Civilization V - Demo Impressions

Civilization V - Demo Impressions
One more turn

I didn't know what I was getting into when I downloaded the demo version of Civilization V: I had heard many things about the Civilization series, but I had never played any of the games. I wasn't even sure whether or not I would enjoy playing it, although, looking back, that seems rather amazing. From my brief Rise of Nations phase to my love of tactical strategy RPGs, it almost seems like I was destined to enjoy Civilization. Many other gamers have felt the same way over the years , propelling the Civilization series to the pinnacle of the computer gaming pantheon. The demo gives a great feel for the game, and, unlike many other demos, does an effective job of convincing the consumer of the quality of the product.

As someone who hadn't played any turn-based strategy games of this sort, it took a little time to get used to the lack of abundance of units. In real-time strategy, you produce units fairly quickly and sending them out to die isn't much of a deal. In Civilization V, however, units will take a long time to come into being and once they're there, you won't want to take them lightly. Suicide missions are an enormous waste of time and energy, and I found my slash-and-burn RTS tactics being challenged at every turn. In this game, you'll want to shepherd units through as many conflicts as possible, and an experience-based leveling system that gives veteran units statistical bonuses helps to further incentive the process.

The game isn't a graphical wonder, per-se, but it's still very pretty. All of the units and environments are nicely detailed, and the cut scene shown while the game is starting up, looks fairly realistic. My one complaint with the graphics on the demo version, specifically, is that the other rulers have no animation on the negotiation screens. The full game does feature these animations, though, so this really only applies to the demo. The music in the game isn't anything special: it fits into the experience but doesn't do anything to make the game any better.

There are several goals to shoot for when playing Civilization V: you can try to take over the world with warfare or with your nation's sheer civic might. The demo with allow you to play the first one-hundred turns of a match, which is about a third of the length of a full match. You'll have the choice of three different nations to control: Egypt, Persia, and Greece. Each nation has exclusive units and statistical bonuses, but they all play in a similar way. The demo only includes one map, but the area consists of two separate land masses, and there are several different spawn points on each, so there's a bit of variety to be had in that department. All told, the demo provides enough content to warrant several play-throughs.

I highly recommend at least trying the demo. There's really no reason not to give it at least a go, and if the full game is as proportionately good as what I've seen of this demo, it's more than worth the asking price.

Download the Civilization V demo on Steam.
Download the Civilization V demo on Fileplanet.