Conquer Azeroth in Civilization 5
by Gregg Reece 
Nov 6th 2010 at 2:00PM
The map is actually very accurate, with precisely placed bodies of water and coastlines and small details like purple creep in Silithus. There are also details like Thoradin's Wall and the Deeprun Tram pointed out.
Maze has created two versions of the map, with differing sizes for faster- or slower-paced games. Even if you aren't a fan of the game and don't plan on playing it, the graphics and attention to detail are pretty awesome. Check out some shots of the map in our gallery below.
Filed under: Arts and Crafts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Blacksen Nov 6th 2010 2:07PM
Absolutely incredible. The accuracy is amazing! Nice work.
Heilig Nov 7th 2010 1:41AM
Yeah, even the mountains are in the right places. Which kinda makes you realize how absurd the mountain placement is in WoW...
Feanora Nov 6th 2010 2:09PM
Saw this on Kotaku the other day, and my first thought then was;
It'll be redundant in a month... but in style!
Drakkenfyre Nov 6th 2010 2:34PM
You understand it's already missing Azuremyst Isle, Bloodmyst Isle, Quel'Danas, and the Blood Elf starting zone, right?
They said "vanilla" for a reason.
Feanora Nov 6th 2010 4:55PM
Missed that. I'm a bloody moron. Sorry.
Face Nov 6th 2010 2:14PM
Seeing this makes me realize just how enormous the Barrens are and why it's so great that this bloated and awful zone is getting cut in half. Never played civilization, but the creator's attention to detail is a nice touch.
Iirdan Nov 6th 2010 2:15PM
Words...
They cannot describe this.
Taedran Nov 6th 2010 2:19PM
Amazing! I just need to finish up my current match (I'm on turn 350) and then I am defiintely going to conquer Azeroth!
Aracross Nov 6th 2010 2:30PM
The small version seems nicest than the bigger one, given the ridiculous quantity of mountains in the big one.
Even so, is an amazing work, kudos to the artist.
Drennen Nov 6th 2010 3:39PM
Actually, go check out the Azeroth maps as they are now, or a comparison between the current maps and the Cata ones. There are a ton of mountains in between every zone.
Eruntalon Nov 6th 2010 10:13PM
I assume he meant to play with in Civ. Mountains are impassable, so a huge amount of them means being *really* cut off from the various areas of the map.
Sayis Nov 6th 2010 2:30PM
I suddenly want to run out and buy Civ5. Wow, that's cool.
MusedMoose Nov 6th 2010 3:56PM
Me too, and I normally don't even like these kinds of games. ^_@
SunGod228 Nov 6th 2010 4:09PM
Heads Up Civ 5 reviews say its terrible and Civ 3 is still the best
Smoke353 Nov 6th 2010 4:25PM
@sungod
Civ 5 isn't a worse version of the same game, it's just different. Which of course means some people will say it's much worse or much better, but really a direct comparison is inaccurate. imo, 5 is the best one since 2 (which, incidentally, was much better than 3).
oniryuujin Nov 6th 2010 4:38PM
most of the people I've read saying it's bad are just pissed they can't stack units and have a big steamroller force, in others words they have to think now. I have it and I think it's good as the others.
N-train Nov 6th 2010 5:48PM
I haven't read a single bad review for the game, so I don't know wtf Sungod is talking about, most reviews have to nitpick to really find something they don't like.
As for the game itself I find it on par, if not better, than any other Civ game I've played (played Call to Power, Civ3,4). They simplified a lot of things from Civ 4 and the AI isn't quite as tactical, so experienced Civ players may long for a harder game, but just because they simplified a good amount of things doesn't mean the game is dumbed down. They've also made it far easier for newer players to pick up, tutorials are back and they are helpful, and nothing is so complicated you can't get the hang of it after a couple games.
And yes, the new combat system is probably the highlight of the game, I find myself actually stopping and plotting out my moves like a game of chess as opposed to most other civ games where the strategy was stack and faceroll.
TLDR- Civ 5 is probably the best game of the series to start playing with, give it a go I promise you'll be hooked :-)
AltairAntares Nov 6th 2010 6:19PM
To say Civ5 is the best game of the series is a crazy statement. The game is filled with bugs, diplomacy is basically an RNG factor with no real strategy, and the fastest way to win the game is essentially to spam cities everywhere, which is totally against how the game designers designed the game to be played.
If you're looking for actual proof here's a write up of a game played that can show you how broken the game is:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=390302
AltairAntares Nov 6th 2010 7:13PM
Here's a game played at deity difficulty- keep in mind this is just shortly after the release of the game at a difficulty that wasn't even possible when civ4 was released.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=392335
Dendaris Nov 6th 2010 8:59PM
I know you weren't asking for reviews, but your comment thread has sort of turned into the posting house for opinions, so here's mine:
First, there's a demo available via Steam. It lets you try the game and gives you a good indication for the look and feel of it. I'd never played a Civ game, but I tired the demo for Civ V. It got me hooked.
My opinon is that it's a good game and entertaining. I haven't tried the Azeroth maps yet, but I'm definitely planning to. I downloaded them yesterday. The game is entertaining, but my only complaint is the AI. It is laughably (and sometimes annoyingly) flat. You can interact with great world leaders, but the interaction is unfortunately very limited to pre-selected (and often nonsensical) choices.