Finished my first play through of Civ V on warlord, started with everything random, and ended up with the Egyptians, about 1/2 way through I regretted not starting on a higher difficulty, as it became a run away.
Good game, about what you'd expect from the series, if you can pick it up with a free coupon I'd reccomend it, but for retail price I'd say just stick with a previous version.