The Civilization Franchise, arguably the most successful PC gaming series in all of history, is finally releasing the next installment into the series Civilization V, but, unlike Civilization II to IV, this version will have the most revolutionary changes to the entire system for players, and here are some of the alterations: (1) The gameplay will no longer be upon a rectangular world but a hexagonal world. (2) The entire combat system is revised. Unit stacking is eliminated. Cities can attack on their own, and they can have one unit to defend. Units now take multiple lost battles to perish. Therefore, actual strategy will now have to substitute the overwhelm-the-enemy doctrine with stacked units that many Civilization fanatics have held for prior games. (3) The civics system is revised once more with a social policies system. (4) The goodie huts are now replaced with ruins. (5) City-states make their first appearance into the Civilization Franchise. City-states are culturally advanced cities that, although do not wish to become an empire of their own, do play a large role in diplomacy come this time. (6) The graphics have drastically improved, though this improvement may make the game unplayable for some players with an overwhelmed PC. (7) Diplomacy is much more in-depth and realistic, such as the ability to form a, "Pact of Secrecy," which clearly has a historical importance, as in being a cause of World War I. (8) Gold, research, and culture are now separate entities. (9) Happiness is now a universal trait of a civilization, not of a city. Although the expedience of this all is debatable, some people are already outraged over the fact that Australians must pay $30 more to attain the game than Americans. 2K Games has yet to comment on the recent controversy. Whether or not the game will live up to its predecessors, we shall all be able to form our own opinions about Civilization V come September 21, 2010 or September 24, 2010 for non-American members.
I will consider getting this game, as my copy of Civilization 3 is starting to get quite old. I will have to see how the game turns out, but I am hoping for a solid game.
I've never actually played Civilization, as in any of them. Everyone was raving about it though the other week when we were trying to design a game. Ended up coming out with something fairly similar apparently...
I didn't like Civ 4 either but was addicted to Civ 3 when it first came out. This news makes me want to get back into gaming.
I love the Civ series, and have followed it for awhile. I still remember Civ 1, ahhhh the good old days.