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Civilization V Game of the Year Edition-FL (PC/ENG/2012)
English | Platform: PC | Release: June 19, 2012 | Publisher: 2K Games | Developer Firaxis | 2.86 GB
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Religion may be the single most powerful force in shaping human history. Whole nations have been built around it, others have fallen before it, and it still influences political decisions in our "advanced" age. Seeing the incredible influence it has had on life, the lack of religion felt like a bizarre omission in Civilization V. Apparently Civilization developer Firaxis agrees. In the new expansion, Civilization V: Gods and Kings, Religion comes into play in all new ways, along with a host of other features that will forever alter how Civilization V plays.
If you're not familiar with Civilization V, check out our review. The beloved turn-based strategy series has changed in many ways over the years, but the core concept remains the same: compete with other civilizations to see who can best develop their culture, technology, diplomacy, or military to achieve victory. Previously you always focused on one of these, building up resources that corresponded to science, culture, economics or politics. But in Gods and Kings religion changes up the path to power, adding a new resource in the form of "faith."
Building up the faith resource allows your early civilization to form a pantheon. This is a super early version of religion, one that focuses on nature. For instance, if you live amongst a series of mountains you might pick a pantheon of gods that take them into account. Having gods that complement your geography could result in national benefits, such as making stone quarries both a natural resource and a site with religious significance that generates faith.
Every religion is built on a foundation of beliefs. In Gods and Kings this comes down to five of them, chosen by the religion's creator. When you create a pantheon you pick one belief from a pool of twenty or so, and as your religion develops you get to pick more. More specifically, each time your religion produces a great prophet you get to add another two beliefs to your pool. Adding beliefs and growing your religion fast is beneficial, as taking a belief for yourself denies it to other religions.
The beliefs you take in your religion will have long-term repercussions, and can be used to help benefit all types of victory, so they should fit your preferred playstyle. For instance several beliefs fall into what Firaxis calls "Founder Beliefs." These beliefs include ideas such as "Just War," which grants benefits to your military when attacking an enemy city that follows your religion. Another example is "Tithing," which makes all cities that follow your religion, friend or foe, give your civilization money. The point of Founder Beliefs is to build your religion into something that directly benefits your nation, regardless of whether the follows are at home or abroad.
Other beliefs fall into Pantheon (discussed earlier), Enhancer, and Follower categories. Enhancer Beliefs give you access to things like cheaper missionaries, allowing you to spread your religion faster. Follower Beliefs give you access to things like special religious structures, which allow any city who follows your faith to build them and gain access to civic improvements.
During the early periods of a Gods and Kings game, religion will greatly influence diplomacy. Enemy nations and city-states will weigh your beliefs heavily when deciding whether to treat you benevolently, become your ally or go to war. After the Renaissance period religion becomes less important in diplomatic decisions, but faith nonetheless remains an important resource, allowing players to buy "great people" of any sort. Normally you have to use the corresponding resource to buy the specific type of great person (i.e. spend science for a great scientist), but faith can cross boundaries. This invariably makes it useful in the later game for whatever type of victory you're going for.
Diplomacy has been dramatically altered outside of religion, too. AI controlled civilizations' opinions of you used to be based on basic ideas like whether you shared a border, or if you had something they wanted. Early in the game they'll take religion into account, while later, after religion becomes less important, they'll consider your policy tree choice. Players pick from the Freedom, Autocracy or Order policy trees in the late game, and civilizations with conflicting policies will have a harder time coming to terms.
Politics are brutal, and for fighting a diplomatic battle Gods and Kings allows espionage. You can send spies into an opposing civilization, using them to gather intel about military plans, even getting nitty gritty details like what their army composition is like. Spies can also steal technology, as well as rig elections or cause coups in city-states.
In basic Civilization V you could influence city-states by giving them gifts and completing basic quests, but most people didn't bother with the quest part. Firaxis wanted to change the dynamic, making you feel like more options exist outside of winning through the might of your economy. To this end they've put a greater emphasis on the rewards for completing quests for city-states, as well as given the option to take them via espionage. Like every other part of Gods and Kings, religion has been worked into the formula as well, with the option to convert city-states to your faith.
God, politics and everything else that comes with nation-building inevitably leads to war, and fighting is being reworked for Gods and Kings. Previously units had far less health, so Firaxis has bumped it up a lot in order to make fights more dynamic. Now units won't necessarily get blasted in a single turn, giving you the option to shift them off the front lines and alter the layout of your forces to compensate for weaknesses. The hope is that this results in more epic fights, not just quick swarms of one force over the other.
Many new units have also been included, with a particular emphasis on aerial and naval units. WWI-era bi-planes and tri-planes come into play, giving aerial options at an earlier time than previously. At sea Firaxis added melee naval units, taking into account how ancient naval forces would often board one another rather than shoot, and now give these ships the option to take over coastal cities. Ground units that take to sea can now defend themselves, giving them additional protection so they aren't wiped out before ever reaching their destination. The overall hope being that these changes will make all forms of battle – be it land, sea or air – will feel more viable.
Of course, like any Civilization expansion, Gods and Kings includes new playable civilizations. Firaxis remains mum on the specifics, but did state that the expansion includes the Maya. Like what's often heard in popular culture, the Mayan calendar is a big part of how the civilization operates, and plays a significant role in their cultural bonuses.
Want to bring religion to the masses? Rule with the will of your god at your side? You'll have your chance when Civilization V: Gods and Kings releases later this year. Let's just hope it comes out before the end of the Mayan calendar.
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