That has such people in it! -- actually, the people aren't that bad.

As with Gods & Kings before it, Brave New World brings a host of improvements to Civilization V, while preserving the spirit of the original game's design. Like a fine marinade, Brave New World both adds to and enhances the flavor, but doesn't change the texture -- so in this case, the steak is still slow to start and dauntingly intricate. In other words, if you didn't like steak Civ V already, this won't change your mind. But if you did like it, this expansion will give you a lot of new toys to have fun with.

First off - because it can actually happen relatively early in the game - are trade routes, which can be plotted to a friendly city (including your own) over land or sea. This is, frankly, my favorite new feature: in addition to making the otherwise-slow starting eras more interesting, it adds a layer of strategic depth that Civ V didn't previously have. The Caravans or Cargo Ships you deploy to carry out a trade route, are not only unarmed, but also don't reveal the map around them as military units do. So to keep them from being waylaid by pirates or hostile nations, you'll have to place protective units all along the route. Prior to Brave New World, there was little purpose to having a defensive army -- it's refreshing to have a reason to invest in military might, that isn't outright hostility.

Which brings me to the expansion's next major improvement: diplomacy. Most of the core game's basic systems are left untouched, but the AI is less ... of a dick, than it once was. The game has more precise and helpful indications of your international relationships, such as when you've "fulfilled" a promise not to infringe upon a neighbor's borders; and city-states have more plentiful missions for you to curry their favor with. And, in general, the AI's diplomatic behavior seems less irrational than it once was. Granted, AI players will still become needlessly belligerent if an otherwise-friendly player has a high score; but, progress.

The biggest part of the diplomatic improvements though, is the World Congress, which supplants and expands upon the United Nations. The World Congress can be founded much earlier in the game - at or slightly before the Industrial era - and has two basic roles: leaders and voters. While voter states are limited to voting on proposed resolutions, based on the number of delegates they control, the host nation (initially the founder, later an elected position) and the nation with the most delegates (more on this in a bit) can each propose resolutions for voting. These resolutions range from banning a particular luxury resource, to setting an embargo on unliked nations, to establishing international projects like a World's Fair. Delegates are generally based on the same criteria as votes in the old UN; so, there's a bonus for the host, and you can get extra delegates for having city-states as allies. Furthermore, if you send a Spy to a nation's capital, you can change his role to a Diplomat, which opens up some vote-negotiation options in the trade window.

If you're in a position to propose World Congress resolutions, this is a really satisfying mechanic that allows you to influence the flow of the game -- and to play around with international intrigue, gauging and influencing other nations' votes. Unfortunately, if you're only a voting member, the mechanic is a lot flatter. You can try to influence vote outcomes with Diplomats; but chances are you won't be able to defeat whoever has the most delegates. And trying to get into one of the leadership positions - either by bribing other nations to vote for you as host, or by bribing city-states to be your new ally - is similarly unrealistic. The World Congress is a really cool feature, but isn't as effective as it could be with a little more balancing.

The culture system has been refactored in Brave New World, with a more competitive (in theory) victory condition. Tourism is the centerpiece, with great writers and artists, and archaeological discoveries - based on real events from earlier in the game, such as Ancient-era battles - adding to your nation's cultural influence. Like the Religion mechanics of Gods & Kings, your goal is basically to get other nations interested in your own; although in this case, it's (mostly) done not by sending units abroad, but by building internal infrastructure. I have to say though, that I didn't do a whole lot with the Tourism mechanic, nor was I driven to -- as a victory condition, getting other nations to admire your culture seems extremely difficult. While the previous culture system encouraged small empires, and culture points are still more effective this way, the new system muddies this focus by requiring a large number of Great Person units, and a supply of buildings with Great Work slots.

These are the big items, but there are plenty of other, smaller improvements in Brave New World. There are Ideologies, which are a lot like cultural Policies, but with an added diplomatic dimension (you're more likely to have good relations with a nation that shares your Ideology). There's a new Airport building, which allows you to quickly move units between distant cities. And of course, there are a bunch of new civilizations to play with. Also - and maybe this is just a coincidence - my experience thus far with Brave New World has been much more stable, technologically speaking, than its predecessors; the UI only behaved weirdly once or twice, and I didn't encounter any irritating usability issues.

There are a lot of improvements, both major and minor, in Brave New World -- and for what it's worth, I think this is a better refinement of Civ V than Gods & Kings was. But it's still just a refinement, so keep your expectations tempered.

Better than: Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings
Not as good as: I dunno. A game that starts more quickly, I guess.
Also worth mentioning: the new endgame infantry unit is an XCOM Squad, which can para-drop from way far away, and has green laser guns.

Progress: Finished a campaign on Warlord (Easy).