and garrison only one military unit, though the size of this unit depends upon the size of the city; e.g. your capital city could garrison an entire division, whereas a small peripheral city could garrison a battalion or a company. In order to improve/refit the city's unit you have to devote a certain amount of city resources for a certain amount of turns. You could also improve the military capacity of the city by building certain improvements such as a fort, a training camp, or a military academy. This would allow you to improve the units garrisoned in the city. I'd also like to see supply routes to one's army when they are in enemy territory. That would add a lot more strategy to invasions.

Well... on second thought, maybe I just want to see another turn based strategy game with completely different game play mechanics than Civ. Lol.

You should try the Total War games, if you havent already.
Its pretty much what you want. I would recomend Rome Total War (it is a bit old but the graphics has aged pretty well and you can pick it up on steam) and Shogun 2 Total war.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Good review.

2 days, 10 hours. Sigh.

 

[Greg Tito]

One thing I always felt was missing from Civ5 was the way that in Civ4 many of the civilizations had 2 of 3 leaders to choose from which altered the way the game played. For example you could be England under Churchill or England under Queen Victoria and the two wouldn't start or play our the same way. Also the fact that each civ started out with different technologies already researched which would mix up gameplay a bit. However in Civ5 all the civs only have 1 leader a piece and they all start out with the same tech so much of the incentive to play as the different civs is removed. ...or at least that's how I felt anyway.
The religion thing was never a big issue for me, although it was kinda fun trying to found every religion in the game.

For me the different Civ abilities, unique unit and building have a big on how you play the game. Some of the new unique abilities in God & Kings are game-changing, like Maria Theresa of Austria's ability to purchase city states so that they become part of her empire through "Diplomatic Marriage".

 

[Bassik]

You can play as His Imperial Majesty of Ethiopia? That is so awesome.
I wonder what music plays when you play as that faction. Can it be... reggae?

 

[5ilver]

I personally prefer Civ 5 over Civ 4. I wonder how soon I'll have the chance to play this with some mates.

 

[keiji_Maeda]

But why does Gustav II Adolf look Like Gustav Vasa?

Because we're sweden...not even our greatest kings are worth depicting properly....

:'(

 

[DeathQuaker]

That's funny, city states are one of my favorite parts of Civ 5, and one of the reasons I don't want to go back and reinstall Civ 4. I like how they influence diplomacy and help you in wars and stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the review, Greg Tito. I've already bought this (a rare, once in the blue moon event of my actually preordering something) but I am glad to hear it seems to meet my expectations. Really looking forward to the religion customization and new Civs especially. Also really glad to hear they beefed up naval capacity, while it sounds like it makes a strong navy almost too dangerous, I think it makes navies more of an appropriate force to be reckoned with rather than basically water-based armed scouts and exploration units.

 

[Blade_125]

But why does Gustav II Adolf look Like Gustav Vasa?

Because you don't know what Gustav II Adolf looks like.

 

[Blade_125]

I bought civ V when it first came out, but after a few months I lost interest, which was crazy for me. There has never been a time in the past 15 years that I didn't have a civ game on the go. I did start playing it again after some of the patches improved gameplay, but it still didn't grip me the way previous civ games did, but i still played it every now and then.

I did pre-order the expansion as it was 10% off. It looked like it would add back a number of features that should have been there from the start. I've played a couple hours so far and it's not bad. The AI seems more consistant. Some of the changes seem to be for the better, but I haven't had the time to really see yet. There are mroe happiness items which is good, but I still hate the global happiness. I think if happiness managment went back to how Civ IV was and there were other influences to check expansion then the game would be great.

 

[Prince Regent]

Seriously? Ethiopia too? It seems we've outmanoeuvred and defeated by every bloody nation out there.

 

[Shirastro]

I honestly stopped watching the review the moment he said at the beginning of the video how awesome Civ 5 is.

 

[Balkan]

I really don`t like this about PC gaming - I play company of heroes tales of valor , a much prettier and more detailed game than Civ 5 without lag , but civ 5 loads 10 minutes and lags like hell . Wtf is it with pc requirements these days ?

 

[blackrave]

Nuke in the face- best diplomatic solution since 1945

 

[Greg Tito]

That's funny, city states are one of my favorite parts of Civ 5, and one of the reasons I don't want to go back and reinstall Civ 4. I like how they influence diplomacy and help you in wars and stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the review, Greg Tito. I've already bought this (a rare, once in the blue moon event of my actually preordering something) but I am glad to hear it seems to meet my expectations. Really looking forward to the religion customization and new Civs especially. Also really glad to hear they beefed up naval capacity, while it sounds like it makes a strong navy almost too dangerous, I think it makes navies more of an appropriate force to be reckoned with rather than basically water-based armed scouts and exploration units.

I agree, I love the city-states because it makes the game less static.

And the navies are definitely more powerful, but you're right, that's actually more in line with history so it makes sense to me.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

snip

You should try the Total War games, if you havent already.
Its pretty much what you want. I would recomend Rome Total War (it is a bit old but the graphics has aged pretty well and you can pick it up on steam) and Shogun 2 Total war.

Yeah, I've head good things about that series, though it's an RTS and not a turn-based game like CIV. I still think CIV could do a lot better. They definitely aren't pulling a Call of Duty, but they aren't taking too many risks with their formula either.