Fans of Civilization IV were probably wondering where all of the religious gameplay went in Civilization V. Sure, there are militaries, technology, and culture, but religion was missing as a way to conquer your enemies. Well it looks like the Gods & Kings expansion pack for Civilization V will be religion back into the gameplay as well as a whole bunch of other things that make this a great expansion for fans of the series. Normally we’re used to seeing new content within a few months of a game’s release, but Civilization V has been on the market for almost two years, and this expansion is the first. You may be wondering why this took so long, but it appears as if they’ve spent their time wisely, adding not only religion, but new units, buildings, civilizations, and the newest gameplay system, espionage. It looks like they’re making up for taking their by releasing an expansion pack which has tons of content.
Firaxis has released a teaser trailer for the expansion (below), which is released tomorrow, that shows off pretty much everything they’ve tried to accomplish in the last year and a half. From balance changes, to smarter AI, to entire gameplay systems, this expansion is one of the most robust and comprehensive I’ve seen in a while, not unexpected from the people who make some of the world’s best strategy games. The expansion is roughly $30, but if you wait for one of those ridiculous steam sales you’ll probably be able to buy it for a fraction of that.
While it’s great to see religion make its way back into the Civilization series, I’m more excited to see that they’ve added espionage. Religion was a fun way to conquer your enemies in previous Civilizations, but I think I’ll spend my resources using espionage to steal research, cash, and cause general disarray among my enemies.
They’ve also spruced up the AI, making it a bit smarter specifically when it comes to naval combat. They’ve also given naval units the ability to sack coastal cities which combined with the new AI should give naval battles the gameplay importance they were missing.
As I said the expansion is released tomorrow and the trailer can be found below.
