Civilization VI Review – One of the best strategy simulators you can get
Leading an entire civilization from its inception to its demise has never felt so fun. Civilization is back, and it’s in the best shape yet.
Developers at “Firaxis” managed to outdo themselves once more with this newest entry of the strategy simulator. Civilization VI isn’t just one of the best games this year, it’s also up there with the very best strategy games of all time. In recent years it became increasingly difficult to outshine a game’s predecessor, but Civ VI managed to put a check mark next to that objective with its mix of old and new, traditional and innovative, fun and enriching. This game might just be the next big thing in the franchise since the release of Civilization IV many years ago with its vast improvements and neat excution of new ideas. It is hard for a game to stay this fun after spending tens of hours in, but thanks to a decision-driven gameplay, changing terrain and procedurally generated map each time you play there’s just so much juice to be found here with multiple playthroughs.
As soon as you enter the game you’ll be greeted with a nice new dynamic User Interface that makes it easy and clear to reach for the things you want as fast as possible. Some didn’t like the change but we found it to be just great after spending hours in-game. The graphics in the game take a different twist from the realism of “Civilization V” and opts for a more cartoonish style and simple patterns. Even if this wasn’t your cup of team, there’s just so much life inside this vast world of wonders that helps it feeling more alive than ever before. Water splashing by shores, lighthouse casting light on the coastal rocks, farms, mines, buildings and everything is a living breathing thing for you to marvel at. The attention to details is just true craftsmen at its finest. There’s also a night-day cycle to help emerge you even further inside this world you’re taking a part in. And did we mention that the map’s terrain changes and shifts with in-game passing of time? Changes like these are what really immerse you and transform what you might think is a dull environment into something much more.
Moving on to the new features we have many new changes to the game’s mechanics to make this the definitive Civilization experience you’ve always wanted. One of the big changes that you’ll notice is the unstackablity of cities which means you now have to build your buildings on separate places. To organize these buildings you’ll have what is called “Districts”, an area of land that will help expand the civic centers on a much larger scale than before. These upgrades are separate from farms and mines that are there to provide you with resources, and it organizes buildings of the same attribute together. Campus is where you’ll find the scientific centers, Theatre Square where the educational hubs are and more. All of these Districts have exclusive buildings to them as you can’t build Banks outside of the Financial district and the Armory can’t be built outside of the military base. This new feature gives you more control over your civilization but it also puts you in front of many hard decisions while playing, as you can never move a district once built so you’ll have to always take a hard decision that you most likely will regret down the line after many in-game years where you’ll wish you have built something else due to the current situation. Would you want to take the huge boosts mountains give to the scientific side of your civilization or go with a military base? These are the kinds of decisions that ensure the game stays unexpected all the time.
Another big change to the franchise is how the Technology tree is presented. Instead of one tree we now have another one called Civic Tree in Civilization VI that includes all of the civic and political progress. This doesn’t only allow more civic victories but it also encourages you to experiment and test more and take different decisions. There’s also a political system that takes the shape of cards mini game that indicates the upgrades and boosts you can give to your government and it’s a system that progresses down the line to give you more cards slots. Both of the trees have also another new feature which is perhaps one of the most favorite additions to Civilization VI and that is “Eureka!”. Simply put, whenever you do a tech or a civic upgrade a single objective quest with a boost will be displayed. Upon completion this quest will trigger a “Eureka!” moment that halves the research time of everything you’re doing. Sailing also takes less time after discovering the ocean, and you can research more military options in less time when you defeat a certain amount of enemy units. This new system does a great job at rewarding the player for everything he does, giving a sense of involvement that furthermore makes Civ VI all the more of a great game.
Leaders are back once again as usual with Civilization games and they’re here to give so much historic value to the experience. In addition to their unique and somewhat accurate models we really have to talk about the voice acting which is another improvement over the past games where actors really do make you feel these characters as native language dialogues make a return. The music score is nothing short of amazing and the game’s theme, Sogno di Volare is just as good as the infamous Baba Yetu.
If we wanted to talk extensively about every aspect of a game with the scope and complexity of Civilization VI we will be needing many, many hours. Despite being the most streamlined addition to the series the amount of depth and sheer complexity might not please newcomers and set the bar a bit higher than usual. Even old time fans will be needing the guide to get to know the new features well and be put on the right track. This isn’t to say Civ VI is necessary harder, as many changes have been made to make the experience a tad bit more focused. Traders will now build their own roads, “Builders” replace traditional workers that used to take an amount of turns to upgrade you a hex but now a builder will make it instantly but at the cost of being of a finite use. These small tweaks and changes help focus the experience and lessen the time you’ll be spending on other small things giving you more chances to do the stuff you are here for.
Despite this game being a stable release with no major bugs tech-wise, the aging engine that is constantly being patched with new features and effects is starting to become bothersome as some of the loading times are too long for a 2016 game. However, the system requirements aren’t that high to begin with so any modern quad core CPU and a mainstream gaming GPU will run the game just fine.
So improvements on traditional basis, changes that are enough to present a whole new experience, and an outstanding audio and visual design will surely win your heart over when you start this game. We think that the newest addition to the series is definitely one of the best it ever produced. Civilzation VI isn’t about anyone else than you, and we guarantee you’ll be making some great personal stories with your civilization .
Final Score:
9/10 – Excellent
