Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 review: That’s my river

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There’s a part of me that’s curious when the Civilization series might exhaust its creative resources, given its history of creating games inspired by real-world events. After all, how many times can you study navigation or build the Hanging Gardens? Yet, surprisingly, at least seven times, as Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 has once again delivered a remarkable game. This new installment maintains the essence of its predecessors while boldly blazing its own trail.

Here we go again

In your first hour of Civilization 7, you’ll encounter numerous tutorials, especially beneficial if you’re a beginner or there are changes since your last game. Regardless, key differences abound: Workers and Builders are absent, combat units no longer accumulate experience or level up, certain rivers are navigable, and you can interchange leaders and civilizations as easily as swapping features in a game of Mr. Potato Head. As you progress through ages, you’ll lead a new civilization with the same leader, selecting options based on your previous age’s performance.

The objective of playing Civilization 7 is to outdo other civilizations, which can be achieved through various means. This is where the concept of Legacy Paths comes into play. Players have the freedom to select a path they wish to follow – culture, economy, military, or science. Each path offers optional goals that, when accomplished, advance the era and grant attribute points that can be used to enhance your leader for substantial benefits. You can opt for a single Legacy Path, multiple ones, or none at all. Additionally, you have the flexibility to change paths during an era or move from one to another as you transition between eras. This system is flexible enough to let you strive for victory or choose not to, although Legacy Paths significantly impact every Civilization game whether you’re aware of it or not.

Going with the flow

In a single sitting, my initial match of Civilization VII surpassed the 20-hour mark. This was due to extensive reading and a massive military engaging in war with no less than four other civilizations simultaneously. The game began peacefully enough, but soon grew intense as I understood that the significance of terrain had been significantly heightened compared to past editions. Longtime Civilization players are aware of the importance of resources and terrain, yet I underestimated just how essential navigable rivers would become.

In pursuit of a military triumph, I ended up educating naval vessels in a landlocked city linked to a navigable waterway. However, there was a hitch: Isabella controlled the mouth of the river. Despite reaching an agreement for open borders, she rescinded it promptly once I assaulted Xeres, leaving several of my ships stranded. This predicament forced me to engage in conflict with Isabella to seize control of the entire waterway.

It would have been wiser for me to find out who was on Isabella’s side before launching an attack, as the following turn saw nearly every civilization at war with me. A wave of fear swept over me, anticipating that I wouldn’t be able to withstand the onslaught on multiple battlefronts. It dawned on me then that I had inadvertently ignited a global conflict. Every civilization was at each other’s throats. The situation was chaotic beyond belief, but my emphasis on long-range bombardment units and a powerful navy gave me the upper hand. As I started using planes to bomb up to 10 tiles away, I found it challenging to locate enemy troops to engage. With time, every civilization began asking for peace, and I was able to demand strategic territories from their empires due to the overwhelming imbalance in our conflict. Unfortunately, Isabella’s civilization was eliminated from the game because we shared a continent, and I have a fondness for rivers.

Golden Age

Although it may seem that some debatable choices are present, Civilization 7 has swiftly taken the top spot among my preferred Civilization games due to innovative elements like the new Commander mechanics. Now, units gain experience for a Commander instead of individually, and can be grouped with a Commander to create an army that advances collectively. This means slower units can traverse the world quicker, allowing for strategic deployment upon reaching your target destination. Commanders can also be leveled up, granting benefits such as overcoming specific terrain penalties or enhancing attack and defense abilities. The combat dynamics in Civ 7, particularly Commanders, have quickly become my preferred aspect.

In the latest version of Civilization, resources have been modified to provide broader benefits across the whole civilization. For instance, Incense previously granted a 10% science bonus during Antiquity, now offers a 100% production boost towards Missionaries and Temples in the Exploration era. Resources like Jade no longer just add 15% to your gold income per deposit; instead, they significantly increase your civ’s economic strength, allowing you to afford almost any unit or building you desire. Mining Iron deposits is no longer primarily for producing Swordsmen, but rather enhances the combat capabilities of infantry and ranged units by one point with each deposit. Resource-driven conflicts in Civilization have always been significant, yet they seem more intense in Civilization 7.

In Civ 7, I’m absolutely thrilled by the new addition of towns to the game. These additions bring a whole new layer of personality to your civilization. Unlike cities, towns don’t produce buildings or units through production but rather convert all their production into Gold. They can purchase buildings and units, while only cities can build them using production. However, you can transform a town into a city with Gold if desired, or focus it on one of several specializations such as mining, religion, farming, or culture and science. By default, a town’s growth increases by 50 percent, allowing for more expansion and tile claiming. But if you prefer to switch things up, you can direct a specific town to concentrate on a particular area like mining or culture. In a tight Civilization war, a simple five-point healing boost per turn could be the decisive factor. Furthermore, I used one of my frontline towns as a fort town to strengthen its defenses and provide faster healing for my units when under attack from neighbors.

The assortment of intriguing innovations just keeps growing, to the point where compiling them all would necessitate writing a personal version of a Civilopedia. However, I’ll conclude my compilation of interesting findings by giving credit to the narrator, Gwendoline Christie, who portrayed Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones. Her depiction of new technologies and civics remains captivating, never growing stale. She truly excels at her role and infuses a delightful touch into an already engaging experience.

Dark Age

In simpler terms, Civilization 7 isn’t just about winning. Although I enjoy combining leaders and civilizations, being compelled to discard my preferred civilization at each new era doesn’t sit well with me. The goal is to construct a civilization that can withstand the test of time, isn’t it? It seems contradictory to require players to discard their choice and adopt a new civilization frequently. While the option is acceptable, I won’t be surprised if players express strong resistance to this system once it’s widely used.

In my initial attempt at Civ 7, I managed to win using the military Legacy Path. However, I was disheartened as there seemed to be no way to continue playing the game once you’ve either won or lost. I reloaded my save multiple times, searching for possible options in menus, but none appeared to exist. It feels similar to completing a storyline in an open-world game and then being unable to further investigate or explore. This feature was available in previous versions of Civilization, making its absence in Civ 7 somewhat puzzling.

The disappointment of being kicked out of your gameplay experience in Civilization 7 is heightened due to an apparent pacing issue. In two complete playthroughs and multiple partial ones, I never came close to reaching the end of a technology or civic tree. Even when focusing on science, favoring scientific leaders and civilizations, progress was slow. The issue lies in the fact that each era has its own civic and technology tree, and if one civilization advances quickly through the Antiquity age using the Legacy Path, you may be forced into the Exploration age prematurely, denying access to later options. Even adjusting settings to extend ages doesn’t alleviate this struggle for the typical player. I’m not sure how Firaxis plans to address this in the Antiquity and Exploration ages, but allowing players to carry on after a victory in the Modern age would help mitigate one third of the problem.

To the stars

In the realm of gaming, Civilization 7 surpassed my expectations by seamlessly blending fresh ideas with a tried-and-true formula. The game has evolved, but it’s still remarkably intuitive, making you go “Ah, so that’s how it works! Cool.” These moments are incredibly satisfying and leave you eager to start another adventure as soon as the last one ends. It’s almost impossible not to be hooked on diving back in to apply your newfound insights. It’s a loop I find myself getting addicted to, which is saying something about this beloved franchise.

In situations where I’m not entirely comfortable with some of the latest updates, it’s not about these features being there, but rather the reduced player control that concerns me. I can handle the flexibility to combine civilizations and leaders, but please don’t force me to do so. I’m okay with Legacy Paths, but I don’t appreciate having other gameplay elements limited when the tutorial explicitly states that they can be bypassed. The series is famous for the phrase “Just one more turn,” yet it seems that after a civilization achieves victory, there’s no option for another turn.

Although I may have some criticisms, let me say that Civilization 7 deserves a unique praise: writing this review has been difficult because it distracts me from playing the game. Hours spent composing this could have been used to expand my Ming empire or give other leaders a taste of their own medicine in the game. In short, Civilization 7 is an exceptional game that I can’t get enough of.

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2025-02-03 17:28