Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings

Diplomacy, espionage and religion are extended this time and multiply the options of the game, which still has an amazing ability to keep us addicted for hours, trying to conquer the world.

All of these little changes go a long way to help make the game feel different. It's still that same great Civ experience, but it adds a lot more and does some smart things to change up the balance.

If you love Civ (and if you are reading this, the assumption is that you do), buying this expansion is simply a must. The people that are waiting for a sale before buying, I pity, because they don't know it yet, but they are playing half a game.

The classic Civilization quirks still remain - completely illogical backstabbing AI players included! - but the game now provides a much richer toolbox for budding conquerors.

Religion and espionage alone do not a revolutionary gameplay experience make, but combined with the strategic combat overhaul and a generous helping of new content, it all adds up to far too much time spent playing into the wee small hours.

Civilization V: Gods and Kings is an eminently worthwhile collection of big and small changes that enhance an already amazing game.

Gods and Kings enhances the base game immensely, so much so that I can't imagine playing Civilization V without it.

With its slew of new features and mechanics, Gods and Kings make a great addition Civilization V world. So if you are looking to come back, or a reason to start creating your empire once again, Gods and Kings can be purchased with confidence.

An excellent collection of new content and concepts for one of the world's favorite strategy games, once you play Gods & Kings you won't want to go back.

Gods & Kings is a very complete expansion pack. The added espionage and the new and improved religion system make this game a lot better. Civilization V has become a lot deeper with this DLC and almost all of the original problems have been fixed.

Religion is a great add-on that makes Civilization V an even better game.

Gods & Kings feels like what Civilization V wanted to be all along. It doesn't so much "expand" the game as evolve it. Strategic combat finally feels strategic, and the diplomatic game, enhanced by religion, espionage and a few new tweaks, finally matters.

Gods and Kings is one of the best DLCs ever released for a strategy game.

With the clever religion system, the renewed combat and the extra content, Gods & Kings is a must have for fans of Civ 5. The small number of new scenarios is a small letdown though. But at least the ones included kick ass, especially the steampunk scenario.

If you are a fan of the Civilization series you probably will enjoy Gods and Kings even though it feels like a light effort at expanding the original game.

Civilization V: Gods & Kings, is an extremely interesting expansion pack, and mostly neccesary. It corrects one of the biggest mistakes within the original game: Trying to understand the development of civilizations while ignoring the importance of religion in its early years. Espionage and faith fit perfectly with the other contents included in the game as if they had always been there. But while religions play a very important role in it, intrigue seems too simple and has very limited options. No lover of Civilization V should fail to install this first and hopefully not last expansion.

Civilization V: Gods and Kings has a serious price tag, but it does bring the Civilization veterans some great features. The addition of religion, espionage and new nations, gives Gods and Kings the well-known 'just one more turn'-feeling.

A very good expansion pack with a strong comeback of religion and a very entertaining steampunk scenario.

Gods and Kings is a strong expansion overall, but it fails to live up to the series' own pedigree. Religion adds so much subtlety to advanced strategies that, by comparison, espionage comes off as a half-assed attempt to add back an old mechanic.

Despite a few setbacks, the new Civ V add-on has to be considered a very good one. Introduced novelties improve gameplay by adding some depth and color. Constant spy fighting and religious competition are the elements that were missing and now the game is complete.

A pretty good expansion which adds religion and espionage as new major features. Both of those expand the game in an interesting way, and in addition there's the usual add-on stuff of new nations, wonders and military units. [June 2012]

My enthusiasm for Civ V has continued unabated for a full year now, and this expansion adds new fuel to the fires of conquest that still burn in me. Despite the days of playtime I've put into the base game, I can't imagine going back after a few rounds with Gods & Kings. I strongly recommend this expansion to all Civ V players – though you may need to jump a difficulty level to account for how powerful the new toys are.

Quotation forthcoming.

If the only aim of Gods and Kings were to recreate the complexity of older Civ games without upsetting the gameplay balance of Civ V, that would be a lofty goal. But Firaxis has gone beyond that: They've added complexity without unbalancing the game and without making Civ V more daunting for newcomers. Firaxis has walked a very unstable tightrope without falling to the ground.

Despite its faults, Gods and Kings scores high on the entertainment-per-dollar scale and the allure of building a civilization from sticks and stones to ships and Gatlin Guns never wears thin.

A grab bag of game systems to bring new life to Civ V. Definitely worthwhile, and almost certainly holier than thou. [Sept 2012, p.76]

An expansion with focus on religion. It features many well needed changes.

Gods & Kings adds some fun and interesting things to the game, but leaves the core gameplay intact. While none of the additions tries to revolutionize the Civilization V formula, each of them still manages to improve it, which makes Gods & Kings a good catch for those already hooked on the basic game.

Spies and religion are back and they are notable additions to the game, even if the latter was treated superficially and is nothing more than just a set of bonuses for your people. [September 2012, p.58]

Despite its modest amount of improvements, Gods & Kings is an excellent reason to come back to Civilization 5.

So the bottom line is that, depending on how much you love the franchise, Gods & Kings can be seen as a sum of natural improvements for an add-on or a breath of fresh air for the series as a whole.

Gods & Kings does not make Civilization V a new game, but a better one. You can´t ask more out of an add-on.

The expansion Gods & Kings doesn't feel like it changes a lot, since the extras have been integrated seamlessly into Civilization V. The game is more complete and balanced than ever. The additions make for a more calm and pleasant playing style, which works perfectly for this turn-based game. With nine new civilizations and three unique missions, you'll have enough new content to be busy for hours on end.

Gods & Kings focuses on improving the already great experience that is to be found in the main mode of Civilization V. By adding a number of new civilizations and reinstating the concept of religion, Firaxis has made the game more diverse, especially for players who prefer not to take a militaristic approach.

You'll still find AI that makes terrible decisions, or find yourself waiting forever while the game ponders through the turns for the other civilizations. But the addition of several new scenarios and tons of new units can help you overlook that fact until Civilization VI inevitably comes out.

Civilization V: Gods & Kings is a strong addition that expands and enhances the game in many aspects.

Gods & Kings finally brings back the concept of religion into the IP that the previous title had dropped. It also offers new interesting features such as espionage, some modifications regarding its combat system, and introduces new civilizations and three specific scenarios. A new content that doesn't change anything in terms of gameplay, only proposing features that could have been in the original game. If it doesn't bother you, then it will be easy for you to play Civilization for hours!

To put it succinctly: it is more Civilization V to add to your copy of Civilization V. If you still have even a flicker of a desire to play more Civilzation V, that news should be all you need to justify picking up Gods & Kings.

Some areas still need more fleshing out, and there's some things that haven't been touched on at all here that could do with some work, but Civilization V is certainly better with Gods & Kings, and there is plenty of new content here to justify the cost.

The rippling effects of the Espionage system, Religion's modifications to the early and mid-game, and the abundance of changes and other bits of new content more than justify the price of the expansion. While it might feel a little lackluster in the short term, the amount of variation it will add to the hundreds of more hours we plan on putting into Civilization V will undoubtedly prove worthwhile.

Gods & Kings doesn't tear down and rebuild Civilization V, but instead acts as a gentle overhaul that rounds out and deepens many of the game's core systems. Gods & Kings won't be enough to silence the non-believers, but this expansion will certainly rekindle the attention of those faithful to Civilization V's streamlined focus.

Quite a decent expansion pack that's been trying to look big. However, this expansion was made for a bad game, in which only a half of things actually work, and whose potential wasn't fulfilled even over rich history of the series. A value of this expansion pack is not worth its price. Even though the original game is bad enough, the expansion pack is helping to overcome this problem - mainly because of its great religions.

A nice addition to a great series, Gods & Kings offers a lot of new content, but neglects to fix all the problems of the original game.

Gods and Kings sets out to add depth to the Civilization V experience, but ultimately changes little. Despite the two big features, religion and espionage, adding more choices and possibilities, this is still largely the same game you played two years ago.

Gods & Kings is Civilization V with a few new things to do, and a lot of new civs and units. Does that disappoint you, or excite you? Then you have your review.

Civilization V: Gods & Kings improves the original experience with new content and balance, but the package lacks any major features that make it feel like an expansion rather than content DLC.

A strategy smorgasbord rather than a focused expansion of any one area.

Most Civ players will find the changes too minor and the original game complex enough that an expansion isn't necessary.

Global happiness just doesn't work, and I don't know if fixing this is even possible, considering that so many other gameplay systems depend on the mechanic. The A.I. still doesn't provide an adequate challenge in combat, nor does it appear to even understand the rules.

The new additions are all positive but, apart from the reintroduction of religion, extremely trivial - which makes this an interesting test of the Civilization faithful.

So should you part with $50 for this little addition? Frankly, no. Wait for discounting, because it's currently much too overpriced for what's on offer. Neither the religion or espionage change the game that much, and Civ 5 is still suffering from the same malaise it did before Gods & Kings hit.