An utterly disappointing sequel to a beloved classic barely saved by expansion after expansion on top of community mods that (actually) fixed the game for most people. Outside of the few youtube channels with elite players who know the game inside and out (or exploit it) sitting around micromanaging their cities every turn, the game is mostly about proper placement of cities, building up an army, and then patiently waiting for the AI next door who has been your ally for 100 turns to eventually declare war on you. It's hard to believe this was produced by the same developers who released Civilization IV. Everything about the actual game is freedom of choice. There are only a few "good" methods i.e. tradition, aesthetics, and rationalism from the tree, and then leaping into Freedom as soon as the choice is given to you basically gives you the best results. People can claim honor is viable, but they must be permanently inebriated. All of the other choices outside of taking a few things from piety early on, are useless or bad. Speaking of bad, have I mentioned Ghandi? India in this game (for some reason) among many others, are actually "bad" Civs. A.k.a. they are either broken in some way, have a bad unique building or unit, or require certain tiles or city placements to flourish. Several Civs are also ridiculously overpowered. Of course none of this matters if you're the AI.. the computer controlled enemies in the vanilla game at least, are absolutely monstrous. They can out-build you on a wonder, they cheat, they can see what you're building, they know where your city is, they magically produce a larger army, and are constantly broke. The AI is ridiculous on anything beyond "King," and even then, if Hiawatha gets lucky, he will steamroll everyone. Pretty impressive for a civ with one of the worst bonuses in the entire game. The AI is so bad, that it can't even really fight wars correctly, it just has to overwhelm you. You can experiment with a cheat engine or something similar to see what the conditions are for the "why" they suddenly declare war, and it's always because they are secretly colluding with every other computer player to destroy YOU. Maybe someday Firaxis will make an actually good Sid Meier's Civ title (aside from Civ 2 and Civ 4). It's just a shame and an embarrassment that the one thing they always flub is the darn AI in what is mostly a single player game!

I would like this game but you cannot play it on local area network or online without paying for some stupid subscription and signing into all kinds of useless crap. Its never ending the amount of garbage forced into your pc to do something simple like play an antique turn based game with family! I hate STEAM!! Its like we have lost all rights to purchase something. Yet the company retains all rights for something they did not create nor pay for.

7.5/10 - Solid 4X Strategy, But Late-Game DragResources ****/results?search_query=Civilization+5+walkthroughIGN: ****/wikis/sid-meiers-civilization-v/PCGamingWiki: ****/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Civilization_VNexus Mods: ****/civilisationv/mods/topCivilization V offers deep technology trees, unit upgrades, and economy-building that kept me engaged for 30-40 hours of empire expansion—ideal for fans of complex strategy combos and exploration rather than conquest. The graphics still run smoothly in 2025 at 4K 60fps on modern hardware; AMD FSR and Nvidia DLSS support can enhance performance, but the game hasn’t received major graphical updates without mods. The music and leader interactions contribute well to immersion.However, the random map generator shows inconsistency in resource placement, which detracts from exploration satisfaction. AI difficulty is static and doesn't adapt well: easy mode becomes boring, while hard mode turns late-game into a slow and tedious grind due to long turns and slow progression. Although multiplayer servers are still active, I haven't tried multiplayer or mods, which could add variety. Overall, Civilization V offers excellent replayability for shorter sessions but can feel overly long and repetitive over extended play. Playing with expansions is recommended.