There's not a whole lot of information on the new additions to the Civilization 5 gameplay other than that the developers are aiming for a mix of Civilization 4 and Revolution. This leads to speculation and hype, which are the two biggest elements of any good All You Need To Know. The game is not due for another half a year, but that doesn't mean we can't wonder (aloud) just how Firaxis aims to reconcile the differences in gameplay style between Civilization 4 and Civilization Revolution. Wonder we shall, because the it's always fun to think about what a game could or couldn't do to improve itself.

The first element that many veteran Civilization 4 players will no doubt object to is the fact that religion is getting an overhaul. Religion in Civilization 4 is arguably the best iteration of religion in the entire series. Before, you merely built temples to a particular religion and they helped you, rather than having the religion actually be a part of the game. In Civilization 4, you can start a religion and spread it via trade route, and depending on civics, great people, and other factors, doing this can help or harm you. This is very much a natural and historical way to look at it, and we'll be sad to see it go. While the team behind Civilization 5 has yet to reveal any concrete details behind their religion system, we think it will be somewhere of a cross between the old and the new way. You can place temples of a particular religion, and then the religion spreads, either through missionary or naturally. This seems like the best course, but it does remove the concept of holy cities.

Other changed elements include culture and city management. This was the one thing about Civilization 4 that we found overpowered the rest of the series. Rather than having tons of different attributes, such as crime, health, pollution, happiness, and what have you, it was simplified into happiness and health. Other attributes included maintenance costs, which were increased as the city size went up and new buildings were produced, and culture, which was produced by artistic endeavors and allowed players to peacefully expand and dominate without ever firing an offensive shot. We're sort of wary about the changes here, as the missing culture aspect was the worst part about Civilization Revolution. We loved the concept of demographics and culture spreading across the countryside, and it's implemented so simply and effectively that changing it now seems to be a shot in the foot.

Some aspects of Civilizaiton 4 that we are not sad to see go are espionage and corporations. These were removed in Civilization Revolution as well, and we say good riddance. While espionage would be a good thing to have, no Civilization game has effectively pulled off an espionage scheme that is worth putting time into. The closest to do so are the Civilization 2-era games, such as Alpha Centauri, but even then it feels wrong somehow. We hope that the developer attempts again at a later date, as espionage still has not received a decent treatment in the strategy world. Then again, it's fairly hard to represent spy-work in a fun and interesting way.

City states are one of the more interesting parts of Civilization 5, and while they are not entirely without precedent, these are the first real implementations of "NPC cities." We are not talking about the NPC-controlled countries of a normal game, but fully-independent cities that can hold their own. In history, some of the msot powerful city-states include the Italian cities of Florence and Venice as well as Rome. In previous games, Barbarians could make their own cities sometimes, but they could never be negotiated with. Now, players can approach these smaller cities and deal with them like they would a nation. In a way, it functions like the Minor Races of Birth of the Federation. A group inhabiting only one area that can be dealt with like a normal empire but with vastly different resources.

Civilization 5 is being built upon an incredibly storied lineage. However, despite being the heir to one of the most celebrated franchises in all of video-gaming, there is still a lot that could go wrong. None of the original designers are working on the game in any real role, with the two most important designers (Brian Reynolds and Soren Johnson) no longer working with the company. A good lead designer keeps the vision of the game focused, and we certainly hope that whoever takes up tat role for Civilization 5 does as good of a job as his predecessors. Still, we are excited, and always will be. It's a Civilization game, after all.