The Last Content Space Marine

I really don't know what to make of Civilization 5. There's so much of it that I enjoy, the hex based system, the fact the stack has been removed, the addition of ranged attacks, the way cities can defend themselves, the simplified happiness and economy system, the new way strategic resources work, the way units can cross water on their own... it's all really good. But you know what? I think I actually prefer Civilization 4.

Before reporting to the comment section and flaming me for 'hating on the new' please allow me to explain. I've been playing Civilization since Civ 2. I loved it. I played civ 3, I loved it. I played civ 4 and I ADORED it. For me, Civilization 4 has everything that makes the Civ games so good. It had very well thought out diplomacy, the culture mechanic was excellent, the religion mechanic was difficult to learn but very powerful, and culture flipping meant it was possible to capture cities without ever needing to fire a single shot.

Civilization 5 has stripped most of that down and put all it's extra effort into one particular theatre- war.

Warfare in Civilization 5 is excellent, it can compete with the best of turn based strategy games in that regard. War has always been a central element to the Civ series, pick up any Civ game and you'll notice how most of the units are combat units. But I just feel that Civilization 5 takes this too far. You can still get culture, diplomatic and scientific victories too, but many of the diplomatic options have been stripped down, and many of the features of culture (such as flipping) have also been removed. Espionage is also strangely absent. Nothing has been put in to replace them either.

It's quite sad really. So many brilliant new features have been packed into Civilization 5, and yet the removal of just a few little bits from Civ 4 totally changes the feel of the game.

I think if you're looking for a turn based wargame, Civ 5 is certainly a worthy purchase. But if you're actually looking for a true Civilization game, I'd wait until these features are added in the inevitable expansion packs or fan mods. I've completed a game, and to be honest I just don't feel like going back and playing another one. At all. When there's something I can do with/to other civs besides blowing their heads off, I'll come back to it. Until then though Civ 5 will be collecting dust on my hard drive.

Incidentally, if anyone knows of a good mod that adds all this stuff I'm whining about back in, please let me know. Civ 4's features + the changes listed above would equal total, unequivocal, win.

The fallow draws to a close. Two titles are released in the UK today, Civilization 5 and Dead Rising 2. I’ve got to say, I’m pretty psyched about both of them, especially after months of sweet bugger all being released.

Speaking of which, has anyone heard from South Korea in the last few months? They seem to have gone really quiet…

I’ve always had a soft spot for the civ games. Civilization 2 was one of the first PC games I ever played, and I played it to death. I missed 3, enjoyed 4 and the changes I’ve read about in 5 look very promising. The simple act of removing the ability to stack units, is alone a major difference. Now choke points will be worth holding. I also like the idea of the hex system too- anyone who plays strategy board games can attest to the fact they tend to become much more interesting when hexed based. I’ve heard bad things about the AI but let’s face it- there will be a third party mod out in a few months offering a much better AI.

More than Civilization 5 though, I am looking forwards to Dead Rising 2, especially having completed the Case 0 demo (look, it’s a God damn demo. It’s a piece of gameplay designed to get you to the buy the full game. It’s a unique take of the idea of a demo, and one I support, but it’s still a demo. Demo- demonstration, QED).

Let’s face it; Dead Rising was far from the greatest game ever made. It had some nasty control problems, the set up didn’t lend itself well to fighting the psychopaths and the story/characters where very much hit and miss. What it was though, was fun. Once you got past the icky controls and general fiddly nature of the game, Dead Rising offered a lot of amusing ways to hack, chop, dismember and destroy zombies, from death by shotgun, to death by katana, to death by lawnmower… the list goes on.

Dead Rising 2 looks to be promising even more of the same, and judging from Case 0, many of the control issues have been fixed. The final fight against the psychopath was also a little more fluid, and while by no means easy, was a fair challenge of skill that was a good fun fight. I just hope the bloody baby sitting element in Case 0 is left by the wayside, I’m all for the idea of the father/daughter bond as a plot device, but if I have to make sure that Katie gets her shot every 12 hours, I am going to be seriously, seriously pissed off. Man, it might actually be more annoying than Otis in the first game… that doesn’t even bare thinking about.

Well, Dead Rising 2 will be here shortly, and I guess I’ll know one way or the other.