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| | Genre: Strategy & War | | | Min OS X: 10.6 |
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Requirements: Must have Civilization V installed in order to use this additional content Review: The Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca DLC for Civilization V (available for $8.99 USD) contains, as the name suggests, two new civilization packs from Firaxis Games and Aspyr Media. The first of the new civilizations is the Renaissance and New World conquering Spain. The other is the advanced and traditional civilization of the Incans. These vastly different civilizations are derived from the time period of the 1500’s, and both are exciting and interesting to play. In the role of the Spaniards you play as Isabella I, Queen of Castile and Leon. Her most notable works in history were the reunification of Spain and encouragement of Columbus’ voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. She is an honorable figurehead and one of the favourites of the Spanish crown’s history. As you play as the Spanish civilization you gain a special ability called 7 Cities of Gold. This power-up gives special bonuses to players who find natural wonders in their exploration. The bonuses become even greater when the natural wonder is taken into a civilization's borders and it is the first civilization to discover it. As my playing style is to explore and expand my empire, this ability is fantastic. It gives a greater incentive to keep exploring the entire map to discover all its hidden secrets. Beside this cool power-up, Spain as has some strong and unique military units as well. The first of these is the Tercio. This is a replacement for the Musketmen, or otherwise known to me as the first units with guns. This unit is substantially more powerful on rough and mountainous terrain then its predecessor. But, this comes at a cost of taking a much longer time to produce. The other special unit available to the Spaniards is the conquistador, which replaces the knight in the game. The main benefit of this change is the conquistador's better ability at scouting out new regions to claim as your own. While the Spaniards do offer a smart alternative to the other European empires, if you’re looking for something vastly different to these westerners then perhaps try the also included Incan Civilization. You play as the ruler of the Kingdom of Cusco, Pachacuti. His empire spanned most of central South America. He was a mighty ruler, and through his dominance over rival tribes proved to be one of the great leaders of his time. While it may be hard to see the relevance and use of the Incan Empire up against military greats from the western world, the Incans do have an ace up their sleeve. That ace being their strength against terrain. When building tile improvements or moving units around the map the Incans are unstoppable. While other civilizations struggle to adapt to forest and hilly regions, the Incans march right through these obstacles like they are not even there. This proved to be especially advantageous when I was playing the included scenario as the Incans. More on the scenario later. Also included in the Incan package is a special food tile improvement called the Terrace Farm. This is a special farm that allows the Incans to extract even more food from surrounding mountains. If put in highly elevated areas these farms can produce more food then any normal farm can. This allows for expanding your empire much quicker then most civilizations can manage so early in the game. Finally, no civilization is complete without a special military unit. In this case a replacement for the Archer called the Slinger. Unfortunately, this unit is still just as vulnerable as the archer in melee situations. However, with an upgrade you can have the ability to run away from targets after attacking to evade the melee attacks. Where the Slinger really excels is when it is on rough terrain. Like many of the other Incan special abilities terrain is its friend. The penalties usually associated with hills and rivers don’t apply to these special military units. These Archer replacements also serve as a good early defense units for cities. To show off the new powers added to this DLC the developers have also included a scenario with it. In this scenario you either play as one of the European powers searching for new land and a link to China from the west, or you play as the one of the South American Natives fighting against foreign invaders. To claim victory you must find hidden treasures and bring them back to your homeland. While this may seem easy with other civilizations fighting for the same goal and the clock ticking, it can be quite tough to conquer this scenario. Still, it was an exhilarating and exciting added adventure to the DLC pack. Summary: Overall the Spain & Inca DLC is a great addition to the Civilization V family. If you have lost your love for this strategy game in recent times then this DLC is a great way to get back into it. With the contrast in Ancient and Renaissance era available in one pack, it is great value for the money and a “must have” add-on for any fan of the franchise. Pros: • Double Value
• Great fusion of Civilizations
• Accounts for different playing stylesCons: • Scenario could be better
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