It’s without a doubt a better game than the superb Civilization III, in every way. The gameplay is more accessible, nuanced and dynamic, not only in combat but also in diplomacy and governance. The pacing is more engaging and consistent. The consequences of your actions have easier to identify and the risk-reward system is more balanced.
You have so many different and intriguing options to customize the game that you’ll want to spend hundreds of hours exploring almost all of them.
But even if you choose the same game options when you start a new campaign, it can be literally like you’re starting a new game, not only because of the changing terrain and the convincing unpredictability of your adversaries, but mostly because of what you experienced in the previous campaigns, which makes you behave differently than before (taking more or less risks, for example) and thus completely changing what happens in the game.
From what I played so far (3 campaigns – several dozens of hours), it seems almost impossible (if not completely impossible) to win only through diplomacy (only doing defensive combat), at least in the standard and harder difficulty settings. This is probably the biggest flaw of the game because it can give a wrong notion about what’s more important in life, especially to younger players.
To any country in the world, the importance of having power and influence in the world should pale in comparison to the importance of: equal opportunities in education and work; equal rights, access to health-care and culture; fair wages and living conditions; free religion; free speech; security; sustainable use of energy sources and other resources; personal privacy; respect for nature; support to culture development and scientific advancement and innovation; and so on…
If you’ve never played any Civilization games before, I think this is your best choice to start, especially if you (like me) don’t have a computer powerful enough to run Civilization V properly.
I haven’t yet played the scenario mode or tested the multiplayer. I will update this review when I do, but that will probably take many months since I don’t play regularly, that’s why I decided to post this review right now.
GAMEPLAY = = = = = = = = = = ( 10 )
GRAPHICS = = = = = = = = ( 8 )
SOUND = = = = = = = = ( 8 )
VALUE = = = = = = = = = = ( 10 )
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MY GAME SCORE = ((( 9.0 )))