Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 701 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 609 out of 701
  2. Mixed: 51 out of 701
  3. Negative: 41 out of 701
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  1. Dilrod
    Oct 17, 2013
    1
    I really don't understand why the hell people are liking this game! They must not have played Civ IV. It barely adds anything to civ, whereas it takes away about half of the tech tree AND diplomacy. WHY CAN'T I SEE WHAT A RULER THINKS ABOUT ANOTHER CIVILIZATION. There are basic diplomatic necessities they've completely removed from the game. I guess I'm reviewing Civ 5 more than I am BraveI really don't understand why the hell people are liking this game! They must not have played Civ IV. It barely adds anything to civ, whereas it takes away about half of the tech tree AND diplomacy. WHY CAN'T I SEE WHAT A RULER THINKS ABOUT ANOTHER CIVILIZATION. There are basic diplomatic necessities they've completely removed from the game. I guess I'm reviewing Civ 5 more than I am Brave New World, but Jesus Christ it's only worsened because the game basically came out in 2 different parts. At this point you'd have to spend about 80 bucks to play Civilization in full. Sure, you can spend 30, and then get about half the civs, plus NO RELIGION. Civ 4 had religions, albeit much simpler than in Brave New World. Why the hell isn't that in Civ 5???
    Here are some other things they added to the glorious Civilization franchise: every unit can become amphibious now, God knows how, they just turn into boats and sail across a lake, cities can directly attack marauders (no more pillaging, sorry!), no stacking units (I could understand a unit stack cap, but only one per tile??? WHY? Now my entire army not only costs a massive amount of money, but I can't find a place to put the bloody thing). Seriously, if you're a Civ 4 player, can't you imagine how difficult it is to move EVERY SINGLE UNIT SEPARATELY IN AN ENTIRE ARMY. The game sucks, I don't understand the reviews at this point. I'm going back to Civ 4.    … Expand
  2. Fulghn
    Jul 17, 2013
    1
    Civilization V has lost so much of the gameplay that made earlier civ games what they were. Strategic gameplay has been replaced by religion, trade, and other ridiculous mini-games which overly influence win conditions. The Civ V AI leaders have been psychotic from the beginning with dumbed down conditions which cause them to stay forever friendly, attack for no apparent reason orCivilization V has lost so much of the gameplay that made earlier civ games what they were. Strategic gameplay has been replaced by religion, trade, and other ridiculous mini-games which overly influence win conditions. The Civ V AI leaders have been psychotic from the beginning with dumbed down conditions which cause them to stay forever friendly, attack for no apparent reason or otherwise seem idiotic compared to past Civ games.

    2K games participation with Valve in bilking preorder customers by putting the game on sale at a substantially reduced price immediately after release is shameful. Their further thowing old Civ IV copies at those unhappy is insulting.

    The glory days of a once great franchise seem to be over replaced by laziness and greed.    … Expand
  3. Leftyxdd
    Jun 27, 2014
    0
    When 2 Civilizations build a Wonder in the same turn, the first player that entered the room in Multiplayer will build it, and the other player will just lose it. Frustrating.
  4. Seryin
    Dec 16, 2013
    3
    Civ 5 is a great game, but I will be frank with my issue: Brave New World is NO WHERE EVEN CLOSE to 30 bucks worth of new content. Firaxis or 2k, whoever is responsible for the pricetag of these expansions, NEEDS TO STOP THIS RIDICULOUSNESS!
    Considering the base game's price tag, and the fact that this is pathetically considered a "rich man's game," these expansions should be priced no    Civ 5 is a great game, but I will be frank with my issue: Brave New World is NO WHERE EVEN CLOSE to 30 bucks worth of new content. Firaxis or 2k, whoever is responsible for the pricetag of these expansions, NEEDS TO STOP THIS RIDICULOUSNESS!
    Considering the base game's price tag, and the fact that this is pathetically considered a "rich man's game," these expansions should be priced no more than 15 bucks.

    I would prefer to give this expansion a 0/10 for the absurd pricing vs. content, but cannot deny the intuitive, but SIMPLE changes in this expansion that make the base game even better...So I will toss it a couple.    … Expand
  5. CivHater
    Apr 10, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has the distinction of being the most frustrating I've ever seen. It must have been designed with the explicit goal of giving the player an ulcer. Sure it's feature-rich, but the gameplay itself is layer upon intricate layer of nuisance. You have to keep track of dozens of different factors and events at once and every possible way the game could be made more difficult has been done. All this makes Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World, about as entertaining as trying to solve a Rubix Cube (with a broken elbow). Firaxis has sucked the fun out of the whole series. After playing more than 20 times and not having one enjoyable game, I think my ten-year fanship of Civilization is over.

    A precis:
    • Firaxis powered the holy hell out of Barbarians. Expect to spend half the game fighting them off left, right, up and down, and for encampments to respawn exactly where you just cleared them, and to spin off a new Barbarian unit every two or three turns, it feels like.
    • Firaxis changed most Social Policies, essentially making them complex and useless. If Social Policies were your security blanket for Happiness and Gold, get ready to tear your hair out.
    • What the 'World Congress' usually does is 'ban' your luxuries one after another, devastating your Happiness and causing civil war.
    • Firaxis has definitely made unit upkeep more expensive. After even a few units you'll find that deleting one saves 5-7 gold per turn. Ridiculous. Try to keep a good standing army for all these Barbarians and the highly arbitrary declarations of war, and you'll run a deep deficit, mess up your research and then find your units spontaneously disbanding.

    In short, this is a game you'll need to play for about 400 hours before you figure out how to have any fun. It's honestly just a way to stress yourself out. Now you know why there are walkthroughs the size of encyclopedias, instructional YouTube channels, and obsessive message boards all dedicated to gaming nerds who make it the object of their lives to beat Civ V. If you're not willing to make that commitment (which most normal human beings are not) throw the CD out the window and never buy a Civ installment again.    … Expand
  6. Mike_M
    Sep 6, 2013
    0
    Brave New World crashes.

    Brave New World incorporates the Religion and Espionage features from Gods & Kings.
    So many features of both expansions are neither pleasant nor interesting. Save your money.
  7. Qgal5kap
    Jul 29, 2013
    3
    In many ways this update makes the game better than it was, as a stand alone release.
    Sadly though, it doesn't make it a better strategy game. It's just too easy,
    too predictable, and winning doesn't feel good at all. It's just the end of a long, boring grind. It's really funny how you can have virtually no army, and if you get swarmed by the enemy, you can just build a few, and    In many ways this update makes the game better than it was, as a stand alone release.
    Sadly though, it doesn't make it a better strategy game. It's just too easy,
    too predictable, and winning doesn't feel good at all. It's just the end of a long,
    boring grind.

    It's really funny how you can have virtually no army, and if you get swarmed
    by the enemy, you can just build a few, and survive. In my previous game, I took
    out 20 cities using only six units, at the same tech level as my opponent.

    The problem is how amazingly stupid the AI is. It makes so many mistakes,
    which ruin the experience for me.

    Big tip if you want to take down an empire with six units, is having four landships, and two artillery units.
    With that you can annihilate your enemy with ease, if you make sure to retreat every now and then,
    to heal up.    … Expand
  8. bender-san
    Dec 16, 2013
    0
    The complexity of Brave New World is wonderful. Now, if Firaxis could only figure out how to fix that pesky little 100% game crash rate with this expansion installed it would be worth owning. Since it currently makes Civ 5 unplayable, I'll rate it accordingly.
  9. Crimson
    Jul 25, 2013
    0
    Save the cash and skip this. The game was made worse in every way. The AI isn't any smarter, and now has even larger bonuses. The early game is even more random, with victory having more to do with starting location/civ than anything else. Unhappiness is now a huge issue mid to late game, pretty much crippling any expansion past 5 cities. There's more to click on, more things toSave the cash and skip this. The game was made worse in every way. The AI isn't any smarter, and now has even larger bonuses. The early game is even more random, with victory having more to do with starting location/civ than anything else. Unhappiness is now a huge issue mid to late game, pretty much crippling any expansion past 5 cities. There's more to click on, more things to micro, but they have no real effect on the game. Rather its now significantly more annoying. So far more work, for less fun, less balance, and less strategy.… Expand
  10. Velia
    Apr 10, 2014
    0
    This expac made an already painful game worse by giving out more of the same: It boasts more bugs, more crashes, more freezes, and more repetitive busy work. The addition of caravans and cargo ships was the worst thing added to any Civ game, ever. It adds nothing to the game, and takes a lot away.
  11. karenaga
    Nov 29, 2014
    0
    It was my favorite game ,until the patch was issued on 27.10.2014 and multiplayer was broken.There was no any apologize from Firaxis and 2K and no even published approximate date of recovery.So my score is the worst possible!!!

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PC Game of 2013
74
#74 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 55
  3. Negative: 1 out of 55
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 7, 2013
    83
    THe Brave New World add-on has a lot of good new stuff: cold war, better cultural victory rules, world congress, archeology… I only wish the AI would be better in battles. [Aug 2013]
  2. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    90
    Brave New World is without a doubt the best expansion to Civilization V. The core gameplay modes and win states has received great and well needed updates which gives a more varied and balanced experience. Of course there is still some dead air during the game sessions but the new content will disappoint no one. Even if it is three years old Civilization V is with this expansion still one of the best ways to combine entertainment with education.
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  3. Eurogamer Portugal
    Aug 19, 2013
    80
    It is easily the best additional content so far, although it seems to lack balance because there are several civilizations that are not considered in multiplayer.
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