Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth Review

 Civ Beyond Earth or Civ VI as I guess you could call it... what can I say about this game that people haven't said or thought about already? Well... to be honest, I rather enjoy this game and maybe, just maybe. Not for the reasons you the reader think I enjoy this game for... or at least possibly some other reasons which you didn't expect or believe.

Let's get the biggest issue out the way first, the Faction Leaders, no matter which way you look at them or analyse them, they will never hold the weight of the previous games historical leader. That was part of the charm of Civ V, you could have Nobunaga Oda, the demon king of Japan go up against Alexander the Great in an epic war. Part of the charm of Civ V was that you could create this entire parallel world where these leaders are all alive round the same time and at each others throats, that was part of what made Civ V great.

The Leaders in Beyond Earth will never be able to compete with that, they won't. So don't expect them too, Beyond Earth in my opinion was an experiment, using a new idea and a new setting that is completely different from Civ V.

That being said, I do agree that the new Factions are a little bit in-balanced, especially when analysed together. I do like how the cultures and the peoples of Earth have banded together in the future to create these new... almost Mega-Cultures I guess you could say that which to gain control of this new planet... planets depending on which map you pick.

One thing I will say about the Factions and the Leaders, is while they will never live up to the weight of the historical leaders of the past, I do believe they hold potential. Here is how I look at Civ Beyond Earth compared to Civ V. I look at Beyond Earth as Civ V was before Gods & Kings and Brave New World. That is how I look at Beyond Earth, I see it as a diamond in the rough that has a massive amount of potential and I pray, I really do pray that Firaxis follow through with this potential and continue to polish Beyond Earth because, it truly does hold a massive amount of potential I would be devastated to see wasted.

As a lover of the Civ franchise I read, watched and basically hunted with purpose, everything I could about Beyond Earth before I purchased it only 2 days ago. I currently as of this review have 25 hours logged on Steam playing Beyond Earth compared to my 239 hours logged for Civ V.

So, you could claim that this review isn't valid if you don't believe I have spent enough time playing the game to give a fair opinion and review, fair enough but I am giving it anyway. Recently I saw one of my favourite YouTubers give a review on the game, AngryJoe. He said and I quote "Beyond Earth feels like an incredible opportunity wasted." I do not agree with that, I agree the game doesn't live up to the expectations that were presented for it then again, we are talking about a Civ game, possibly the best strategy game franchise ever, in my opinion. I don't know, maybe Total War is better I have yet to play a Total War game but I plan on getting Shogun 2 which seems to be the best choice.

Back to the point, I do not believe the game is an opportunity wasted, I believe it is a diamond in the rough that with the proper care and love and grow to become something close to Civ V, I doubt it will ever beat Civ V mostly due to the weight the historical leaders brought, but it has a fighting chance of being close. However, you must remember, Civ V has G&K and BNW whereas Beyond Earth has nothing so far, which, is why I look at the current state of Beyond Earth as of the post date of this review as Civ V was before G&K and BNW enhanced the experience and made it something truly amazing.

I feel I have ranted on a little more than I should of about the comparison between this game and it's older brother Civ V but it was a point I felt I had to explain my own opinion for.

Let's move on before this review goes on for longer than it should. I've heard Rythian of the Yogscast another of my favourite YouTubers talk about the graphics of the game, how they look dirty and muddy. Honestly, I cannot tell as I haven't played the game on High or higher graphics, I play on Medium level as I use my laptop and the game runs perfectly so I may try a higher setting so I can look at it in full detail and have a better opinion. However, I agree and disagree with the comments they made, about the graphics.

I agree they do look dirty and muddy, they definitely have a darker colour palate for some terrains and a brighter one for others. These are enhanced through Mods which are easily integrated with the game through the Steam Workshop and if you play with the Distinctive Terrains mods, you will see more detailed terrains so I do recommend playing with those Mods just for the visual effect.

As for the graphics for the units and the cities, I honestly am not too sure. I feel they suit the purpose enough, they suit their purpose enough. I don't know, maybe as polish is added to the game as I believe it will, this is Firaxis we are talking about, as more polish is added to the game they may upgrade the textures to make them more pleasing or eye catching but for the most part they are descent enough.

Hmm... what else is there for me to talk about... I seemed to have focused a lot on what other people were saying about the game and what I believed so I am a little stick... bear with me a moment here. Okay, the Aliens, something you will be seeing a lot in Beyond Earth.

Personally, I believe these Aliens are done well and they are impressive to look at, especially some of the unique Harmony units like the Rocktopus and the Xeno Titan. However, the only game in which I got the Rocktopus it seemed to be bugged and wasn't able to move to the orbital level, whether I was doing it wrong and it needs something to latch onto I don't know but while I wasn't able to make full use of the Rocktopus, it is impressive to look at, as with the Xeno Titan which... as it's name suggests is like a Titan.

Talking of bugs, I have encountered a few but like I said, I do consider Beyond Earth is the state it is currently as of the post date of this review, do be a diamond in the rough so I can excuse these bugs because they don't really take away from the overall enjoyment I get from the game, other people might disagree.

The unit models when getting to a level three upgrade for the Soldier, seem to stay around when upgrading a different unit, meaning you'll have two conflicting unit models when upgrading but it does seem to go away or you just stop noticing it.

Oh! One thing I will say annoys the hell out of me, is that bloody ADVISR, I'll admit, it is nice to actually have a voice giving you advice and offering you guidance but for the love of all that is sacred in creation, turn it off the moment you can because it will constantly tell you about trades and pointless advise that you've already been told. That is a problem I have with the game but you can turn it off fairly easily so at least it can resolved that way but, I do believe they should patch it so the ADVISR doesn't keep annoying gamers with constant reminders on Trade.

Also, the new Tech-Web instead of the traditional Tech-Tree as we are used to, I think is a nice addition and it does add to the atmosphere of the game, you get this sense of, what the hell am I to research which, you will. It is confusing as hell when you first see it but you get the hang of it quickly if you take your time to learn it.

Another thing I will say, the Tech-Web incorporates the affinity system into it well, you can research techs that will give you affinity in either Harmony, Purity or Supremacy which basically means Aliens, Humans and Robots.

The Tech-Web while designed like a confusing web, actually has some tree like traits, each main Tech on the web is known as a branch and within each branch there is usually one or more additional specialist techs known as leafs, and it is usually these leafs that will give you the techs in the affinity you wish to advance in whether they would be Harmony, Purity or Supremacy or a blend of all three, which is another option.

Continuing on from that, the affinity system and how it ties in to how the game plays out is something I really enjoy. Because this is a new setting and everything is random, you can face against the same NPC Leaders and they will adopt different tactics by having different dominant affinities. Your structures and units also change depending on your dominant affinity which is a lovely touch.

Talking about the Leaders, AngryJoe said in his review that the NPCs are not able to do war early game, like the Warmonger Civ's could in Civ V. While I do believe Beyond Earth is a diamond in the rough, I do have to agree with Joe on this, I do wish there was a Leader or a Faction that would be that hated Warmonger and come after you early game, like the Zulu did in Civ V... fucking Zulu.

I do like the randomness of it all though, it adds an element of surprise and suspense because you never really know what the other Factions are going to do but you'll have a basic idea from their Faction benefits.

However, late game when the A.I does go to war, they will come after you with a vengeance or, they will use the coverts ops to really stick it to you, if you allow them. Now, Covert Operations in the game I have to say are done well enough to work but they are not really needed. To use some of the more powerful covert ops like the dirty bomb or the calling of a Siege Worm, you need to get the target city up to an intrigue level of 5, which is near impossible if you don't keep at it and at it and at it, meaning you will either never use them, or you will only see the NPCs use them if you allow them.

Now, I do believe I have talked about everything that I can at this point, I haven't tried Multi-player at the moment and I probably won't because I get Civ for the solo play honestly, I never really play Multi-player. So I cannot give an opinion on the Multi-player.

I will say, I would love to see either Firaxis or a Modder create a Faction that actually focuses on the Aliens, like the Scrin from Command and Conquer, another strategy game franchise from my childhood that I love.

Anyway, my verdict on Civ Beyond Earth is a 7/10, it is a brilliant game in my own opinion, playing with Mods definitely enhances the experience of the game but I will in it's current state it isn't really worthy of a 8 or a 9. Perhaps when they start to polish the game and they add stuff to it via expansions like G&K and BNW did with Civ V, then maybe it will become a truly great game.

If you believe I have missed something in this review then please let me know, I will try and answer it by adding it to this review. I am not a professional reviewer so I highly recommend that you look at what other people are giving the game, but, I also recommend the game.

Anyway guys, this has been OniOfTaint, this has been my very extensive review of Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth and I bid you all, goodnight and Sayonara.