Sid Meier's Civilation PC Games (Digital Download): Civilization V $7.50 or GOTY Edition $12.50, Civilization IV: The Complete Edition $7.50

I got the Civ V: GOTY edition and got the key. Hoping that will activate on Steam. Can't try it at work as they have Steam blocked off. =/

The GOTY is missing two other small DLCs other than Gods and Kings.

The two biggest differences for me were that you can no longer stack multiple military units per tile and that you must research all techs to reach the end of the tech tree. In Civ 4, you could skip some techs entirely if you chose to do, but Civ 5's prereq structure for researching new techs requires you to master all of them eventually, though you can temporarily delay researching some techs to rush others.

There are other major changes under the hood. Religion was removed in vanilla and readded in Gods and Kings with significant changes. Espionage also got the axe and was reintroduced in G&K, again with significant changes. You should read a full review to see what those changes are. Those game systems are completely different.

Lastly, the AI has been changed. Now, playing on high difficulties will mean almost constant war. With everyone. Many of the negative reviews I've seen from people who have been playing Civ 5 for a long time complain that it's pretty much impossible to win Deity or Immortal difficulty with any victory condition other than Domination. This is just what I've read. I haven't played the game enough to even attempt it on those difficulties.

Overall, many people enjoy Civ 5, and there are still lots of folks who played Civ 4 and prefer it (with expansions). Personally, I prefer Civ 4 for a strategy-oriented game, but Civ 5's simplification of game systems and more casual feel make it more accessible. I find myself playing Civ 5 more overall.

I think "Korea" and "Wonders of the Ancient World" are the ones what are missing from GOTY. I am waiting for G&K to hit $10 from a site that isnt Russian

I think its possible to win besides through domination on the hardest difficulty...

Theoretically I am on my way to it now. I started a Huge Map, free for all, deity difficulty, quick pace, no barbarians on the Earth map using Alexander. I spawned on North Africa, and I currently only have 5 cities. I am in the modern era. I befriended every city state around me, and as many of the cultural ones around the world that I have found. Everyone who declares war on me faces an impregnable field of city states. 3 teams and I are engaged in a space race. 4 others have nukes. I dont have uranium, so I am counting on other teams to take the nukes before me I already have 5 cultural routes finished. I chose liberty first, then patronage, and filled everything else slowly. Built as many wonders as possible in Sparta and Athens.

I cant tell if I will win or not because the game is so slow now that i have to wait 3-4 minutes per turn. I will update if I actually win

Will this work for Windows 7?

the expansion for civ5 i understand closed the gap a lot, but IV is still better.

I'm waiting for a "gold" or "complete" or whatever on civ5, to get the expansion with it & try agian. I haven't played it since it first came out, on a friends machine while they were out of town, and ... blech. He doesn't play it anymore either, though he still plays IV and Revolutions a lot. That says something IMO.

ADDED: though now I see even the reviews after "goads and kings" are mixed. To be fair, Civ IV really needed a second expansion, BTS, to really come into its own as an all-time-great game, before that there were a lot of struggles with AI, balance between alternate victory paths etc (and of courwse there still are some). So ... maybe I will be waiting for a SECOND expansion to V?!?

I cant tell if I will win or not because the game is so slow now that i have to wait 3-4 minutes per turn. I will update if I actually win

I haven't played this since 2 or 3. The last thing I remember is an archer defeating my tank so I uninstalled it. Is that kind of crap still possible? I always hear great things about the game but that one thing really soured my experience.

Should probably mention somewhere that the sale only includes PC, not Mac.

Should probably mention somewhere that the sale only includes PC, not Mac.

as a civ fan have to say this is a great game, and its worth it to add the gods and kings add on

I haven't played a ton (by which I mean only a few games, though those probably add up to 50 hours ) of civ 5, but for the most part combat seems to be much improved over civ4. More powerful units will often one shot weaker units as they should. But to answer your question, I never see archers take out tanks unless the tanks have next to no health left.