A better for me version of the Civilization games than Civ 4. It lacks specialized religion, 4 had, which for me is a plus, and has many different mechanics for the series. The new hex map system helps a lot for more realistic looking empires and armies. Same with the lack of stacking of units and other smaller touches. In general the game is about taking a tribe/nation of your choice from 4000BC to the near future. You control how your tribe expands, founds cities and colonies, creates armies, research technologies and decides on major political themes. You trade (or not) with other tribes/countries/empires and try to deal with them depending on your preferred ways. Be it through diplomacy, commerce or pure violence. You can win the game through a number of ways, conquest, diplomacy etc.

Very well done game for all ages, well...over 8 I would say.

Another fantastic Civ game. Civ 5 makes the gameplay much more streamlined and tactical, the new 1 unit per tile policy makes combat interesting rather than the bland stacked tile gameplay of previous civs. The game looks great and has inbuilt support for mods allowing you to download them from within the game itself. Their are a few downsides, one being that you can't play mods in multi player and the AI is not great, especially when it comes to diplomacy but hopefully this will be fixed in the "Gods and Kings" expansion pack.

I did not play the first 4 installments of this game so I did not have anything to go on before I picked this one up. I have played many strategy games like Starcraft, Starcraft II, Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander to name a few and I really liked the turn based strategy of this game and will purchase the next installment of this game when it comes out.

A fantastic addition to the Civilization franchise. Most of the content that made the series popular in the first place has been slightly stremlined, which results in a much increased accesibility, at the cost of a bit less depth in the game. At any rate, a fantastic game, a great time sink and an unique experience.

I have played Civ 2, 3, 4 and 5. I can say that I like the one-unit-per-tile system, it makes the game a lot more tactical. There more features that make the game more tactical like ranged-combat. Ranged-combat is a huge addition to the game, and it improves the gameplay immensely.

There aren't any religions anymore, but I didn't like them anyway. You can however choose the social-policy "Caste-system".

I does demand quite a bit from your graphics-card, and I recommend you check whether your PC can run the game before you buy it.

Overall good game, spot on about the AI. Also miss forcefully converting potential rivals to my faith, but I'm old-fashioned like that.

The good old Civ still has the charm. A good game to spend your leisure time. The overall complexity of the game is somewhat reduced, but you can still custom things a lot. Really like the clear look of UI, especially alerts.

Be he ruler of your favourite empire and rule the world with the tactic of your choice. Different ways to win are great, got my first one with culture. But the funniest is of course the good old kill-them-all. :D

But God I hate those barbarians!

I really tried to like this game. I really did. I played every game of the franchise over the years, and this is the first title that was released with features cut from previous ones. Religions are gone, as well as several technologies. Did you enjoy those World Wonder Movies from civ 2 and civ 4? Well now they are similar to the ones from civ 3; a still photo with a spoken narrative. While stacks of Death are gone, your units are limited to one per hex... good luck moving a large military force around. Its almost like playing checkers, one piece at a time, looking for an empty spot. I can almost promise that new features, like the ones cut from civ4, will be released as a DLC, which you will have to pay for. One DLC for each religion and corporation... Yeah, PC gaming is dying, and Civ5 is helping it happen.

My favourite game in the series so far. The new combat system is an enormous improvment and I can't go back to the other titles.

Civ V provides a beautiful new look to a classic series. Unfortunately, much of the gameplay is neutered and the game is buggy as hell. Combine that with endless DLCs that cripple the abilities of the modding community to create mods that work on all systems and I ask you a simple question, "Why not play Civ IV?" However, I do love the mod window that will auto-update mods as the modders update them. It if a fantastic idea and I hope other games adopt similar systems in the future.

Civilization V is a new game - it adds many features if compared with its predecessors, but it also take away many of them. The feeling the game gives is slightly different: the tactical battles are much more important, while doomstacks and epic garrisons are not.

All in all, I still prefer the original version, specially because Civilization V is much more limited in modding, and quite unfair with the DLCs. Even with these drawbacks, it's a very entretaining game, specially if you don't try to compare it with its former versions.

After having played Civ I, II and III (not IV) I have found CIV V to be less "complete". Let's say that CIV V is very good for those people that have never played any CIV game and would like to introduce themselves in the series.

But, even being less difficult, it is still the same good. I've been playing for hours without stop!! So, It is a GREAT game! Anybody should give it a try without hesitation.

This is an incredibly addictive game, with virtually unlimited re-playability. The initial set-up options provide numerous choices relating to type of civilization, type of map, difficulty levels, game length, and more. Experimenting with these settings produces an extraordinary range of challenges and the excellent graphics helps to keep the game engaging and fun. I don't normally play a lot of strategy games but this one won me over and I have now spent over 100 hours with it.

This game tops Civilization 4 on my list (although I still have a soft spot for 2 & 3). The new hexagonal system, along with the revamp of culture, units (no more stacking), and combat (conquest is slightly more difficult), may be a little confusing at first for old-time players.

However, much of the original elements of gameplay are still there, and I think this is probably the easiest civilization game to get into for newcomers to the series, and compared to the others, it's also a visual treat. I'm playing it off a decent laptop and the only part of the game which takes much time is loading a file that's 200+ turns into the game.

All in all, it's a worthy addition to the series.

Good game but... bit of a disappointment.

Civilization IV was an awesome game, and this new Civilization game... doesn´t really make important additions or improvements (not at least at the level that Civ IV was in comparison with Civ III). Warfare is better, solving the 'superstack' issue that had been present in Civilization series since the beginning (partially managed in Civ IV), and the hex-map is better than the "octagon".

But city management has been nerfed, and great features like religions have disappeared.

I insist, it's a good game, but not the pinnacle Civilization IV was.

While CIV IV will always remain my favorite, this one also provides a good amount of entertainment and features a few innovating concepts. It still suffers from some issues, mostly AI related, but things have improved since release.

Civilization series grows bigger and bigger. This one is no exception. Enough changes from previous civilizations so that is new experience. Recommended for civilization fans.

Diplomacy is probably the biggest thing holding back Civ 5. The other civs will be friendly with you, then declare war a few turns later (completely unprovoked). The large amount of paid DLC is a bit shady, but if you can catch them on sale, they can be worth the price if you enjoy the game. They are definitely not needed though.

A nice addition to the series, though some elements from the 4th game is missing. Some things are made simpler while others are gone completely.

Overall a more streamlined game experience with less depth than Civ IV.

But still the hours just pass by without you noticing

Again, the 'just one more turn' game does what it does best,locks you tightly to your chair. Game is generally well shaped and polished however there are issues with the general depth of the game. You may or may not got enough satisfaction from developing cities individually or by focusing on the research tree. Combat is somewhat dull and can become rather repetitive easily. Thankfully however, there are mods that can relieve you of these issues.

Speaking of mods, the in-game mod browser/downloader is an awesome tool for quickly acquiring and playing mods and has a nice number of available mods.

It is easily a 5 star game with a MUST BUY tag on it for any Civilization fan out there.

Having been a big fan of Civilization games since Civ2, and spending countless hours in the CivIV complete pack (even Colonization!), I was looking forward to how Civ V might better Civ IV.

And it doesn't.

But it doesn't try to, in a lot of ways. Civ V may have the same ideas as Civ IV, and the same turn-based play, but the overall experience is very different. It's also a bit easier and a lot of the gameplay is slightly simpler than IV.

While Civ IV is an easy 5 stars, Civ V only just scrapes it, as I haven't found there to be as much depth and nuance. But it's still an excellent game, and will provide dozens of hours of entertainment - per civilization!

The same can be said with every Civilization game that has been released: The next installment gets better and better. With Civ V, they've kept the elements we loved from the other installments and made them look nice. Everything has been cleaned up and easily accessible. Some elements that were problems in the past, like unit stacking, have been removed - This forces players to think strategically instead of just unit spamming. This among other changes and additions make this game different enough from the previous installments to warrant a purchase but similar enough that we don't lose the game we fell in love with.

Having bought the game, I was quite surprised how I like it. The last Civilisation title I played was the first game of that title, I think, and I was quite unsure, what to expect. What I received, was a nicely complex strategy game. I liked the hex map and the tactic approach to battles, I liked how the game deals with overextension -- you cannot built too much cities because happiness of your people drops and sometimes you simply don't want to build too many, for example because costs of acquiring cultural developments rises. If only the AI was a bit more challenging in the way it battles and conducts diplomacy... -- but that doesn't overshadow the fun.

The real disappointment lies elsewhere. I tried to play the multiplayer. It's a bit buggy, but that doesn't matter. The real problem is the failed design idea that the turns happen simultaneously. Personally, I tend to avoid RTS games -- I consider them more of an arcade than a real strategy. That's why I buy turn based strategies! And now I feel kind of having been cheated into buing a strange type of real time chess where the quicker have an upper hand. And since I have the worst internet connection in the team, I don't even have a chance to be the quickest -- my enemy will alway manage to retreat the wounded units, I'll never do. That turned the multiplayer game into a rather frustrating activity, I don't want to repeat anymore.

very nice game for all who dont know civilization 4 and just want some fun. nice graphics, some performance problems loading new rounds from 300+on large maps.

This is arguably one of the best turn-based strategy games since x-com and certainly the best game of the civilization series to date when looking at the gameplay and flow of the game. Civ V is very easy to get into and the tutorial is almost pointless because of the tool tips littered during a normal campaign, though this will get rather annoying if you forget to turn it off after the first campaign or so. This sandbox masterpiece of a game improves many of the flaws of the earlier games in the same series without the change being jarring or alienating for players of the earlier games.

There really is not many problems with this game other than some bugs that can be accounted for by my computer being weird and unstable, the intro makes the program unresponsive until I manage to skip it for example. Another thing is if you have to large a map with to many cpu players the loading times get unholy if you do not have a good amount of ram memory (if I have more than 7 players on a large map on my 4 gig ram, dualcore computer it loads each turn 30s-1min). Otherwise my main complaints are pure atmosphere and historical inconsistencies in the tech tree.

I recommend this game to everyone! If you are wondering why people play strategy games play this game, if you have played strategy games since the 90s: play this game!

It is a really great game to play if you like civ and turn based strategy. There were some mistakes but they are all fixed with new patches etc. Buy it right now if you like civ series !

Extremely addicting game!

I've only played the 'learn while you play' tutorial, and I already find it awesome!

Minor downside: that single game lasted 4,5 hours.. So if you have the time to play, don't hesitate to buy this, even if you've never played a Civ game before!

One of the better RTS series ever made. If you enjoy RTS at all, don't miss this.

The game is massive and quite complex but it is still relatively easy to pick up and learn, as the game does an excellent job of explaining everything to you as it comes along. Though, you may not learn things until you actually do it. The tech tree is a very interesting concept, as it lets you experience technology through history itself, while keeping a purpose in terms of gameplay in letting you choose your path to victory.

The AI is a little dumb at times, but I have not tried at more difficult levels so I cannot say on how aggressive they can be. I do however, like that there are multiple methods of achieving victory. Most RTS just require that you destroy everything that isn't you, but in Civ you can be diplomatic, scientific, etc.

The unit movement system also appears to be something new, with the inclusion of hexagonal tiles. This works quite well with the massive map as it allows your units more spaces to explore the areas around you, and lets you control more units per area of the entire map.

All in all, great game, and very addicting. Don't miss it.

Civilization, the king of all turn based strategy games, returns with the fifth installment of the serie.

The base concept is always the same and fully respect the 4X of strategy games: eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation and eXtermination; however in Civilization V you will be familiar with a new concept: One Unit Per Tile.

In the previous chapters of the serie you could stack an insane amount of units (the infamous "stack of doom") in a single tile and then attack your enemies. In civilization V, warfare is really different: only one unit is allowed in a single tile.

This simple change permits a more depth in the strategic approach to the war: you can't simply move all your army against your enemy anymore.

Now you have to choose carefully your path, study the terrain, leave a corridor for reserves and use more wisely your long-distance units (like cannons or airplanes). Civilization V becomes more similar to a strategic board game and the overall experience is better.

However not everything is perfect. The AI doesn't seem to understand very well the new "One Unit Per Tile" rule, so when it attacks you can easily beat it. BTW, in every Civilization game, you know that sooner or later you will be able to beat the AI at every difficult level. In Civilization V, maybe, this process will be faster.

i have played all predecessor games of this series. and i like the changes and new concepts alot. the game is very polished and the gameplay has been improved in many relations.

cities have self defence and are not overrun by a single unit. they have to attacked continously over several rounds to be conquered. much more realistic imo.

only one unit per cell (except settlers/builders and special units like generals).

hexagonal cells allowing 6 directions.

nice graphics and animations.

convenient user interface. seeing every important information in the main screen.

the morale of your citizens is not longer per town but per civilization (like money, reseearch) so no annoying uprising when town grows any more.

removed health and religon from civ4 which added complexity without fun/strategy.

you can choose perks for your civilization during play and adapt it to your needs/playstyle.

so if you are a civ veteran or new to it there is no excuse for not playing it. civ 5 is a very fun game and one of the best of the series imo.

This is not a game for those who need their sleep. From other reviews and forums, I can see that a lot of fans of previous versions of this game have been disappointed by specific changes, but for someone who is new to the franchise (like me), the experience has been very enjoyable. Menus and user interfaces are extremely intuitive and the strategy elements are fantastic. I am so glad I didn't discover this game while I was in school.

Civ V is a worthy successor to the Civilization series -- especially with the addition of Steamworks cloud and achievements. The addons are seemingly endless. This is a must buy.

Civ V is the best Civ game for newcomers to the series. Although it is not as complex as Civ IV, for example, it is still a great turn based strategy game. I have sunk 4 hours in it and I didn't get bored. The outcome of your campaigns can be truly unexpected and your games are always that. YOUR games.

It has some AI problems but nothing game breaking.

Truly a game worth buying full price. At 7.50, which is the price right now thanks to an offer, it's a steal.

was very reluctant to move from Civ 4 over to Civ 5 then i saw the reviews everyone gave it and gamersgates price. 4.99 brilliant offer and everyone should just buy it. Trust me you will play this non stop :)

This game is truly an amazing game. I have played previous Civ games, and while Civ V is not as complex as the previous games, in my opinion its the most fun one yet. I think they struck the perfect balance between complicated and plain fun. The graphics are great, as well as the sounds. You will find yourself saying "just one more turn then I go to bed" a lot! If you love strategy turn based games it is almost a crime not to get this one, you won't be dissapointed- just don't blame me when it eats up all of your free time :) !

Civ 5 feels very limited compared to fully expanded Civ 4 - the game felt quite linear to me, not an epic game requiring far reaching decisions to be made throughout the life of a civilization. As one example, the new town defences make it just about impossible to attack another civilization until catapults are invented, wo there is no longer a trade off between defence, attack, town epansion, town building and research. Now it's just town expansion, building and research

I've played Civ since the original. The newest version will not disappoint! As with every sequel, things change, such as how you trade research between civ's, etc. Great game!

Oh this game was horrible compared to the Civ games before it. Especially the way you setup the workers in the towns. They took away some of the good parts of Civ IV like religion that made that game so much more addicting and fun and you didn't have to play warmonger all the time. I just could not enjoy this one as much as Civ II (the very best one) and Civ IV and don't recommend buying this until it reaches the $5 mark. I paid $11.18 for it from the UK Gamersgate recently and wished I had my money back.

The same can be said with every Civilization game that has been released: The next installment gets better and better. With Civ V, they've kept the elements we loved from the other installments and made them look nice. Everything has been cleaned up and easily accessible. Some elements that were problems in the past, like unit stacking, have been removed - This forces players to think strategically instead of just unit spamming. This among other changes and additions make this game different enough from the previous installments to warrant a purchase but similar enough that we don't lose the game we fell in love with.

Civilization V is a great strategy game. It dared to introduce substantial changes on the core of the civilization game play and even though it may not please every fan, it's hard to deny they've introduced a new way to enjoy or at least play Civilization.

The same can't be said be the game's art, for a lack of a better word. Gone are epic movies, the music, and the awe inspiring greatness of building a world wonder. There are brief movies for each wonder and technology discovered but they're bland and devoid of a soul. On previous games, building the Colossus or the Hanging Gardens had an emotional impact and a satisfaction way beyond the civilization bonuses it conferred. On Civ V, I can't shake the feeling it's nothing but +8 gold or +10 food.

Game play wise, the changes are solid. Here's a few examples: the old square grid was replaced by an hexagonal grid, which allows deeper and better combat options; cities can now defend themselves without a garrisoned unit so you won't lose a size 10 city to a wandering barbarian; happiness is empire based rather than city based; government types and religion have been replaced by cultural traits, tailored to each victory condition.

Those are radical changes that will force one to review the old ways of playing the game. Strategies such as the Infinite City Sprawl (madly building cities, regardless of location) or the Stack of Death (stacking a deadly combination of units and wiping everything on its path) no longer work so players are encouraged (or forced) to adapt and try different strategies.

The interface is intuitive and on lower difficulty levels, one doesn't need to worry about managing every resource or allocating workers on specific tiles, as the AI is smart enough to accomplish the job. Unless you like the challenge of playing the game on the hardest difficulty levels, allocating citizens to specific tiles or manually choosing specialists won't be required at all.

Victory conditions allow plenty of replay value as each requires wildly different strategies. On previous games, a diplomatic victory was only achieved if you had an army capable of conquering every enemy and even the cultural victory required a massive empire. On Civ V, each victory condition requires a given strategy with almost mandatory cultural traits, empire size and military power. Going for war will surely mean that an opponent will be ahead on the technology tree, trying to achieve a cultural victory is to relinquish a stronger military and so on.

There are some issues with graphics. The engine is demanding regardless of your system, it takes quite a bit to load a game and the terrain is uneven if you pan your screen.

The game's sound effects are great but the musical themes are disappointing, to say the least. Instead of using soothing or encouraging tunes, each civilization has its own musical scores. It's great if your playing the French or the Russians but its an ear splintering experience if you're playing the Japanese and even worse if you're playing with the Egyptians. It's so awful I've turned off the music, which is a great shame for a Civilization game.

So, strategy wise it's a great game but it lacks the art and I'd dare say the soul of former games. Worth checking out but it certainly could've been better.

In keeping up with the tradition of the Civilization series, Civ V manages to make it self mostly familiar to its players of its predecessors while adding in new elements to give it the "Fresh and New" feeling many people are looking for.

While it lacks some of the depth of precious Civilization games and its plagued by a ton of DLC, which should have been in the game to start with, I can still say that CIV 5 is a very good game, if only for the new way combat is approached.

I don't know about you, but I did not miss the 'Stacks of doom' even a tiny bit. Battles are far more strategic now and while forcing your way through enemies with brute force is still possible, it is a costly path to victory. The more tactical approach is more rewarding.

I'd recommend the GoTY edition, since you'll otherwise have to pay for the additional civs and whatnot. I deducted another point, because this game lacks another crucial component from past Civ games. Moddability, to make people buy DLC.

If viewed as a standalone game, it is a good one and I've spent many hours commanding my knights and archers to conquer small, defenceless nations.

really funny turn based strategy game, hours of gameplay to reach latest eras once you've expanded your empire. Civilization V isn't the more realistic game if you like to follow geo/historical practice (the city of Rome in the middle of India continent for example), the diplomacy and commerce systems are a bit semplicistic in my opinion. but for sprite design, troops movement and tactical positioning is a masterpiece! choose this game if, like me, you have spent lot of hours in front of Age of Empires years ago and miss its gameplay simple taste.

If you already enjoy the Civilization series, this game will make a good addition to your collection. If you haven't liked the previous games, there is nothing here that will change your mind.

The thing that most impressed me, Was that it ran on my crappy Intel R HD Graphics card!Not many games can boast that.And to top it off i got this game in an excellent sale and paid just over 6 quid!

Not a great gmae by any stretch. Not even a good one. I don't know who is writing all these glowing reviews, I paid $15 for this game, so I'm willing to let it go and maybe play it once in awhile. Utterly misable title and unplayable without an internet connection so that Steam can spam you there adds every time you play it. The addons should be ignored, games just aren't what they used to be, nothing new, nothing interesting. I buy these these games so I have something to do when I don't have internet access, this franchise just raised the bar on scamming.

Having played Civ games for 20 years and having spent many sleepless nights over them I think fifth edition is nice refreshment. Around five years passed since last edition was developed. Fifth installment brings several major innovations such as by-players enshrined in City States, one tile only units, social system that actually evolves over time etc.

Graphics are top notch requiring 4850 or equivalent to run nicely at high resolutions. I also noticed game runs faster on Windows 7 than on XP. Music is subtle, but nicely follows game development with exceptionally busy sounds when entering cities :). AI is grossly improved, especially with new patches, but still no match for hard core Civ players. I know a guy who regularly wins with only ONE city on deity !!!

City states, often overlooked by casual reviewers, are nice addition in overall strategy as they can be really WORTHY asset in your arsenal. First, not only can they give you significant growth or culture boost but can also make powerful military ally.

One tile rampaging armies of destruction are thing of a past as new installment brings Panzer general style warfare with one unit per tile only, making fighting far more complex than before. Available buildings, wonders and units are reshuffled as usual requiring some re-learning of profession.

In the end, I believe Civ 5 is sufficiently refined to warrant separate purchase and has enough to keep everybody happy, newcomers and hard cores alike.

This game is completely and utterly BRILLIANT. the gameplay is dynamic, and leaves you wondering what is round the corner. I have not played and of the civilization games before and this game just makes me want to play the rest of them.

I am a big fan of Civilization since Civ I on my Nintendo. But when Civ 5 came out, I could not buy it right away for my computer wasn't powerful enough. So I had to wait. And I waited. And as I waited, I became worried about not hearing much about Civ 5. So when I finally got a new computer, one of the first think I did was buy it. I must say I was surprised it was so cheap (less than 20$) but after I played for some hours, I understood why I didn't hear much about Civ 5 and why it got so cheap.

Civ 5 it by far the worst of the Civlization franchise. The graphics are fine, the gameplay is easy to understand but the game itself has absolutly no soul. It doesn't feel like playing Civilization. We don't get the "One more turn" sympthom.

Don't buy it and you won't be dissapointed. Buy Civilization 4 instead which approches perfection.

As a huge Civ 4 fan, I recommend Sid Meier's Civilization® V if you want to take this franchise to the next level. The graphics are far more beautiful, the soundtrack more inspiring and certain game elements, such as hex-based grid, let you strategize in new fulfilling ways.

I also like that the leaders are voiced in their native languages, what I don't like is how time-consuming this game can be. Seriously, Civ 5 has the power to keep you enthralled for hours on end. It really is that good. But you already knew that, so why haven't you bought this title yet? :) Two other thing, low-end machines can run the game in direct X 9 and you need Steam account to register the serial and run the title!

I really enjoy this game, and agree with everthing that has been previously said, it is excellent, and there are plenty of MODs out there to fulfill your needs for changes. but i feel you shall be warned that this game requires the installation of STEAM, and, when you are used to the "easy" "user friendly" gamersgate, it is HARD to go back on it. For me the whole process was a nightmare, at some point, i even considered putting a crack on a game i actually bought to make it work. Happens that steam didn't like Avast.

But then again, if you are not afraid by steam, go for it, especially on discount, it is brilliant.

I remember the time when Civilization was nothing more than a bunch of blocks, dots and lines and yet it was still a phenomenal game. I remember playing it for hours, days, weeks, months, even years. The time has passed and the Civilization just kept getting better, more beautiful, more complex and more fun.

Civilization 5 offers a truly unique and amazing gaming experience. I have yet to encounter a game with so many possibilities and different ways to play it. Be it you dream of conquering the world using your military, nuking your enemies and crushing them with your army or simply laying low, letting your allies deal with the "dirty" stuff while you expand culturally, scientifically or diplomatically. Your options are literally limitless. Replay value of this game is huge since you can hardly have a similar game every time you play. Offering 8 different difficulty levels, Civilization 5 is sure to fit every gamer style. Be it you're new to Civilization or a hard core veteran with thousands of hours played. But where Civilization 5 really excels is multiplayer. It's hard to explain how fun it is to play this game with your friends. You can choose a free far all game where everybody is on his own and then forge alliances against your fellow friends or select a higher game difficulty and join forces against tough computer players. Whatever you choose, it is sure to be extremely fun.

I warmly recommend this game to every strategy game fan that is looking for a quality gaming experience.

I could write hundreds of pages to describe each and every aspect of Civilization 5 but i would rather leave that to players to experience it on their own :)

5 Stars from me!

Ivan

I'm a huge fan of the Civilization series, and like many, was waiting with anticipation for the release of Civ V. I'm not typically one to pre-order a game, because it's typical these days that they'll be released with some bugs and I like to wait until the first good patch is out to enjoy the game fully. After reading the poor reviews and lamentations of players with the game's release, I'm sure glad I waited. I still had faith, though, and when the price dropped I decided I'd finally give it a try. Afterall, it's been out for sometime now, so surely things have improved.

After downloading and installing, I was pleased that this is the case. I just completed my first game and I have to say it was much more enjoyable than I was expecting based on the poor initial reviews. It's certainly not as full a game as Civ 4 BTS was, but then vanilla Civ 4 wasn't either. The core gameplay appears to be flushed out well enough at this point and I feel it's at the same point Civ 4 was before the expansions. There is definitely a lot of potential in Civ 5, provided the developer learns from its mistakes a launch and completes a quality expansion or two.

There's still work to be done, though. The tech tree feels rather flat. In Civ 4, you really had to pick and choose which path you were going to flow down to meet the victory conditions you wanted. In Civ 5, the tech tree is so much narrower, the effects of your choices are much more subtle. Hopefully we'll see it branch out to bring back the real sense of opportunity cost teching in Civ 4 has. Many other gameplay features, such as diplomacy, city building and tile improvements, feel flat as well. I suppose that would be the common theme with Civ 5 as it is, that it feels a bit underdone as compared to Civ 4 BTS. The game IS fun in spite of its shortcomings, though.

The part that feels the fullest is definitely the combat. Getting used to 1 unit per tile and hex gameplay takes some time, but it seems to have been fleshed out fairly well given that these were the biggest fundamental changes to the series. Being able to use coherent formations and defense in depth adds real quality to the combat system, that felt much to arcadey in the prior Civs. All in all, if you've been on the fence about getting the series, I'd say they've had it in the oven just long enough to be tasty now. It's not quite the Civ you remembered, but the spirit is there and you'll have some fun while we wait for the first expansion pack.

I have tried civ 4 before and i never managed to immerse myself into it properly. Whether this was simply me not giving it too much of a chance i don't know. Civ 5 however seems much easier to use. the layout of the game interface is very appealing and simple to use. also the help that is given throughout is both useful and separated into exactly what you want.

Given the price it is at the moment its a must buy for anyone who thinks they may be interested in the game

The point that I evaluate most in Civ5 is the abolition of "stack system".

War was not an amount of resources battle than Civ4, and need to think about a strategy more came out.

CLassic Civ game, with updated graphics and a few new tricks. Appreciating the simplicity of not having to change my play style through the series and getting more perks along the way.

Not a fan of the baby steps intro though, will turn off serious strat gamers and quite understandably of course. Still enjoyable game none the less.

Great single player game. Solid step from Civ 4 to Civ 5. The multiplayer has small problems but with the numbers of new patches coming out, the problems should be fixed in no time. A great buy especially onsale for around 11 USD.

This is a superb game. I bought it last night and have already played 6 hours of it. It's very exciting, and features great tense battles between empires. There is always something to do each turn, and the AI is very smart and realistic. I love this game, and will be playing it for a long time. Excellent offer from GamersGate yet again!

The latest instalment of Civilisation is again a solid attempt to update the widely popular turn strategy series. However many hardcore fans have felt this iteration has focussed too much on accessibility over strategic depth. That said it is still one of the best strategy games released all year, and once it's installed be prepared for the “just one more turn” syndrome to return. The best experiences with the game are had over multiplayer, playing with friends. Go buy!

Though some of the elements in the game seemed a bit strange when compared to the earlier installations in the Civilization series, you quickly get over it. Suddenly you notice you just spent countless hours navigating your people through the ages, again!

Civilization V continues in the same vein as the rest of the titles in the series. The game is very familiar to me, as I played a lot of Civ.3, however there are a lot of accessibility improvements to make the game easier to those unfamiliar with the Civ. games. This game is well polished, and has a huge amount of replay value. The volumous DLC shows Civ. has been brought into the modern game era, and will be welcome for enthusiasts who will play the game a lot; however mostly unnecessary for the casual gamer as the game itself has a lot of content. Overall an excellent game; refined, playable, and enjoyable.

This is a good turned based strategy game. It introduces and removes some features to the series. The gameplay is exactly what you would expect from a TBS game.

One Problem about this game are the DLCs. You don't have to buy them, but if for example you have one Civ DLC and want to use it in multiplayer, then your opponent has to have the DLC to. That is in my oppinion not acceptable.

Other than that there are some minor bugs that still need to be resolved.

Civ V is still a good and addicting game.

The Civ5 is like the Civililation series become adult. City-states, more realistic barbarians and many MOD wait for you. Dont miss it! Remember! The city can fire upon an enemy, but you wont deny the call of civilization V.

Having enjoyed the Civilization series from the very beginning, it was amazing to see the difference in Civilization V as opposed to the rest of the series. The biggest change is in civilizations' military presence, with units no longer able to be stacked onto a single tile. Cities can now only accommodate one military unit, but the payoff is that cities themselves can now bombard approaching enemy units. Many concepts introduced in Civ IV and it's expansions have been culled (espionage, corporations and religion) but new concepts such as City States, social policies and the overhauled military mechanics make Civilization V feel like a breath of fresh air for the series, while feeling like a excellent fit in the Civilization universe.

A masterpiece with great depth and detail in all of the right places. This game takes all of the outstanding elements of the previous and expands, polishes, and perfects them. This is a great game, and needs to be bought. For those who care, the game activates on Steam, and is an exceptional addition to anyone's Steam collection, or any collection for that matter. Pick this up, you deserve it if you have your eye on it.

Civilization V does a fantastic job of altering the existing monotony of the other Civilization titles while updating gameplay to address significant short-comings from the earlier titles in the series. These updates provide a completely new experience to a familiar interface and game style, and ensures that the Civilization series will continue to be recognized as one of the finest examples of the turn-based strategy genre.

I bought this game as a gift to my boyfriend who loves any civilization games in this serie and he love it. It's way more fun than civ IV and it's a good game also for beginners. I try play any other civ game but after a while I get bored and stop it. With Civ V I have a lot of fun since it's easier than previous games of the series and graphics is a lot better than before. I haven't bought any dlc so far for this game but the core game itself give me and my boyfriend a lot of game time.

Personally as a veteran this title seems to me the most shallow of them all.(the series) Despite superb visuals and of course a proper programming of the game for me it is rather disappointing.

In comparison with other titles you have still many things in common but for example one huge major difference is the fact that you can not stack units up anymore in one hexfield. That means in order to take a city or so you got to nearly always surround it or defend it with more than one unit. Further on the game plays itself nearly like all games in the series. You start out with 2units, build a city and start expanding by building more cities, developing them and the surrounding countryside, trading and diplomatic actions. For Fans of the series this will be a few hours of fun but not more. Newcomers might enjoy the title due to its simplicity and easy access.

Overall a decent game with no technical flaws but a few steps back gameplaywise. Therefore on a scale out of 6 I ll give this title a 4 as well.(With 6 being the best)

great game. i played almost all the civs, and this one while i enjoyed IV imensely was still pretty good. i miss the concept of corporations and religion though.

Got to say im less than impressed with this iteration of Civ 5.

If you judge it as a game in its own rights and not as a sequal to the other games in the series then its a pretty good game.

The city management, clever combat and research make it better than many games out there.

But compared to the civs before it and other gammes of its type it is actually quite dull.

The Hex based grid and tactical combat is nice but they have just cut out too many other features.

There are very few civs comparitevly and instead they expect you to pay extra for civ pack DLC's to get the whole batch of civs (i catagorically refuse to buy them)

The research is a little dumbed down and happens much to quickly. I found i didnt bother buildng many of my researched buildings or units because i was about to make them obsolete already.

There are less units and no religion.

If you havent played Civ before this, by all means pick it up, you will likely have a great time. If you have, you will probably be bored shortly after installingi it.

In short, this game continues the recent trend of making promises and delivering dissapointing games.

First of all - this is a good game. Secondly - it's not really Civilization as it's been defined through the first four games. But if you like hex-based strategy and 4E games there is a lot here to like. Gone are the early problems on release with massive bugs and weak AI. The game is it stands today is well worth of any strategy gamer's attention, but if you feel strongly about the "purity" of Civilization as defined by I-IV then this is not for you. Also I ahve to note my annoyance that this is Steam only. It's not that I have a problem with Steam, but I dislike the recent trend of games that - despite whatever way they are sold - require Steam. If I buy a game on Steam that's cool - if I buy it in a brick and mortar store or on GamersGate I don't like needing Steam to play. But that's a personal opinion.

Let's talk about hex, baby. Hex grid, that is. Gone is the four-way movement that you've come to know and love, exchanged for a tabletop-like hexagonal grid. Okay, let's face it. Alot of people think Civ V is terrible compared to Civ IV. Those people are wrong. Civ V is alot more accessible to people new to the series. If you don't remember the days of Civ2's two-inch thick manual, you'll love Civ V. That's not to say it's not deep--- just streamlined. It takes some of the frustrations that have been around since Day 1 and does away with them. The result is a fun, rewarding addition to the Civ universe.

Civ 5 is a far better game than, potentially, you may have heard. Whilst not as good as Civ 4, it's still highly addictive and kept me up until the small hours of the morning clicking away.

It can get a little choppy on mid-rand PCs by the end of a game, however. The number of units and cities involved can take a while to switch to at the beginning of a new turn and loading the rather gorgeous leaders screens can take an age.

With recent patches the game has become much more stable and crashes to desktop are significantly reduced.

Decent game, the combat system is improved over civ4 but i believe that all they've done in this version is dumbed down the game to hell, and created a whole shitload of DLC which of course you have to pay for. Also it's a steamplay game so if you have issues with steam, like i do your kind of screwed.

Highly addictive. Played both CIV IV complete and CIV V and I must say they are very different game although they are from the same series. CIV V has much nicer graphics and the hexagonal grid is welcomed by me since it adds to the complicity of the game. I would recommend anyone new to start with CIV V first before going onto CIV IV.

the best series game Civilization .... I have played on pc much time. This Version is BETTER as CIV & CIII be gut but Civilization 5 is in this time the best.

This game is 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish

Can you play online :))

but first must you steam installer and then Game.

PLUS

+adds new political system

+Buying field near city, hex filed

+Diplomacy now can you much more make. When you be too big then others players bin angry or neutral

+new combat model is better and faster

+big maps

+game with new patch is stability

+Can you won game on 6 possibility.

MINUS

-Not video when you ended build wonder world :(

-Not Outro :/

Conclusions if you have played in Civilization 2, 3, 4 then this game is perfect for you. If you like strategy games I thing too :)

really great game for hours of intense strategic gameplay, nice graphics improvements, fun to play with friends like playing a risk game with your friends with the hotseat mode, taking turns are more dynamic and automated that make the game faster and addictive it really sucks you in, but the online is a little glitchy, have a little expensive dlc and the IA needs come improvements.

is a really good game really addictive and highly recommended, only there is some problems with the online mp on the most parts and some on the IA, but everything else is just great. it worth the money

Pretty amazing game. Sadly not that good as Civilization IV with dlc was, but it is still great game. SUrely one of the best strategy ones in last years. It gives so much possibilities to manage. You just should buy it.

Civ V is simply the pinnacle of the series.

The new pacing, the new style, new ways of progressing in the game are definitely something fans have to get used to, but to put it short and simple, it rocks!

Civ V is a good game, and with updates it's even better. Once you get used to the idea of units not stacking I actually think the combat is improved. My issue though is that it struggles to match Civ IV, with some ideas removed, such as religion, or simply gimped such as the UN, which now functions purely for a diplomatic victory. Personally I'd recommend Civ IV with all the expansions than this right now.

i previously played a bit of civ 4 but found it hard to adjust to the gameplay many of the decisions i made i did not understand what the outcomes would be i found civ 5 to be more approachable and more enjoyable.

Let's get this out of the way: If you're a fan of the series and are unsure of your PC being able to run the game, download the demo and try it. If the demo runs, you'll probably run the full game.

Times being what they are, I was running an older model Dell laptop that wasn't supposed to be able to run the game. I tried the demo and it ran fine. Not fast, mind you... but if you love Civ like I do then tuning down the graphics and waiting a little longer for turns to complete won't bother you, because this is a quantum leap for the franchise.

I recently purchased a new desktop and oh baby! This game also happens to be strikingly beautiful!

I love the new combat model which prevents huge stacks of units from coming out of the fog of war and ruining your work. You know the ones that mysteriously appeared in previous versions leaving you suspicious that the AI doesn't earn them.

And that really annoying pattern where another civ builds that wonder on the last turn before you built it... it still happens, but not as often, and I don't feel quite so sure that the AI "cheats" like I did in all the earlier versions when, twenty turns into building a wonder, it goes to another player.

The AI players still have behaviour issues. Maybe it's my style of play, but everything seems ok one minute, then all of a sudden I'm being denounced by the whole damn world, friend and foe alike. Maybe Civ 6 will include a psychatrist unit who can be used to address the bipolar behaviour of the AI players.

Overall, this game is amazing...just buy it, you'll love it.

Having played civ 1-4 and Alpha Centauri in the past, this is definitely the best in the series. The interface has been rationalised (as opposed to simplified), without really losing any of the depth of the game. Other significant changes from civ4 include:

-Units cannot stack (only one per tile at the end of a turn). A vast improvement in my eyes, combat is now faster and more realistic.

-Ranged units are now much more important. You cant just stack them with melee to keep them safe, so they sit behind the front line and need protecting.

-Only one unit can garrison a city at a time. All cities have a defence value and will defend themselves even without a garrison.

-You can buy extra land around a city to expand its borders, rather than wait for culture to expand them for you (though this still happens)

-Diplomacy seems to work better, actually yielding results and it feels like a genuine alternative to just killing everyone.

-City States. Strange. Single cities which are independent of any faction, but can be allies with them if they get paid or get favours done for them. A cheap way to get help when going to war (they always attack their allies enemies).

-Every turn you get a list of things which need doing (assign production, units need moving etc) which stacks up as icons on the right hand side of the screen. Great to stop you forgetting things to do in a turn.

It's considerably rare that a game that claims itself historical will offer such a deep experience as Civilisation V does. Most games focused on a period of time or even several periods of times fail to clearly define each playable nation, but Civilisation makes use of each country's unique historical position. And that is the greatest joy of playing this game; you are given the true, cultured powers of history, rather than some statisticalised options with plastered faces, and it gives you the pride (if you are any sort of nationalist as I am) to relive or recreate your homeland or beloved nation's glory without feeling like you are merely playing as one of the other nations but with a few, not immediately obvious alterations. Of course, this is one of the defining points of the Civilisation series.

What Civilisation V presents, however, is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Although the game has been cited as lesser than Civilisation IV, I firmly oppose this opinion. While Civilisation V may have removed some key features that made Civilisation IV enjoyable, such as the religious system, this is not necessary to say that Civilisation V does not make up for its shortcomings with its stunning graphics, its general immersiveness and its more profound combat system. And while the game appears to have been released unfinished, what with the multitude of patches being released, there is an undeniable sense of excitement at the release of a new patch, which has the potential to unlock new gameplay features and new playable Civilisations.

Essentially, Civilisation V is a defining game in its genre and theme, and it is a game of almost limitless replayability. Definitely worth it's weight.