1001 Future: Civilization V

The Civilization series has been getting more expansive over the years with many new features constantly being added along with stories galore. What then can the fifth main-game in the franchise deliver that sets itself above its predecessors?

ROUND-UP:

• Developer: Firaxis Games
• Publisher: 2K Games and Aspyr
• Release: September 2010
• Platforms available: Linux, Mac, PC
• Platform reviewed: Linux
• Source: We downloaded the title during a Humble Bundle

 

• Trailer: YouTube
• Prequel: Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
• Sequel: Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
• Other 1001 title: Civilization

 

• 1001-Up: Graphically pleasing, modding support, strong expansions
• 1001-Down: A little confusing for a beginner
• Rating-Up: 1001-UP.COM AWARD (55 out of 60)

 

REVIEW-UP:

Developed by Firaxis Games and released in September 2010, Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game which features the principles of the 4X genre: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. The developer started work on the title back in 2007 and the latest expansion, Brave New World, was released in 2013 showing a long commitment to releasing and constantly updating the game. With the Linux release being made available back in June I decided it was about time I had a go at this critically-acclaimed release.

Sid Meier’s Civilization has been a staple series for the world of strategy gamers. Why have I waited for so long to play one then, you might wonder? Simply because I knew the moment I started to play Civilization V I would be hooked. I wasn’t wrong, you know? I was hooked instantly on the style of gameplay which reminds me of other titles that have had me addicted in just the same way. Populous, Sim City – these games of building, these games of unit control – they’re exciting. The merging of both of these styles of games then would captivate me but I can certainly see why it might not appeal to everyone, however.

Civilization V looks graphically beautiful for an RTS!

During Civilization V, you play as the leader of one of the different groups known as civilizations. The stories behind playing each of these are somewhat different for each leader and the pre-made campaigns are there solely to give you games without the need of finding an opponent to play against online – which is the main draw. Depending on the civilization you pick your units will be different as well as some other changes, such as the ‘Great People’ you can unlock and even in some cases the buildings.

You start up a city by having a settler create it in a viable location. No, you can’t have a city in the middle of the ocean – stop it you crazy man! Still, once it is founded it’s up to you to then appease your people and make sure you’re keeping on top of it all. You need to provide work for them, you need to make your people knowledgeable and cultural enough to get bigger, better units. As you get money, you can buy your units to speed the game up somewhat and get strategic advantages as well as buying buildings. There’s a lot to think about which can put a beginner off the title right at the start.

Although there’s a lot of aggressive AI in the game, Gandhi doesn’t take the same stance.

Along with the settler unit you have workers, scouts, knights, ships – you name it, the type of unit is likely there. When I played my first game I decided to play as the Vikings who were invading England, for reasons. As such I had access to a warrior type called the Berserker who was exceptionally good at pillaging enemy cities. Each unit has strengths and weaknesses: for example Knights are weak to Pikemen as is well documented in history. There’s a system called ‘Science Mode’ where you can shape how your civilizations grow, be it via war or perhaps even peace.

The graphics of Civilization V are beautiful for a turn-based strategy game. Their aim really is to keep the poly count of the units quite low in the hopes that you can fit loads of them on the screen, and thankfully the title obeys this – the individual units look so good for such small models! Not to mention that it’s very easy to recognise one from another, which isn’t always true of games of this kind. You’ll find that in some footmen might look oddly similar to other units of similar kinds but in Civilization V all of them are unique-looking but are uniform to their unit. As for the actual scenery this looks great too; it’s easy to distinguish what is what and to tell when you’re going to mountains and when you’re on flat land. You can see roads and cities along with buildings and animated units everywhere without it being too heavy.

The music was a point of contention for me. It works well enough, but holy hell is the them for the menu screen annoying after a while! Please note: this is the Gods & Kings main menu tune, not the normal Civilization V main menu theme. My computer is slowly ageing now so I didn’t expect it to load the game quickly which naturally, it didn’t. There were no issues in-game, just the loading of the menus and of the title itself. As such to have that loud music in your ears whilst you wait – well let’s just say I had to turn it down. With this being said it’s not a major problem as the sound effects and voice-overs for the game are superb as is the main menu’s music itself. It’s just a shame that music is so damn loud! It’s fine once or twice but to play the title seriously and hear that each time – ow, my ears! I had to keep it down low when loading the game.

If there was one point about Civilization V that would keep me going back for more is the replay value. You don’t have to imagine how easy it is to replay this game which focuses primarily on getting people together, but most importantly it does this via the internet. This means the match-ups you have will nearly always be different and the strategies that people employ throughout are so different throughout that you never end up playing the same game twice. You always feel as if you’ve got to prepare to counter your opponent, rather than prepare to face your opponent. Unless you play the same people over and over again you have to effectively employ a strategy that works for your civilization, not a strategy that works against your opponent.

The leaders of the civilizations are all based on real historical figures, too! This is a fun and educational game, then!

Another point to note however is that a lot of the innovation in this game mostly stems from the expansion packs. See, whilst Civilization V was great it wasn’t until Gods & Kings did you get extra ways of playing. In fact, a lot of people were upset at how aggressive the AI civilizations were before the expansions came out to rectify this. It’s not enough to put me off as the copy of the game I had came with Gods & Kings.

So Civilization V is the next in the Civilization franchise with much to see and do. Many civilizations have been added and many new features have come by thanks to the expansions. It looks good, sounds good and plays well – honestly, I can’t fault the game. At a push the only point of criticism is that it’s quite damn confusing for a new person to get into, but heck: that’s why we call ourselves gamers, right? The challenge, the rush, the adrenaline… the experience of playing something and getting better at it throughout time, not instant gratification. Civilization V rewards you for your patience, which in this instance really is a virtue.

RATING-UP:

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