[PC] Civilization V Review

[DoctorFinger]

Civilization V Review

Title - Civilization V
Platform - Windows PC
Developer - Firaxis Games
Publisher - 2K Games
ESRB Rating - E10 (Everybody 10+)
MSRP - $49.99
Editor - Michael "DoctorFinger" Chauvet

What's Hot: The ultimate “just one more turn” game is back and in fine form. Major changes to combat system add tons to the game. The addition of the new ‘city-states’ adds a nice new level of strategy and keeps you chancing after quests.

What's Not: The AI is still a bit dim in spots. The game chugs a bit on low and mid-level systems with all the bells & whistles on. The multiplayer still doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table.

A few years back publisher 2K Games began an ad campaign called “Civ Addicts Anonymous.” The spots show people in a 12 step program who are addicted to a Civilization game, and who are known to blankly utter the phrase “just one more turn” like a mantra. To those who have never partaken of a Civilization game, this may have seemed over the top. To the rest of us it seemed just a bit too close to reality. So I’m sure workforces and social relationships alike shuddered recently with the release of Civilization V, the first all-new entry in the series for the PC in half a decade.

If you’ve played a Civilization game before then you know the basic setup. You choose from a list of civilizations at the “dawn of time” and lead them through the various eras of human achievement, one turn at a time. You found new cities, train troops, tame the land, research new technologies and try to grow your society, all the while trying to keep the other civilizations from rolling over you like a wave of steel and fire.

Germany next to Russia. This won't end well

As you progress through the game you have a number of different resources to manage, but they never seem to become cumbersome. The first game or two you play will entail some growing pains, but after a while it all becomes second nature. At the same time there really is no one “right” way to play the game. Creating massive armies to bulldoze opponents works, but so does staying small and earning a cultural victory. There are actually five ways to win a game of civ: conquest, diplomatic, cultural, scientific or on points. Each of the 18 different civilizations have their own strengths, some of which are obviously weighted towards one type of victory or another, but each is fully capable of winning any way you’d like. Each civ also has unique units, buildings and bonuses to make them feel distinct. When controlled by the AI each leader also displays their own personality in their play style, with some focusing on growth, some on military, and so on.

The biggest change to the game is visible from the very beginning. The combat system has undergone an almost total revamp. For starters the old square grid is gone, replaced with a more wargame-like hex grid. This eliminates an old issue where you could essentially travel faster diagonally as you could either horizontally or vertically. Secondly there is no longer any troop stacking; only a single combat troop can occupy a square at any given time. The days of creating massive stacks of troops and having them descend on a equally large defensive stack are gone. Instead you have to think more proactively about troop paths and positioning on the map. Having a unit stop in a choke point can really hamper your war efforts. Combat is also improved by the expanded role of ranged units. Troops such as archers, ships and catapults can now strike from a distance, damaging foes and enemy cities while hanging back. The cities themselves can also attack from afar, and have their own defensive ratings, too. You can still garrison a single unit in a city, but even without they’re far from helpless. This means you don’t have to keep a unit (or 2, or 3) in each and every city to keep them safe, and more of your forces can be utilized where they’re actually needed. All of these changes add up to a very different combat experience, but one which manages to be better in almost every way.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning!

Firaxis has also essentially killed the troop transports, as each unit can now ‘embark’ and travel the seas and oceans under their own power. Non-naval units can’t travel very fast, which makes long distance warfare a bit difficult, but you won’t find yourself waiting endlessly for a transport to arrive as was so common in earlier installments of the series. This change also makes naval units exclusively into weapons of war, and they’re more important and valuable here than in any Civ which came before. At the same time, no one unit throws off the overall balance in the combat system. Ranged units like archers and catapults can seem devastating at first, but a single mounted unit can devastate them in no time. No unit is perfect, and every unit has an important role to play.

The next major addition is the inclusion of City-States. These tribes can’t win the game, but they can greatly influence the outcome. Each city-state has a personality - hostile, friendly, erratic; and a strength - culture, military or maritime. Either through outright bribes or the completion of ‘quests’ (build this Great Wonder, generate this type of Great Person, go to war with this rival city-state, etc) you can make that city-state into an ally. While allied or friendly with you they’ll periodically give you units, culture or food depending on the type of city-state. You can also simply conquer them, absorb them into your civ, or make them into a puppet state. City-states also get a vote in the United Nations at the end of the game, so it can be in your best interest not to let too many of them get too angry with you. No one city-state can make or break a playthrough, but they add a nice new dimension to the game, and remain a factor throughout the various eras.

City management view

Resources have also been overhauled. Instead of a series of sliders which let you funnel gold into research, culture, happiness or espionage you’re now simply given an allotment of gold each turn for you to do with as you please. That gold can be used to instantly buy new tiles, new structures or new units. This new emphasis on gold does produce the closest thing to an imbalance in the game. With enough gold you can take a city from undefended to fortress of doom in literally a single turn. You probably can’t do that very often, but the seeds of imbalance are there.

The user interface has also been re-imagined. At a glance you can see just about everything you need to know about the state of your civilization, with even more info available when you mouse over the data bar. Each unit has their most common functions laid out as buttons across the left side of the screen, with lesser used ones (like ‘destroy unit’ which after playing Civ games for more than a decade, I don’t think I’ve ever used) hidden until needed. When your turn begins a series of messages and notifications appear on the right side of the screen, which you can deal with at your leisure.

While there’s a wealth of new features, some elements from previous games have been left out. Espionage, religions and corporations are completely missing. And the favorite civilizations of many fans are no longer playable. Some fans are going to be upset by these omissions, but they forget that many of these favorite features came about years later in expansion packs. For the $50 you’re spending on Civ V there really is a lot of content to explore, so the omissions are never really felt. But there are a few problems. The save system is a little clunky. Saves are sorted alphabetically rather than chronologically, which frankly makes no sense in a game like this. There’s also no map trading, which can produce some frustrating situations. In my first full playthrough I was being asked multiple times to destroy a city-state which I couldn’t find until I built fighter planes (about 340 turns into the game). Not a game breaker, but a puzzling omission nonetheless.

The early stages of a civilization

The AI is also a little disappointing. It’s not terrible, but you’ll find yourself asking just what the hell some of the computer controlled civs are thinking quite a bit. Firaxis also seems to have broadened the gap between units of different eras. In previous games even the simplest warrior could, on occasion, take down modern tanks. That’s no longer the case. You can still beat higher level units, particularly if you have the bonuses in your favor, but if the gap is too large the weaker unit can’t even scratch the stronger.

The multiplayer modes are one of the weaker parts of the game. This is mostly because the turn-based nature game really isn’t conducive to multiplayer. The play-by-email option is probably the best of the bunch, but the multiplayer likely won’t move very many copies.

Presentation wise Civilization V starts off a little underwhelming. The units often don’t ‘pop’ off the screen the way you’d expect. But the more you play the more the little things Firaxis did visually become apparent. Unit animations are expressive and smooth. Units each have their own audio cues, and after a while you don’t even have to look to know which unit you’re controlling. Each civ has their own music for each era, most of which is fantastic at setting the mood. The game’s biggest flaw however is more technical. Even on my modestly powerful PC (2.0 Ghz CPU, 3GB RAM) it chugs a bit with all the settings on high. Scaling back some of the bells & whistles to medium the game ran much faster and smoother, but you’ll still spend just a bit too much time waiting for the AI to simulate their moves for my taste.

See, war can be pretty!

Ultimately Civilization V is a more than worthy entry in the venerable series. You’ll find yourself saying “just one more turn” until the wee hours of the morning, but at the same time it’s a game you can jump on for 10 minutes at a time and still feel like you accomplished something. All the while the game keeps a sens of leisure about it. Nothing is twitch based or timed (at least not in single player), and everything seems to wait for you rather than demanding immediate attention. These are increasingly rare traits in a game now, and they’re much appreciated. The technical issues are a bit annoying, but when you're in the grip of the game they won't stop you from having a great time.

Score: (4.5 out of 5 Cogs)


Michael says, "While there are a few definite issues with the game, they don’t stop it from being an addictive and fun experience. The changes to the combat system really differentiate it from previous Civ titles, but almost all of those changes work. ”

[Narradisall]

No more moves, NO MORE MOVES!

I did love that 'One more turn' bit.

[Ink Asylum]

I've played one and a half games so far and I definitely enjoy most of the changes.

City states are a brilliant edition and give you someone to interact with when you aren't brawling with your fellow civs. Their related quests help keep things interesting.

The new combat system, with a focus on positioning a smaller number of units, a health system that allows attacking units to retreat, and cities that defend themselves, have allowed me to be much more militaristic than I ever was in a Civ game. I'm no longer frustrated when I build a bunch of expensive units only to have them destroyed in a few turns, or when a single barbarian sneaks into my territory and waltzes into a defenseless city.

There are things I miss, and changes I would like to see, but taken as a whole it's definitely an improvement on the series formula. It definitely chugs on my computer but I know I'll still be playing in a few years on a system that can handle a large game with all the visual bells and whistles without a problem.

[J Arcane]

On the whole, I do find the game to be an improvement. It's a slower game, but also more deliberate, which makes strategy a more obvious element. In the last one you could just bumrush everything, from war to city building to culture victory even.

If I had one complaint, it would actually be one of the ones Tom Chick brought up. The new Policy system is all well and good, and in keeping with the industry's desperate lust for aping Blizzard-style talent trees again and again, even in games where they don't belong.

But it rather lacks the adaptability of the Civic system from previous games. The point of the government and civic choices was being able to change them on the fly to suit your Civ's needs at the moment, with bonuses that suited certain situations. If I'm in need of a boost to my military because of an invasion or conquest, I suspend democracy for a while and become a police state. CivIV in particular was very flexible in what you could do (though some of the choices were clear winners almost all of the time).

The Policy system is interesting, but the bonuses can get a little out of hand the way they build on each other, so that by mid game it reaches a sort of terminal velocity, where you've just got so many bonuses to everything that you out pace the AI pretty quickly. And since it's all permanent, and some trees actually bar access to other trees, you lack any adaptability at all, you can't change things around to suit your present needs, at best you can just open a new tree, but you'll be stuck with those choices too.

[Ink Asylum]

Agreed about the static nature of the policy trees. It's interesting that they don't off a "Re-spec" option that would throw your nation into anarchy for a couple turns but allow you to pick new policies.

The policy trees are nice because you have more options than the old government system, but it definitely needs some way to change your style of government. For a historical game it's silly to believe a culture never changes from a focus on culture to a focus on military.

As far as I can tell, though, AI civs also use the policy system, since they can win a cultural victory, too, and the victory-conditions show the progress they've made. Maybe they don't make intelligent use of it, but it's not like you're getting bonuses they can't get.

[MagGnome]

I really love the improvements to the combat. It feels like there is actual strategy involved now instead of just unit spamming. Nearly everything feels like an improvement over the previous titles in the series. The AI is still wonky, but that's always been the case and plagues many other games as well.

I'm really glad I decided to pick this up at release instead of waiting. I've already put 14.5 hours into the game in just a few days (a lot for me), and I can't wait to play more. It also looks and runs great on my system, which is always a plus.

[Ghostbear]

Great review Doc, this is definitely my favorite of the series so far. Though, that may just be the newness of it talking.

[Telefrog]

I love the Social Policies mechanic. I think the fact that you are stuck with the ones you pick force a player to really think ahead about the endgame strategy.

[Troggles]

This is my first Civ game. I have put 20 hours into it already, spanning about 3 and a half games. I'm in love. I have a hard time stopping to go to bed at night. I was at my cousin's wedding this weekend and still couldn't keep the game out of my head.

Just...one...more...turn...

[DoctorFinger]

The more cities you have the more culture you need to get a new policy slot. So if you keep your civ small and focus on culture-heavy buildings (and alliances) you can get a new policy every 10-15 turns. And getting tons of policies gives you tons of bonuses, and you can then either play for the Utopia Project, or use those bonuses to aid your expansion mid- to late-game.

[MagGnome]

I had no idea that building more cities increased the amount of culture needed to gain new policies.

[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

I had no idea that building more cities increased the amount of culture needed to gain new policies.

It's a hefty penalty too, like 30%. Good thing to keep in mind if you're shooting for culture victory, small civs actually have the advantage there. My last game I dug in in Africa and stuck with only like 5 cities (would have been 4 but I needed Iron from a city state in the south), and I had culture victory by like the 1950s.

Mind you, this was on maximum easy mode, but still, it makes a difference.

[Ink Asylum]

I did not know that. Thanks for the tip. I like peaceful victories so I'll probably try that next after I win my current game with a Diplomatic Victory. India would probably be a great choice for that type of victory, as they get bonuses for having a low number of cities with a high population.

[MagGnome]

It's tough to stay peaceful in this game. Sometimes the AI annoys me so much that I just have to let the bullets and nukes fly.

[J Arcane]

It's tough to stay peaceful in this game. Sometimes the AI annoys me so much that I just have to let the bullets and nukes fly.

The AI's constant insults do get rather tiresome. Its the whole reason I wiped out the Siamese on my first game.

[Farsight]

The AI praises me!

What they say is directly related to the game. If you seem weak, they mock. If you're kicking their ass, they kiss yours.

It's essentially a more competitive form of the advisors, to let you know how you're doing relative to the other players.

[Inverarity]

After I got a hard-won Utopia Project victory in my most recent game, I made sure to select the "just one more turn" option. Then I bought four or five Giant Death Robots and went totally sickhouse on the AI neighbors who had been insulting me for the better part of a thousand years. Satisfying.

Edited to add: I was always much, much larger and more powerful than said neighbors, dating back to an ill-advised attempt on their part to gang up on me early in the game. I think the taunts sometimes come when they think you're weak, but can also indicate that the AI in question hates you but isn't stupid enough to declare war.

[MagGnome]

I started a new game on a standard sized "Earth" map as India. I'm hoping to gain a cultural victory this time around. Thankfully Greece is the only other civ with me in the entirety of the Americas (North and South!), along with four city-states. However, there are a lot of annoying barbarians, and I keep losing my warriors to their stupid ships. I'm finally taking them down, but it's definitely cost me a bit. Thankfully things are moving right along culture-wise, although I've already been beaten to wonders four times!

[Vandabo]

I'm liking the social policy system more than the old civics. The general evolution of your culture, and making a unique civilization each game is very satisfying to me. It also makes the culture portion of the game more meaningful than just spreading borders.

I have to say that I miss having transports. As nice as it is to not have to build them, it is more difficult to make a coordinated D-Day like landing on another continent when everything is moving separately and can't be on the same space.

One thing I've noticed about the unit XP system is that it seems more effective to not bother building things like barracks and whatnot, as each level they get requires more XP. I want to get a free heal after their first couple battles, not after 6 or so.

[itchyeyes]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

It's tough to stay peaceful in this game. Sometimes the AI annoys me so much that I just have to let the bullets and nukes fly.

I actually kind of like how hard it is to stay peaceful. In previous Civ games I've always avoided conflict as much as possible. In Civ 5 I'm much more drawn to it.