Phil Webster reviews Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth…
As the spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri, not to mention coming off the back of the great Civilization 5, Beyond Earth has a lot to live up to. Its premise is different to classic Civilization games, in that it has no rich tapestry of factual history as its background but an alien theoretical future, which lends itself well to the refreshing changes presented in this new instalment in the series.
The alien planet your civilization will be attempting to thrive on is a hostile place, more hostile than Earth ever has been in Civilization. The AI controlled aliens are far more numerous than the barbarians of previous games, with different types ranging from the pesky annoyance of wolf beetles to the devastating siege worm that automatically pillages any tiles it moves through ruining any improvements you may have built. They also react to your actions – the more hostile you are towards them the more hostile they become towards you. Not only that but the planet itself is trying to kill you, a toxic miasma covers large portions of the map that will harm any of your units ending their turn within it.
Unless you decide to try and live in “Harmony” with the planet, then the miasma could heal your units instead. Harmony being one of three “Affinities” your civilization can strive towards, the other two being “Supremacy” and “Purity”. These affinities are ideologies your civilization can adopt and work towards through your choices in technological advancement. Harmony seeks to become one with the new alien world through gene splicing and domesticating alien wildlife, Supremacy seeks to further mankind through technology with cybernetics and artificial intelligence, whilst Purity is in stark contrast to both as it seeks to change the planet to suit mankind’s needs keeping our humanity at all costs. Each affinity comes with its own special units, buildings and specific win condition, along with an aesthetic change for your cities and units that becomes more distinct the deeper your civilization dedicates itself to the ideology. Other civilizations that pick the same affinity as you are more likely to be cooperative and ones that pick the other affinities will be more hostile towards you.
The most significant change overall is definitely the new Tech Web, replacing the old linear Tech Tree of older Civilization games with an expansive web of interlinked technological advancements. While at first the sheer amount of information and choice available can be daunting the flexibility to take your civilization along whichever path you wish and be reactionary to your developing civilizations needs is both liberating and rewarding.
Culture is also handled a little differently than before, after earning a certain amount of culture your civilization earns a choice form the “Virtue” tree. Split into 4 categories: Military, Growth, Science and Industry each virtue will bolster your civilization in its respective area with bonuses unlocked for choosing multiple virtues in the same category. The Virtues are also divided into 3 tiers and extra bonuses can be unlocked by picking virtues in the same tier making your decisions even more important; do you pick lots of tier 1 virtues across multiple categories or go deep to tier 3 in just one category?
Another great new addition is the “Quest” system, as you play quests will be given to you that you can choose to complete or ignore but completing them will give a lot of different rewards and bonuses. They almost act as a walkthrough for what the AI thinks you’re trying to accomplish based on your previous actions and technological advancement choices. They have definitely kept me involved by giving me something to do where I may have dawdled in previous games.
Unfortunately a common problem with the series rears its ugly head again in Beyond Earth: Poor AI. On several occasions I have found AI controlled civilizations with much inferior technology and smaller armies refusing to broker peace after declaring war and losing half their units, or repeatedly asking for open border agreements when already in effect, or leaving alien nests right next to their cities spewing hostile units that rampage across their lands. So thank goodness for multiplayer! While random disconnects and some awful lag still occur, if you persevere good stable games can be found and this is where Civilization: Beyond Earth shines, against unpredictable human opponents where alliances can shift and every decision you make could mean the difference between a win and a loss.
While some things have changed those that have played Civilization 5 will still feel straight at home as the UI remains very similar and also retains the active “To-Do” list reminding you step by step what needs to be taken care of each turn. The AI advisor can once again help new and old players through all sections of the game, having settings for those new to turn based strategy games, new to Civilization, and new to Beyond Earth. It’s quite robust and is helpful in getting used to the ins and outs of the game no matter your level of experience in the genre or with the series.
23 years on from the release of the first Civilization the 8th entry to the series shows that when you have a formula that works you don’t change it radically, but that doesn’t mean you can’t refine it and it’s amazing what a few new ideas with a new setting can do to reinvigorate a staple turn based strategy series.
Pros:
The freedom and choice of the new Tech Web
Quest system keeps you involved
Just.. One.. More.. Turn!
Cons:
Poor AI
Daunting amount of information for new players
Just.. One.. More.. Turn!
Rating: 8.0
Phil Webster
