Brave New World is a fantastic addition to the game. Trade routes especially as they add a much needed feature.
I'll be rating this game on 3 values, they are as follows;
Game play
Value
Multiplayer
Let us begin!!
Game play - 9 out of 10 - Fantastic!
Now, I'll be blunt that the only reason that this did not get a 10 out of 10 is because the developers did not take enough pages out of the Unofficial Gods and King patch and enhancement mod.
The UI could of been improved extensively but instead we have the relatively same UI. One thing for example they could of put on it was the time according to the PC's system clock (like the mentioned mods did).
Ok, now lets go onto the good.
One thing I immediately noticed was that my game loaded faster. I was in game in under 5 minutes after downloading the expansion whereas with Gods and Kings and Vanilla it took roughly 10 minutes to start up and be in game. This is a great addition to the game play as load screens can be very annoying and put people off.
Secondly, the new civilizations added to the game are very balanced and effective. I have not played enough to understand their personalities properly but it is something I am looking forward to discovering.
One specific civilization I want to mention is the Zulu. They are perfect for militaristic players and in my humble opinion I think it is about time Civilization 5 had some more military based leaders as the only ones of note I can think of are Aztecs, Huns and the Mongolians.
The biggest new feature I have discovered so far is trade routes. These are so helpful its unbelievable to imagine playing without them. You can use trade routes to make lots of gold and science early game with city states and other civilizations and you also can use trade routes to deliver food and other supplies in between cities. Ever had one city fail because it did not have enough food? Trade routes can solve than problem.
The whole culture system has been overhauled as well. At the time of this review I have not played enough to sufficiently form an opinion of this and I do plan to update this review after I learn more.
Value - 7 out of 10 - Above Average
I will be short and sweet on this. Unless you have invested a decent amount of time (at least over 100 hours) in Civilization 5 then I don't think you could appreciate the value in this expansion enough to warrant a purchase.
To really appreciate this games additions you need to understand why things needed improving. Call me old fashioned but the only way to do this is to play the Vanilla game at least once.
Multiplayer - 1 out of 10 - Crap
Its non-existant. I don't know if its because of my timezone? But every time I log onto the server list there is "nothing" there. If you plan on buying this for the multiplayer then I suggest finding another game.
Overall, this game is great and I highly suggest ownership for anyone who is willing to sell a portion of their soul to the time they will spend on this game.