Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

i'm just stunned, really. i've played probably 30 hours of civ5 now, and i keep thinking, "maybe i'll like it more as i learn more about it." or sometimes i think, "i'm just not used to it, once i get in the groove it'll be great." but you know what? i don't like it, and it's not getting any better. listen to all the reviews here (aside from the complaining about Steam) - the hexes ARE cool, and ranged units are a good introduction. the graphics are pretty, mostly, minus the mini-map which is cartoonish sadly. but all of this is totally obviated by the complete console-ization of this game. it's clearly made to look, feel and act like a console game - it's like Sid stared at console games, read some article about how console gaming is getting bigger and bigger and decided he'd try to capture that market as well. and in trying to make this pc/console hybrid, he's managed to produce a civ2/call to power 2 - a version of a great franchise that people would just assume didn't ever happen. there are good ideas here, i don't mean to say it's all bad. but it's just so obvious to me that they'd have had a complete winner if they just cleaned up civ4 a bit, added the hexes and new battle stuff and introduced the new ideas in a less destructive manner and stayed true to the platform that makes this game what it is. and i can't figure out why this didn't occur to them as well through the very long dev process. surely *somebody* raised a hand and said "this is kinda not what this game has ever been. should we think about this?" one of the other reviewers made this point, and they are right: why is it that each and every gaming site gave this such immensely high ratings, when nearly everyone else who's playing it seems to think quite the opposite? was each reviewer SO taken with hexes that they just couldn't keep focused? did they just not play that long? in the end, i guess i'm just disappointed this game isn't what it should have been. it's not the revolution the series needed and i have great hopes that the next step in Civ is already underway and that i can find enough in civ5 to wait the 5+ years until the next try. or that i can't make my peace with playing civ4 instead and skipping this altogether. i can't play minecraft instead forever :) try it at your friend's house first, or just skip it. you'll save the [...] bucks extra they're charging now, and the [...] bucks they want for new civs, another silly change to an unbroken model.