The intelligence of computer-controlled players has been improved somewhat from previous games. There are minor irritations in Civilization: Beyond Earth. Firaxis hasn't exactly reinvented the notion of science fiction (purple mushrooms, green aliens, spooky miasma, silver spaceships et al.) but it has obviously melded these familiars with deeply researched ideas about settling new planets, about the technologies of tomorrow and about human frailties in a strange new world. This plays out in the sciences that the game utilizes as it paints a vision of the future. This attention to the tiniest of details, like the way a robot worker handles a girder, brings the greater world to life.
I particularly liked the beautiful art and animation. Beginning with its emotionally powerful intro video (above), and on through the new world, the aliens, the techs, the units, the cities, there is so much here to admire and to enjoy. This prejudice was seriously undone by Civilization: Beyond Earth. I am always going to take more pleasure in a Ship-o'-the-Line than a Xeno Swarm. For me, the discovery of the printing press is always going to feel more authentic and solid than figuring out the mysteries of collaborative thought. As someone who much prefers historical fiction to futuristic speculation, I did not expect to really love this brave new world of Civness (back in the '90s, I never really got into Alpha Centauri). It's as good an indication as any that, far from taking an extant game and slapping on a sci fi wraparound, Firaxis has gazed into the future and brought meaningful changes to the format.Īt this point, I feel I ought to make a confession. On the contrary, they feel like hard-thought innovations.Įven after many hours of play, I continue finding neat little ideas.
The alterations do not come across as gimmicky. As I encountered each change in the formula I saw the good sense in its inclusion, exclusion or modification. It all feels like a clever exercise in "less is more" theory.
I don't miss chasing around for luxury goods to keep my minions from revolting or, even worse, seeking out natural wonders as short-term boosts to happiness.īeyond Earth has pulled back some of the features and clutter that have accumulated in the series. Keeping citizens healthy is extremely challenging, but the penalties feel more on a sliding scale than the binary punishments of the previous game. The citizens in your cities must be kept healthy through specific constructions and the management of unhealthy hexes smothered in miasma. The link between resources and happiness has also been killed. I was really playing the discovery system, rather than simply figuring out a most efficient path. But although the early game demands certain techs as soon as possible, I found myself using the tech web in a much more opportunistic and reactive way, seeking out discoveries that would resolve immediate crises while also taking a long term strategic view where possible. At first I thought that the new tech web, which eschews the more traditional linear approach, might all be window dressing, that I would find a research path fairly quickly and stick to it, as I have done in the past with this series. This pseudo-personality system feeds into every part of the game, dispensing upgrades to military units, affecting diplomatic relationships with AI civilizations and offering up paths to victory, as well as special quests and unique buildings.Ĭrucially, it impacts the player's scientific research decisions. But as I looked beyond the basic structure, I started to sense some very clever tweaks, shifts and improvements that bring new efficiencies to the formula and new pleasures to the player.Īn affinity system asks the player to choose a philosophy, from a list of three.
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