Civilization V, how is it now?

[Schadenfroh]

I recall the reports of Civ 5 being poor compared to Civ IV. For example, they removed / gutted espionage, religion, corporations and more and it seemed to be going through a dumbing down compared to SMAC and IV. The AI is also suspect as they say it is pretty incompetent (I imagine the higher difficulty levels just make the PC players gang up on you, cheat with faster research, production buffs, etc?)

The game has been patched many times since launch back in September. Has the game gotten substantially better with many of the game play flaws noted in the reviews corrected? Maybe some community mods exist now that address the shortcomings? I loved SMAC, Civ2 and Civ4.

 

[Nintendesert]

I'm not sure, too busy playing Shogun 2.

 

[paperfist]

They did patch it a lot and brought in better production and tile yields, fixed bugs and changed some game play rules including social policies. It's a lot better then it was if your used to CIV IV.

The AI plays better in that they aren't attacking for seemingly no reason, but I still don't think the AI has any grasp of how to use 1UPT. The AI finally knows how to sail a ship and trading is decent.

That said it's still not Civ IV and honestly will never be simply because of the dramatic changes (hexes, 1UPT, streamlined), but it's improved a lot since launch. I couldn't stomach playing more then 100 turn then, now I'm actually engaged to see what happens next.

Keep in mind I cannot play if using city states, they drive me up a wall! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if there were only a handful in game.

EDIT: If you're looking for a buy then I'd hold, there's still more patches in the works which I think are suppose to address AI. If I had to score the game I'd give it a 6/10. I'd give CIV IV w/expansions a 9/10.

As for mods I haven't tried it yet, but this looks appealing: History in the Making II
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=407768

And not so much a mod, but a wicked map generator: Perfect World 3
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=399952

 

[minmaster]

tried it again today and couldn't be happier than when i found the exit to windows button about 20 min into the game

 

[orbster556]

That's sad to hear; I played for about four hours on launch and decided it wasn't my cup of tea. I went back to Civ IV and never looked back. Now am enjoying Shogun 2 w/ Darth Mod.

Don't think I'll waste the time re-installing.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Well this sucks, sounds like Civ 3 all over again, guess I will just find some good mods (like Ryhe's and Fall of Civilizations (without the destiny of revolts being set in stone)) for Civ IV and sit tight waiting for more patches or expansion packs to fix this half-assed produced game.

Thanks all for saving me some cash.

 

[zinfamous]

oh shit, I guess I should turn city states off. I think that is one thing that keeps me from restarting my ~4 hour game from more than a month ago.

:hmm:

 

[zinfamous]

Well this sucks, sounds like Civ 3 all over again, guess I will just find some good mods (like Ryhe's and Fall of Civilizations (without the destiny of revolts being set in stone)) for Civ IV and sit tight waiting for more patches or expansion packs to fix this half-assed produced game.

Thanks all for saving me some cash.

I liked Civ III!

 

[Anneka]

believe me; if you liked previous civs this one you will enjoy for sure.

 

[tedrodai]

believe me; if you liked previous civs this one you will enjoy for sure.

No, no, no. Faulty logic. That's fine if you enjoyed the previous ones and enjoy Civ 5 as well, but it doesn't work that way for everyone.

I've tried starting a few games in Civ 5, because it came as a bundled "free" bonus with a hardware purchase. I should probably try the straight-up base game if they've changed production and yield, because I haven't since the demo was released. The slooooooooooooooow production is what initially turned me off to the game quick. I've only been playing games using an economy mod.

It seems like the game might be a little fun if the economy mod I've used didn't also include some beginner(to Civ 5)-unfriendly UI changes (or perhaps the UI changes are just broken for me). I also turned off city states pretty quick. But I never got deep into a game, and I find Civ 4 much more fun.

 

[Rhezuss]

I enjoy Civ5.

 

[jimbo75]

It's terrible, the AI is awful and I doubt it will ever be fixed.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm not sure if its improved. I uninstalled it months ago and haven't reinstalled it. I see all the DLC getting flagged for me though. Irritating.

 

[minmaster]

believe me; if you liked previous civs this one you will enjoy for sure.

wtf?

 

[QuantumPion]

It's terrible, the AI is awful and I doubt it will ever be fixed.

It's a good game if you enjoy playing Civ4 on settler difficulty at marathon speed. :hmm:

 

[Sulaco]

I bought it, as I do all Civ games, on release day.

UNLIKE all other Civ games though, I never touched it again after a week.

That was before most people had it, and before I read anyone else's complaints with the game.
If you've been playing the series for this long, you pick up on things that don't sit right with you pretty much right away, and that's what happened with Civ 5. A bunch of smaller things, and then a few major things, that just weren't up to par for the series. Everything wrong with it has been discussed time and time again in other threads, but I'll just say it was the weakest of the series, by far.

I'll give it another look when an expansion or two come out, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[QuantumPion]

I bought it, as I do all Civ games, on release day.

UNLIKE all other Civ games though, I never touched it again after a week.

That was before most people had it, and before I read anyone else's complaints with the game.
If you've been playing the series for this long, you pick up on things that don't sit right with you pretty much right away, and that's what happened with Civ 5. A bunch of smaller things, and then a few major things, that just weren't up to par for the series. Everything wrong with it has been discussed time and time again in other threads, but I'll just say it was the weakest of the series, by far.

I'll give it another look when an expansion or two come out, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Considering the lead developer ditched the team just after release, I think it's pretty safe to say there will not be any substantial patches or expansions aside from DLC whoring of maps and civs.

The real horror though is that since the game apparently had reasonable sales figures, most likely future sequels will be just as terrible as they will try to follow the same formula. Depressing thought indeed. :\

 

[minmaster]

all i know is i aint buying civ6 until im sure its a good game

 

[paperfist]

Considering the lead developer ditched the team just after release, I think it's pretty safe to say there will not be any substantial patches or expansions aside from DLC whoring of maps and civs.

The real horror though is that since the game apparently had reasonable sales figures, most likely future sequels will be just as terrible as they will try to follow the same formula. Depressing thought indeed. :\

Actually one of the better patches came out after Shafer left There's more in the works as well. No doubt though they continue to stroll down the DLC whoring road.

I liked Civ III!

Me too! It almost seems like more people hate III compared to V and the only horrible thing I didn't like about that game was the crushing corruption you had to deal with if you expanded too much.

 

[sandorski]

Those who think it's great are generally new to the franchise.

Those who hate it are generally Civ veterans who started from 1 or 2.

I tried the Demo and just couldn't get into it. What was enthusiasm and a desire to Buy on Release day, turned to Disappoint and not even going to pickup when it hits the Bargain Bin.

 

[bentheman939]

Terrible, terrible game. No fun. Stick with IV

 

[Acanthus]

They have dramatically improved upon the AI and tile yield issues that were the primary complaints on launch.

It still needs some work but i have a lot of fun actually playing the game now.

I would say that it's a 8/10 title now. Hopefully continual improvement with patches will help bring it up to the level of civ4.

 

[child of wonder]

In terms of complexity and management, Civ V falls short of Civ IV. However, Civ V is still an enjoyable game and I've found when playing against a friend I don't have to devote nearly 16 hours to get through a game, unlike Civ IV.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Well, it looks like 2K Games is having a sale on Civ5 today, 40% off on steam, bringing it to $30. I might consider if it was $15, looks like I need to hold off till an expansion pack revamp.

 

[Barfo]

lol, looks like they haven't been able to top Civ 2 yet