Rating: NNNN
Warning! As with all previous Civilization games, this one can cause serious loss of sleep and neglect of work. As well as beautifully updated graphics, Civilization V’s new game mechanics make it as addictive as ever. If you’ve never played a Civ game, here’s a quick breakdown. You are the leader of a civilization starting out as a small tribe. Over time, you build cities, learn new technologies and interact with other civilizations. You win in one of a number of ways: destroy all other civilizations, win over other leaders with your diplomacy and an election at the United Nations, master technology and move into space, build the Utopia Project, or have the highest score at the end of a maximum number of turns.
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Gameplay is turn-based and consists of collecting resources, building cities, conducting research and managing your mili-tary units. The most noticeable change in Civilization V is that the game board tiles are now hexagons instead of squares. This is an important change, since military units can’t be stacked: you must pay much more attention to how your armies move and locate themselves on the board. Another new element is the addition of city-states, small civilizations that aren’t competing to win and can help or hinder you along the way.
Despite the numerous ways to win, it’s sometimes hard not to resort to war, because other civilizations have a tendency to attack first and talk later. This is an unfortunate flaw in the game that can keep you from thoroughly enjoying some of its non-military options. The good news is that aside from small quibbles here and there, only the tendencies toward war come close to being a real problem.
With every new iteration, Sid Meier and his team have managed to reinvent this venerable strategy game in compelling ways while sticking to the core mechanics that make it hard to walk away from. A must-have game.
