Well, we will have to disagree then. Sure, we have the new hex combat mechanic, but the poor AI doesn't even use it effectively. As it has been mentioned above, unlike Elemental, Civ 5 doesn't separate units from buildings in construction, so you lose choices there. Civ 5 doesn't let you get heroes, it doesn't let you get magic, it doesn't let you have sovereigns, it doesn't let you have dynasties or customize your units, it lacks integrated modding, and on and on. Civilization let's you build units or buildings and that's about it. So I see far less strategic choices in a standard game of Civilization. In fact, one of the problems in Elemental is that there are too many choices to make as to how you're going to play.
Nah, the problem in Elemental is that most of the choices are obvious, and/or don't matter.
Sure, you CAN use shortbows over longbows. There's no reason to do so.
You CAN make squads of 1 instead of bigger ones. Again, there's basically no reason to do so.
You can pick the earth direct damage spell over the fire direct damage spell, but once you know what kind of shards you have within reach the decision is obvious and there's a right and wrong answer.
You can pick swords over hammers, but one of them is clearly better then the other.
Really, a lot of the decisions are like the ones in WoW talent trees. Sure, you CAN take the survivability talent over the DPS one, but if you're a PvE player you're wrong for doing it. There's an absolute right answer and everything else is wrong. It's a fake choice, and one where experienced players don't actually have any choice at all.
With the magic system changes in 1.1, it looks like Elemental is heading in the direction of giving meaningful choice instead of the illusion of choice. Once that happens it will be a much better game.
