So after a lot of disappointment with Civ 5 I decided to take the advice of a fellow forum member and download the complete civ IV pack on steam for 6 bucks. First thoughts about the infrastructure and play style was very good. I love how religion and happiness were implemented.

But holy mother of god... this game has to have the worst combat system in the history of gaming. Computers roaming around with stacks of 50 units endlessly bombarding my city... I think I went afk for 5 minutes and came back and they were still at it. There must be some kind of trick to it because the computer and I got locked into an endless, boring stalemate of huge piles of men crashing into one another.

Final thoughts: Take religion, tile improvements, tech trees, wonders, and happiness mechanics from civ IV and tie them together with the UI, graphics, and combat of Civ 5 and you would have an awesome game.... couldn't emphasis that more!