Civ 5

OK, so not doing bulletstorm and haven't posted in forever, but no one reads this anyway so who cares.
Civ 5 I've found to be a fantastic game, partially because I've loved every Civ game ever made, and also because this one is a great new take on the series. Here's why.

1. Ranged attacks. This doesn't seem like too big of a deal at first, but when you change ranged attacks from being simply a trait exclusive to artillery units is a huge change and it's for the better. Ranged units aren't just guys you stack the hell out of your cities with, they're the most important units in the game now as they can dish out damage without taking any in return. When you can combine that with other factors like mounted archers you end up with great new interesting takes on combat. You can hit and run, harass, or have a mobile artillery group that's protected by tougher units up front to allow for swift and less costly dismantling of opposing cities and units.

2. Cities, they no longer have a specific health meter, which was really a useless meter that has simply been factored into food as it should have been. More importantly however, you can only have one unit in a city at one time. This changes the game a LOT, but you don't lose that Civ feel to running empires. Forts now have a purpose instead of just taking up improvement space, and Cities can bombard and deal damage when attacked. Basically, now you're fighting the city and not 500 archers that end up with so many bonuses they can kill tanks. It also makes wars much more tactical affairs in that you have to maneuver your units through terrain and pay a lot more attention to previously unimportant combat bonuses. Wars don't just happen around cities anymore, they're fought over forts and valuable areas of land as much as for control of actual cities.

3. The last reason (Though there are many more really) is the hexagonal grid. It works flawlessly. I don't really know why I like it so much more, but it just works. Units seem more maneuverable, cities seem to expand more naturally, surrounding things takes less of a unit advantage, and it just makes the game flow more naturally. Don't ask me how because I can't really tell you, but just play it, it's great.

Well that's all for now, I'll rant on Amnesia: The Dark Descent and why I think it's so awesome next time. A horror game that has you shitting your pants and engrossed in story the first run through and then whets your appetite for speed runs? I think so.