Here's an article I wrote for ProtoAttack.com !
There are a lot of things I buy that I then instantly regret. Certain universal remotes, personal voice recorders, four of the five cell phones I bought in the past two years, subscribing to cable TV…I could go on for a while. The same happens with games. I’ll buy a game because it looks like I’d like it, then it’s either horrible or becomes too overwhelming (like every MMO I’ve tried) and I can’t take it anymore. That’s right, even I sometimes get run over by the hype train. I really, really, really thought that would happen with Civilization V, but instead the complete opposite did.
It’s hard to explain what is going on with this game here. I mean, Civ has always been one of those titles that you kind of slowly back away from because it seems like it’s going to eat you. Sure it’s not like one of those crazy PC flight sims, or even worse, submarine sims, but still it’s regarded as a fairly hardcore game. I can see why too, there is a ton of stuff going on. But not once did I feel overwhelmed by this game. I honestly believe you could take someone who sits in front of their PC and plays Peggle and Bejeweled for hours on end and have them successfully play Civ V.
That might sound like a tall order, but it really isn’t. A number of sites made the suggestion that you don’t really need to do the tutorial, that you can just jump in and start playing, and they’re right. It guides you along through everything you have to do wonderfully, without making it feel like it’s holding your hand and playing the game for you. I still made my own decisions; I still went against my advisors suggestions…I played the game I wanted to play.
I guess the best way to explain it is that it’s like a butler. Say you have a butler, and they ask if you’d like a sandwich. Just because they ask you doesn’t mean you should have one. Maybe you want pancakes instead. So you have that.
The whole aesthetic of this game, from the menus to the music…it all makes this seem like you’re not playing a game, you’re part of an event. There are full retail games that have taken me eight hours to play. One game of Civ V on easy, on a small, continent style map at regular pace took me eight hours to play. In that sense, this isn’t casual where you can sit down and knock out a game quick like Peggle. Sure you can save and continue later…but you can’t. You’re too hooked. The hours flew by when I played this. What felt like a couple hours was four, what felt like a few was eight. I don’t know if that’s dangerous or awesome.
I’m going to go with awesome, because this game is fantastic. I wish I could tell you about how it differs from previous Civ games, but I can’t. I don’t know. I never played them. I don’t even know why I picked this up, but I’m glad I did because I love it.
After I conquered the world in the name of me, it shows you some stats and below them are two buttons. One ends your game, the other says “One…more…turn…” They understand the addiction. I laughed, looked at the stats and then went back and clicked the button. I thought more about what I wanted to do. I went a few more turns, saved the game and stepped away. There are two thoughts that popped in my head as I stretched out my legs and got some much needed food:
First was that Civ V is like a living board game that plays with you. It’s like Risk to the n-th degree. I immediately thought of some of my board game fanatic friends and how this could easily be the game that moves them from board to video.
Second was that this game will always be there for me. It’s something I can bust out when I need to. Sure it’s addicting, but man, is it the perfect game when you need to suck some time away. I instantly pictured myself younger, in the house I grew up in, snow falling outside, heaters cranking inside, roads closed due to ice…and me inside in my old pajama pants and sweat shirt playing Civ 5 until all the Christmas specials came on TV that night.
How would you not want to play a game that makes you feel all that?
