This week I've seen a rather ugly side to my personality, a vicious unrelenting side, a horrible power hungry side that would make even the likes of Hitler feel uncomfortable. I've been corrupted by greed, hatred, xenophobia and even picked fights with poor victims purely because their name starts with the letter F. Yes, a very ugly, nasty unpleasant side, and you know what? I'm loving every second of it.

So, what's causing this level of insanity in my life? It's Civilization 5, the new instalment in Sid Miers' turn based strategy series that right now all the cool kids seem to be playing. And to put a fine point on it 2K Games has excelled itself in ways I didn't think imaginable.

I've not played a Civ game since Civilization 2, so for me a whole lot has changed, the UI is more intuitive, graphics are prettier, world leaders seem to have something resembling a real live personality, in fact the only thing that hasn't changed is my desire to punch Napoleon in his stupid, round, moon shaped face. 

For me, Civilization 5 is a welcome departure for the usual zombie slaying, gangster toting, swords sorcery and World of Warcraft shenanigans I usually get up to in gaming. It's different, it's fresh and most importantly it's fun. There certainly is something to be said for invading countries, destroying cultures and like I said earlier declaring war on somebody purely because their name begins with a letter I decide I don't like before the game starts.

As expected, there are the usual bargaining tools in game where  you can sign treaties, help out allies, trade luxury resources and all of those wonderful things the board game has. In fact it's better than the board game for the simple reason it plays pretty much exactly the same without the clearing up afterwards.

In game advisors will let you know how your attacks are likely to go, there's an in depth “civlopedia” that gives you the heads up on pretty much any situation which is a great idea as the game will hold your hand and walk you through just as much as you want or need it to.

Turn based combat in game is fun to watch with all the right animations and sound effects, and it really does feel good when all of those things combine into that victory that expands your little empire.

One thing I also really liked in the game was the fact that you can end the game on any number of diplomatic, trade related or just plain bloodthirsty methods but the fun doesn't stop there, you may have won the game when the game is supposed to end at 2050 say, by being nice and peaceful, or by getting your technology all the way to the top tier first. Then you can (if you wish) take the world and destroy everyone else purely for your own amusement.

In short, Civilization 5 is a wonderful trip through history, you can shape your own world and put right what the Romans once did wrong, or you can just be a horrible egotistical, xenophobic greedy warlord hell bent on conquering every tile on the planet just like me.

The game is available from Steam and there is even a 100 turn demo available on there, so it's definitely more than worth checking out.