We kinda did, on the 3rd easier difficulty setting. The game has potential. It has some very fun elements that now I know I want to see in all my future Civ games... The strategy aspect of combat, for example, is a lot more fun than previously.
What I don't like, however, is the simple sheer lack of data provided to you. They decided to go with the more "streamlined" UI so in vogue in all fraking games. They seem to have forgot that THIS IS CIVILIZATION! You need inputs. You need easy access to the encyclopedia. I tried to figure out where the Cattle ressources appeared on my screens, simply not to find it. I tried to find the "search" option, simply not to find it. I finally looked out on the next to find up that food ressources simply gives out a bonus on the tile, and nothing more.
*grumph*
I like the mechanic of Puppet states, which is a relief for micro-management. I hate the new diplomacy system, as you have no idea what you are doing right or wrong. I am ambivalent regarding the new Civics system, as it's nice to actually having to work hard to personnalise your civilisation, but I hate the fact that you can't change the choices you've made.
But it's a game that needs more polish.. or maybe less polish, actually. The game is simply too... .... smooth. They streamlined everything, I had fun playing for the first 2 hours, but afterwhile, we just started a war with the U.S. simply to out-bore ourselves (the fact that they built a city right between my capital and the rest of my empire didn't helped. I had to
The new cultural expansion is so great. I mean, that's exactly the kind of stuff I want to see in my futur Civ-like games, where the culture progress tile by tile, and you can actually force-buy cultural expansions rather than wait for natural cultural development. It actually justify the whole Land-grab France did during thec olonial era, and why they ended up being much larger, but much weaker than the English colonies.
All in all, the game is simply lacking really nice stuff. But it sits on VERY strong fundamentals, which I believe make it worth buying now so the devs will work on additional expansions to add more stuff, and patch the annoyances. Also, the game seems to be much more Mod-friendly than it's predecessor, with a already built-in Mod interface, which is a good news, since fan-made mechanics are usually better than dev-made.
Anybody wants to add their 2 golds?
