Sid Meier's Civilization 5

not played 5 but did 4, frankly if you played civ 1 you have played them all.  they are all identical just prettier

still stupid addictive though

This is among the most addictive games, if not the...

mark nailed it. They are all the same game and feel which is good since its one of the best PC games ever. 

5 does give it freshness, newness, and it is well worth it. YMMV

I have not played civ 5 myself, but from what Ive read, civ 4 is much better.  I have civ 4, and not only is it super smooth, but is very moddable and is probably much more deep than civ 5.  In my world gamplay>graphics every time.  I have only had it for a few weeks, but it is great fun!  You can buy the complete civ 4 pack from steam right here for 29.99.  It comes with 3 expansions.  Too bad you missed the after christmas sale, I got the complete pack for just $6.24!  Multiplayer is also amazing!

P.S:  If you want better graphics, look up the blue marble mod, if you want to learn about some more great mods, pm me

I don't know about you, but from what I've read, civ 4 has MUCH more replayability than civ 5, and much more "stuff" (units, reasearch, great people etc..) too.  If I were you, I would choose civ 4, unless you want slightly better graphics and eaisier gamplay, but I still think you should get civ 4.

Look here for an excellent comparision of civ 4 vs civ 5.

http://vnboards.ign.com/acf/b5258/113790566/p1/

I've played every civ game, and I have yet to have one disappoint me.

Most replay-able and addicting game around IMO.

A lot of people are complaining about civ 5 - but personally I think it is just fine.  The interface is easier to use and the functionality and customizable nature of the game were conserved.

The AI is more aggressive, and it makes the game more exciting rather than having to play out to the same victory types every time.  The more difficult settings get rather outrageous if you're bored of winning all the time as well.

Definitely team Sid Meier.

More aggressive?  Every thing I have seen about civ 5 said that the AI was very dumb, and not near as smart or as human like as civ 4.  Besides, civ 4 has way more victory scenarios than civ 5.

Hmm, while my laziness is settling in to actually check in on this, I feel like the same victory types exist in both 5 and 4, from memory.

Also, I don't know what you mean by dumb AI.  Civ 5 is pretty new and I haven't had the time to play more than a couple play-throughs on it.  Maybe "careless/reckless" is more what I was going for with the AI.  Can't neglect a strong military like you can in older games... it seems like in Civ 4 and earlier you could just kiss a(% and be fine and buy your way out of everything, just build a strong military and run over neighbors at your convenience.

Other small add ons like road/building maintenance, creating city puppets/annexing require a little more thinking rather than railroading everything and building everything in every city.  More mentally stimulating if you ask me - not to discredit older Civ games though!  I love the thinking nature of them all.

Also, I find it easier to actually observe cause and effect.

Rather than in old games where there was this semi-mysterious maintenance cost that just changed based on numbers that were either difficult or impossible to observe.

I loved 4 though!  I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression

Well, not having to be a warmonger all the time in civ 4 is a plus, at least for me.  You don't have to always go to war with everyone, and you don't have to even have an army to win the game (if you are really good)!  As for the winning conditions, I was talking about civ 4 + the expansion packs.  Remember, I do not actually have civ 5, I just read about it a ton before I decided that civ 4 was the better deal.  If you read reviews by experienced civ players, all of them say that the ai in civ 5 is much more careless than the one in civ 4.  Most of them agree that civ 4 is better overall.  Don't forget about the mods either!  They can add a lot to civ 4!

Well, I have to agree with you that it is hard to figure out which city the mysterious maintenance costs are coming from.  Civ 4 is more complex, but not in a bad way.  I think civ 5 was dumbed down a bit to make a lighter learning curve, but also a less realistic game.

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here.

I can't say it was dumbed down because all of the content is still there.  It seemed I never HAD to build an army in civ 4...

You have a point with the mods for sure!  If the original poster is thinking about modding, civ 4 might be the better choice at this point in time.

Still team Sid Meier overall!

Culture is also more diverse in effects :D in Civ 5