Civilization V - Game Of The Year Edition PC Games and Downloads

Released on 24/09/2010

• Maryland creates

  We love Civilization V so much that we've repapered our office in hexagons to celebrate the impending arrival of the latest chapter of Sid Meier's classic strategy franchise. We've also declared war on the office next door to us and are currently pushing for a cultural victory. We don't love Civilzation V quite as much as the state of Maryland, however - or at least that's what a report on VG247 has lead us to believe.

  Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley, has declared September 21st as Civilization V Day.

  "Sid Meier is known throughout Maryland and the world as a pioneer of electronic gaming, having co-founded his first studio in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1982, and today continuing a tradition of developing the talent and creativity of future generations," the governor said.

  "Now, therefore, I, Martin O'Malley, Governor of the State of Maryland, do hereby pay tribute to the outstanding achievements of Sid Meier on this day, July 28, 2010, and hereby recognize September 21, 2010, as Sid Meier's Civilization V Day, and call upon the people of our State to join in celebrating this salute."

  Civilization V is a PC exclusive. It will be hitting shelves in the UK on September 24th, which means it will just miss Civilization V day. That's kind of annoying.
  

• Sid Meier's Civilization V Review

  Write history

  
  

  Picking from 18 historical civilizations, you begin Civilization V with a single settler in the year 4000 BC, on a randomly generated virgin landscape where you found your first city. Over the next 6,000 years or so, from the Stone Age through to the modern era and beyond, you lead your nation as you research technologies, produce civilian units to help improve infrastructure, build an army, and expand until your empire is ready to make a play for world domination.

  Victory conditions

  
  

  How you choose to win - militarily, culturally, scientifically, diplomatically, or by running out the clock with the highest score - is up to you. Victory conditions can be set at the start of each game and will dictate whether you're an all-out barbarian type or a more peaceful ruler. While the premise might sound familiar to experienced Civilization players, the game is by no means a simple rehash of an existing - and already winning - formula.

  The game's most revolutionary update is to its turn-based combat, which is tactically deeper than ever before. For the first time the series ditches the square-based tiles that previously made up its maps for hexagonal grid spaces that allow for more realistic unit movements in a greater number of directions.

  And while its predecessors played out like the board game Risk, allowing you stack all of your armies on a single territory in order to overwhelm the opposition with brute force, Civilization V is more chess-like. With each territory only capable of housing one battalion, you need to make use of ranged attacks likes archers and missiles located further away from the battle, forcing you to think a few moves ahead of your opponent. Perhaps the only drawback is that it's more time consuming moving each unit individually rather than as a group.

  War and diplomacy

  
  

  The basic aim is to deplete an opposing city's health to a level where it's primed for invasion. Then you can send in some units to do one of three things: demolish it completely, incorporate it into your empire, or install a puppet ruler to run it for you independently, giving you the wealth it reaps but not allowing you dictate its growth strategy. It's essentially up to you whether you want to get caught up in city management or not.

  This is one area where Civilization V has become less complex and demanding of your time than past series entries, should you so choose. The city automation tools are fantastic, meaning governance never has to become a chore. You can do as little as decide what you want your cities to build and leave them to it. It's great for newcomers to the franchise, who'll also appreciate the game's simple tutorial map, as well as a series of training and advisory features.

  During the game you'll need to negotiate with and outsmart some of history's most cunning rulers, each with their eyes set firmly on victory. You'll be required to manage your citizens' happiness, trade items and land, give bribes, form peaceful agreements and wage war.

  You might choose to pursue a democratic victory by building the United Nations and being voted into power. Alternatively you might opt for a scientific victory by focusing on technology and winning the space race, but we favoured a more aggressive approach in which we achieved world domination by capturing all of the capital cities.

  Last man standing

  
  

  Familiar for veterans and more welcoming to newcomers, Civilization V's multiple routes to victory make it a game for all types of players. It's also polished to a level not usually associated with strategy titles, and by giving you the ability to play friends online and tweak each game – from length and number of opponents to map size and world type – it's almost endlessly replayable. Civilization V gives you that "just one more turn" feeling that has helped the series maintain its popularity since it first captured players almost 20 years ago.

  GAME's Verdict

  
  Positives

  • More tactical combat.
  • More accessible than previous Civs.
  • Massive replay value.

  Negatives

  • Might still be too complex for some.
  • Might be too dumbed down for others.
  • Enemy nations make some random, bizarre decisions.

  Review by: Tom 'The Conqueror' Ivan
  Version Tested: PC
  Review Published: 14.10.10

  Published: 14/10/2010

• Gods & Kings expansion pack coming for Civilization V

  Gamers will be given more ways than ever to rule the world when a new expansion pack for Sid Meier's Civilization V hits PC later this spring.

  2K Games has revealed the first details on Gods & Kings, a Civilization V add-on that introduces new technologies, units, cultures and scenarios to the acclaimed strategy game.

  New civilisations include Carthage, the Netherlands and the Celts, with the expansion set to give players access to all sorts of new diplomacy and espionage options, extra types of city state and an enhanced combat system.

  Meanwhile, the add-on reintroduces the concept of religion to the series, meaning would-be rulers can create their own faith and propagate it across the globe.

  Sid Meier, series creator and director of creative development for developer Firaxis Games, said: "We're excited to deliver this robust expansion pack that will give players countless hours of new gameplay experiences and more reasons to take just one more turn."

  The Firaxis team is currently hard at work reviving another esteemed PC strategy series with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a revamped version of the 1993 classic UFO: Enemy Unknown.

  Published: 21/02/2012

• Editor's Choice - Civilization V: Gods & Kings

  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  It's the tyrant of time-wasting, the slayer of social lives, the ruiner of relationships; that's right - it's the obscenely addictive turn-based strategy game, Civilization V on the PC that's back with even more all-conquering features...

  It's a gaming series that has been tickling, no, holding our attention glands in a vice-like grip for over two decades now as we've raced to evolve from cavemen/frequenters of Essex nightclubs to an Olympian-like civilisation fit for space travel. Along the way, we've stoked our populations, developed technologies and battered rivals to take over the world. So tight has the game series' grip become that one player recently announced that he'd been playing a single game of Civilization II for the past ten years (that has culminated in a stalemate of ravaged, embittered nations; how very Eurozone).

  And with the arrival of the Gods and Kings expansion digital download for the fifth instalment, the game has found religion (while going all MI6 on us). Create your own religion and feed off your population's faith, spreading your influence across the world. Meanwhile, slip a spy into an rival city to turn its citizens' mood in your favour or steal technology.

  

  Stretched over these two 'tent-pole' features is a canvas of other tweaks and additions; play with new ancient, feared civilisations such as Carthage, the Celts, the Maya and, erm, the Netherlands, and command your world with new iconic leaders including Boudicca, William I, Pacal the Great and Murdoch the Born-Again Media Mogul [is this right? - Ed]. Then marvel at the new technologies, units, buildings and Wonders before drooling over the upgraded naval options, the three new scenarios (including a rather fetching steampunk jolly), and much more.

  And then sit back for a moment and realise that you're doomed. Because if Civilization V was a time sink, thanks to Gods and Kings it's now become a black hole that will consume all time (and any inclination to turn off your PC). So a warning then to all you wannabe kings/queens/emperors - your old life ends here.

  Published: 03/08/2012

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