When comparing Civilization V vs StarCraft II, the Slant community recommends Civilization V for most people. In the question“What are the best LAN party PC games?” Civilization V is ranked 18th while StarCraft II is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose Civilization V is:
From the players cities and armies to the lush landscape, Civilization is quite a beautiful game for those with systems powerful enough to push the graphics to the limit. Even when on lower graphical settings the game looks lush and well animated.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Beautiful graphics
From the players cities and armies to the lush landscape, Civilization is quite a beautiful game for those with systems powerful enough to push the graphics to the limit. Even when on lower graphical settings the game looks lush and well animated.
Pro Endless scenarios and replayability
Civilization V has a large assortment of nation leaders to choose from that have an even bigger assortment of scenarios that are able to play out for said leaders. Each game can be quite unique in this way as each leader allows for a different nation to be controlled.
Pro Customization through policies
Policies are used as a tool to gain a variety of customizations that benefit ones society. There is a branching tree of policies that will allow the user to pick certain aspects that will suit them best such as adding law or religion to ones society which will give gains in certain aspects.
Pro Fantastic tactical combat
Civilization V has a great combat system that feels very tactical over previous versions as there is no stacking of troops, but with the new hexagonal grid players can surround enemies as well as allow for better tactics when planning attacks.
Pro A free starter edition is available
With the Starter Edition, players can start the beginning of the campaign, compete in ranked ladder matches, and play anything in the Arcade (a mode that offers a huge selection community-created games and mods).
Pro Big player base
Has a very big player base and everyone will be able to find a suitable opponent whether you are a rookie or an experienced player.
Pro Well balanced, asymmetrical gameplay
Opposing teams will have completely different skillsets allowing players to take wholly different approaches toward completing the same goal. This makes for asymmetrical gameplay that has been painstakingly balanced.
Pro Campaign features an engaging story and acts as a tutorial
StarCraft II tells a very concise and cohesive story, exclusively featuring the Terran, with some exceptions during optional missions. During the campaign, the player is asked to make several choices which partially alter the storyline, as well as give access to some units, while making other completely unavailable. With a new unit unlocked nearly every mission, these levels utilize unique gameplay mechanics that highlight the specific uses of each new unit that is unlocked, thus allowing players to familiar with them. For example, one mission highlights the maneuverability of the Viking, an aircraft that can quickly fly across the map, killing other aerial units, and transforming to become a walking vehicle that can annihilate ground-based enemies.
Pro Gives in-game access to a wide variety of community created games/mods
Users can publish their mods to the game so that other players may then apply them in-game. This makes for easy access to a wide variety of mods and games.
Pro Has an active eSports scene
With a 1.6 million dollar prize pool for the world championships in 2015, StarCraft II has a very large and supported eSports scene that is participated in throughout the world.
Cons
Con One unit per tile
Civ 5 restricts you to having one unit per tile, but has an AI unable to handle that restriction well, and doesn't even have decent pathing for units. Late game becomes a slog of ordering each unit individually due to poor pathing.
Con Most victories won by timed or military victory
It can be pretty difficult to win by diplomacy or culture which does add some challenge to the game but it can get tiresome if one keeps winning by only military or timed victories.
Con No stats on other Civ attitudes
Unlike past Civilization games there are no longer stats on the attitudes of the players surrounding Civilizations. This allowed one to see how each other nation felt about the player, but now that it is gone one has to guess, which is definitely not as helpful.
Con No steam workshop support on Linux
The Linux port currently does not support steam workshop, and as the mac port made by the same developers has not received workshop support despite having been out for several years, it is unlikely that it ever will.
Though there are unofficial workarounds to get the mods working.
Con Starcraft I units are unavailable
They removed/replaced some of the units with new units. As of 2021 several mods of SC2 engine feat SC1 units are freely available