Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 20

Thread: Sid Meier's Civilization V

  1. #1
    HEXUS.gaming Steven W's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    6,592
    Thanks
    245
    Thanked
    59 times in 50 posts

    Sid Meier's Civilization V

    If anyone has the game and fancies reviewing it check the sticky thread in the forum and post your review below.

    Reviews will be published on the front page of gaming.

    If anyone is really keen to review it and hasn't got the game, send me a PM as I may be able to send it your way.

  2. #2
    HEXUS.social member
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    2,562
    Thanks
    102
    Thanked
    320 times in 213 posts

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    My first game's review. So here goes nothing...

    Civilization V
    Platform: PC

    Two series in the recent history of PC gaming have had black hole type abilities to distort time; Championship/Football Manager and Civilization. Today I’ll be talking about the latter series with its newest instalment, Civilization V. This review is based only on an (intense) weekend of playing it but I have wasted many an hour on its predecessors, and there will be a lot of comparisons made to Civ 4. So it’s time to dust off the settlers and workers and get to work on grid-like world. Wait a minute, what’s happened here?

    Six vs. Four

    Probably the biggest change made for Civ V is the move from squares to hexagons as the tiles for the world. This is nothing new for turn-based games, and I remember Blue Byte (IIRC) using it for their games way back on the Amiga (Historyline and Settlers comes to mind). It actually makes the game seem a bit more natural. You no longer feel like you are exploiting the game by going diagonally across squares. The terrain looks better without having four different types meeting at one point like you can get with squares. It also of course changes the classic “17 square fat cross” of city layouts of past incarnations.


    How Civ looks with hexagons

    This brings me onto another game play change: city expansion. Whilst culture is still used to expand the city radius, it’s done in a more creeping manner of one tile at a time rather than the circumference expanding at one. Also added is ability to now buy tiles for expansion. This allows you to focus your expansion towards certain resources, and it is now not unusual to see “fingers” emanating from your cities. It also gives territory a more chaotic look rather than the structured feel before.


    The pink tiles shows where the city might expand into when the culture meter fills up. Alternatively you can buy tiles. The further out, the more it costs.


    Here I've expanded to reach the sheep resource. This tile is also a natural choke point between the mountains.

    LIFO!

    The other major change has been to remove the ability for units to stack. More precisely, units are split into Combat and Non-combat, and they do not stack with a similar unit. This means you can still use one unit to protect a worker for example, but you can no longer put some pikemen with you siege equipment to fend off mounted units. “Stack of doom” is no longer possible! It also means you can no longer use a stack of workers to improve a tile in one turn.

    A couple more minor changes also add to the way combat is now played out. Firstly, the default move for units is now two tiles; this means terrain can actually slow your units down. Secondly, ranged units can now actually fight at range. Archers and siege weapons can attack two tiles away (later in the game, you get artillery which can fire three) and are also affected by terrain (you cannot fire over hills for example). Transports have also been eliminated with land units able to “embark” and cross the seas on their own. However, a navy is still required to protect them.


    My land army crossing the sea to invade!

    All this combined changes the way combat is now played and allows for some real strategic battles. A small army at a choke point, helped by their terrain can have a real hope of holding out against a larger army. There’s almost a game in itself now with the combat element alone. The “rock, scissors, paper” of the units in Civ V can now be exploited much better. You also get a better overview of an enemy's armies at a glance without having to worry what other units are stacked on a tile.


    A few well placed units with an upgraded defense should prove to be a tough nut to crack!

    What else is new?

    Obviously, the graphics have been improved, but with a game of this type, it is not that critical. The leaders of each nation are now fully animated, usually in a surrounding that is appropriate for them (Queen Elizabeth on a throne, Alexander the Great on horseback etc.).

    The UI has also been given a bit of an overhaul. There's a lot of information to show in a Civ game, and the UI does a good job showing it. A list of events that need to be brought to your attention for that turn are brought up as icons on the right-hand side just above the "End Turn" button. This allows you to set new research goals, pick a new policy and so on as needed before ending your turn. The only slight problem with it might be the build orders in the city screen, which could be streamlined a little bit to make it less “clunky”; especially when creating a queue.

    Espionage, religion and corporations from Civ 4 have gone (for now), and “civics” is now replaced by “policies”, which are mini tech-trees and are advanced by the empire-collected culture. A small amount of the micro-management has also been removed as happiness has been transferred from individual cities to empire wide. Happiness also now affects how often a Golden Age occurs. However, some micro-management is added and you now have to set the priorities of each city yourself (or allocate civilians manually) as the empire tax rate from Civ 4 is also removed. This results you having to go around each city if you want to move the focus from production to money for example.

    Finally, city-states have been added. These are single cities that are not there to win like the other civilisations, but instead can either be conquered or be bribed to become your allies. They also set you certain goals during the game which if you complete, increase your favour with them. Becoming allies grants you certain benefits, but the “favour meter” decreases over time, so it can seem like they are more like gold sinks than anything else. Fortunately you can turn them off if you so wish.

    Conclusion

    So after all these changes, is it still Civ? Definitely. It’s evolved certainly. The combat changes may not be to everyone’s liking as more thought is required and may be detracting from the focus of some people’s goal of simply building up cities and an empire. The change to hexagons can only be seen as a good thing in my opinion. The AI is decent enough, although can be exploited a little bit here and there, normally through the new “no-stacking” system allowing to you to corner them and prevent their progress whilst at peace! Ultimately though, everything is still there as it was before. Play-styles should still transfer for the most part from previous versions as you strife for the usual victories (Space, Culture, Diplomatic etc).

    I haven't played multi-player, so cannot comment on that aspect of the game.

    Score: 9/10
    Worth buying if you're a fan. If you're not sure, then might be worth waiting until it's in a Steam sale.
    Last edited by Gerrard; 30-09-2010 at 09:51 PM. Reason: Added info about the UI

  3. Received thanks from:

    matty-hodgson (30-09-2010),Steven W (30-09-2010)

  4. #3
    HEXUS.gaming Steven W's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    6,592
    Thanks
    245
    Thanked
    59 times in 50 posts

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Excellent review, surprised it's your first.

    I'll put this up on the front page on Monday. Do you want your real name credited to it?

  5. #4
    HEXUS.social member
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    2,562
    Thanks
    102
    Thanked
    320 times in 213 posts

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Nah, forum name will do.

  6. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Carlisle
    Posts
    4,121
    Thanks
    504
    Thanked
    368 times in 278 posts
    • matty-hodgson's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP35 Dark Raider
      • CPU:
      • Q6600 @ 4GHz (59'C Under a TRUE Black)
      • Memory:
      • 4GB OCZ DDR2 890MHz (5-4-4-15)
      • Storage:
      • Intel 80GB - Games. Intel 80GB - OS. 1TB Samsung - Storage.
      • Graphics card(s):
      • NVIDIA Zotac GTX 275: 728 Core, 1614 Shader, 1340 Memory
      • PSU:
      • Enermax MODU82+ 625w
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung SM2343BW (2048x1152)
      • Internet:
      • Smallworld 4Mbps

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Brilliant review that Gerrard, nice one!

  7. #6
    Qualified Eye-Tician Iron Sights's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Hiding under a box
    Posts
    1,111
    Thanks
    142
    Thanked
    161 times in 78 posts
    • Iron Sights's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GA-970A-UDP3
      • CPU:
      • FX 8350
      • Memory:
      • 8GB DDR3 1600
      • Storage:
      • not enough
      • Graphics card(s):
      • R9 380
      • PSU:
      • XFX 450w
      • Case:
      • Antec 902
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • Benq XL2411z 144Hz
      • Internet:
      • Rupert Murdock :(

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    hmm I never played any of the civ games, I might download the demo on steam

  8. #7

  9. #8
    Senior Member j1979's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Mars
    Posts
    2,038
    Thanks
    339
    Thanked
    209 times in 143 posts

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    just spent £30 ... on the biggest let down ever.

    i loved civ 4, but civ 5 is a massive step backwards. no longer can you fight proxy wars, as religion has been removed.

    if it aint broke don't fix it. can't wait for someone to mod the game and put religion back

  10. #9
    G4Z
    G4Z is offline
    I'dlikesomebuuuurgazzzzzz G4Z's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    geordieland
    Posts
    3,172
    Thanks
    225
    Thanked
    141 times in 93 posts
    • G4Z's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
      • Memory:
      • 4gb DDR2 5300
      • Storage:
      • 2.5Tb
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte HD4870 512mb
      • PSU:
      • Tagan 470W
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
      • Operating System:
      • Vista 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dual Acer 24" TFT's
      • Internet:
      • 16mb sky ADSL2

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Quote Originally Posted by j1979 View Post
    just spent £30 ... on the biggest let down ever.

    i loved civ 4, but civ 5 is a massive step backwards. no longer can you fight proxy wars, as religion has been removed.

    if it aint broke don't fix it. can't wait for someone to mod the game and put religion back

    I have played a fair bit of Civ 5 and have many hundreds of hours logged with Civ 4 and I have to say I honestly do not miss the religion at all.

    What I do miss however is multiplayer as Civ 5 does not support saving in multiplayer games which makes it completely pointless to even try starting one (even if I think I might have only had a 1% finish rate of multiplayer games).
    HEXUS FOLDING TEAM It's EASY

  11. #10
    The Irish Drunk! neonplanet40's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Stirling
    Posts
    5,305
    Thanks
    1,103
    Thanked
    268 times in 187 posts
    • neonplanet40's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
      • Memory:
      • Patriot 32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
      • Storage:
      • 1TB WD_Black SN770, 1TB Koxia nvme
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI RTX4070Ti Gaming X TRIO
      • PSU:
      • Enermax Supernova G6 850W
      • Case:
      • Lian LI Lancool 3
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 27" U2715H & Gigabyte M27Q
      • Internet:
      • 1Gbe

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Meh i hate the mp in the new game. Its extremely buggy and slow. I got bored of sp in the first two weeks of release so haven't actually played the game in well over a month.

    When MP is fixed me and my friends will no doubt start playing it again.
    Home Entertainment =Epson TW9400, Denon AVRX6300H, Panasonic DPUB450EBK 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and Monitor Audio Silver RX 7.0, Monitor Audio CT265IDC(x4) Dolby Atmos and XTZ 12.17 Sub - (Config 7.1.4)
    My System=Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, Patriot 32 GB DDR4 3200MHz, 1TB WD_Black SN770, 1TB Koxia nvme, MSI RTX4070Ti Gaming X TRIO, Enermax Supernova G6 850W, Lian LI Lancool 3, 2x QHD 27in Monitors. Denon AVR1700H & Wharfedale DX-2 5.1 Sound
    Home Server 2/HTPC - Ryzen 5 3600, Asus Strix B450, 16GB Ram, EVGA GT1030 SC, 2x 2TB Cruscial SSD, Corsair TX550, Plex Server & Nvidia Shield Pro 4K
    Diskstation/HTPC - Synology DS1821+ 16GB Ram - 10Gbe NIC with 45TB & Synology DS1821+ 8GB Ram - 10Gbe NIC with 14TB & Synology DS920+ 9TB
    Portable=Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Huawei M5 10" & HP Omen 15 laptop

  12. #11
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    29
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Agree.

    CIV 5 is pants.

    Don't get me wrong...it's an OK game if it hadn't been for CIV IV.

    CIV IV has so much more to mess around with. CIV 5 is more like a watered down console game.

    When CIV IV came out it was pants too...the expansion and various mods made it what it is. Hopefully this will be the same for CIV 5, cos at the moment it is unplayable to a seasoned CIV IV player.

  13. #12
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Altec
    Posts
    25
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Thanks for the posts.

    Was going to buy Civ V today - but after reading this, i'll just stick with Civ IV.

  14. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Just over the hill
    Posts
    585
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    4 times in 3 posts
    • shamus21's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GigaByte GA-Z68AP-D3
      • CPU:
      • 2500k @ 4.8
      • Memory:
      • 16gb Timings 9-9-9-24
      • Storage:
      • 60GB Vertex 3 SSD Boot - Samsung 256GB 830 SSD GameFile & 1TB WD1002FAEX Caviar Black BackUp
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI GTX 580
      • PSU:
      • Enermax Infinity 720W
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake Armour Super Tower
      • Operating System:
      • Win7 64 bit Home Premium
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407 wfp
      • Internet:
      • Crap

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    i would wait until all the expansion packs are out and then some say 6 to 12 months for all the Bug fixing to be done. Maybe then the game will be worth buying.

  15. #14
    G4Z
    G4Z is offline
    I'dlikesomebuuuurgazzzzzz G4Z's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    geordieland
    Posts
    3,172
    Thanks
    225
    Thanked
    141 times in 93 posts
    • G4Z's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
      • Memory:
      • 4gb DDR2 5300
      • Storage:
      • 2.5Tb
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte HD4870 512mb
      • PSU:
      • Tagan 470W
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake Tsunami Dream
      • Operating System:
      • Vista 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dual Acer 24" TFT's
      • Internet:
      • 16mb sky ADSL2

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    I wouldn't to be honest, been quite addicted to single player since I finished mass effect 2 and I am of the opinion that it is a better game than civ 4. It might appear simplified but there is a lot going on there. The combat is so much better than civ 4, far far more tactical.
    HEXUS FOLDING TEAM It's EASY

  16. #15
    The Irish Drunk! neonplanet40's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Stirling
    Posts
    5,305
    Thanks
    1,103
    Thanked
    268 times in 187 posts
    • neonplanet40's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
      • Memory:
      • Patriot 32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
      • Storage:
      • 1TB WD_Black SN770, 1TB Koxia nvme
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI RTX4070Ti Gaming X TRIO
      • PSU:
      • Enermax Supernova G6 850W
      • Case:
      • Lian LI Lancool 3
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 27" U2715H & Gigabyte M27Q
      • Internet:
      • 1Gbe

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    Pity Multiplayer is a laggy and buggy joke.
    Home Entertainment =Epson TW9400, Denon AVRX6300H, Panasonic DPUB450EBK 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and Monitor Audio Silver RX 7.0, Monitor Audio CT265IDC(x4) Dolby Atmos and XTZ 12.17 Sub - (Config 7.1.4)
    My System=Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, Patriot 32 GB DDR4 3200MHz, 1TB WD_Black SN770, 1TB Koxia nvme, MSI RTX4070Ti Gaming X TRIO, Enermax Supernova G6 850W, Lian LI Lancool 3, 2x QHD 27in Monitors. Denon AVR1700H & Wharfedale DX-2 5.1 Sound
    Home Server 2/HTPC - Ryzen 5 3600, Asus Strix B450, 16GB Ram, EVGA GT1030 SC, 2x 2TB Cruscial SSD, Corsair TX550, Plex Server & Nvidia Shield Pro 4K
    Diskstation/HTPC - Synology DS1821+ 16GB Ram - 10Gbe NIC with 45TB & Synology DS1821+ 8GB Ram - 10Gbe NIC with 14TB & Synology DS920+ 9TB
    Portable=Microsoft Surface Pro 4, Huawei M5 10" & HP Omen 15 laptop

  17. #16
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    29
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post

    Re: Sid Meier's Civilization V

    If anyone still has CIV IV installed, get on Rise of Mankind: A New Dawn mod. It's everything CIV 5 should have been! I'm in total awe of it. You don't realise how good it is. The features it adds....to many to list...but one of my favourite is the 'revolutions' part of it in which a CIV you have subjugated can rise up against you...hell, even your own cities can rise up against you...new units, new leaders...it's amazing....AND THAT IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.

    It's just a shame CIV IV is slow even on the best PCs, it just doesn't take advantage of more than 1 core apprently and only uses 4GB of RAM I think.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
    By HEXUS in forum HEXUS News
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 09-07-2008, 12:54 PM
  2. Replies: 5
    Last Post: 10-06-2008, 10:46 PM
  3. Replies: 29
    Last Post: 05-05-2008, 09:25 PM
  4. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 19-10-2007, 11:11 AM
  5. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-10-2007, 03:49 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •