Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Reviews
Civilization: Beyond Earth takes empire building to the stars with a number of compelling—but familiar—results.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is decidedly deserving of carrying the weight of the franchise in a new direction, but it's simply lacking enough variety for it to become the new standard bearer.
Civilization: Beyond Earth shakes up the turn-based strategy formula, taking the series to new heights and new locations. The past experiences of the team at Firaxis with Alpha Centuri shine through, blending both styles of games into one of the best strategy games of the year.
I'm sure Firaxis will eventually make a great game out of Beyond Earth. They're a smart development team that knows how to improve and iterate on a solid core product, which Beyond Earth certainly is. Right now, though, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed by the state of the game. It's perfectly enjoyable, but for every smart innovation it seems to have lost a portion of both complexity and character. There's potential here, but we'll have to wait for a couple of meaty expansions to see Beyond Earth's promise fully realised.
I've found Beyond Earth to be the Civ-equivalent of reading a John Grisham novel: you know it's not really the best of its kind, but at the same time it is quite more-ish. It's just as compelling and "one more turn"-ish as the others in the series. For these reasons, and the fact that I had a straight-out great time playing it, Beyond Earth gets the thumbs-up from me.
Any game where you can to transform humanity into a race of Cybermen to go back, conquer Earth, and upload everyone's consciousness to a great network is a damn good game IMHO.
Civilization takes to the stars, and lands right among them to deliver the greatest strategy game experience in years.
Civilization: Beyond Earth is, in many senses, the next logical step forward in a series that has always been about celebrating the human drive to understand, control, and expand our environment.
Beyond Earth is a bold step into the future for the Civilization series, and one that is well-judged and deftly executed. While hardcore genre fans might not get much of a kick out of its – in places – stripped-down take on 4X, what it provides is something quite unlike anything the series has provided before – one that fully embraces its potential for creating unique stories with every game, and provides the tools through which they might be more fleshed out than ever before.
Aims for the stars and reaches them
Like its predecessor, Civilization: Beyond Earth is going to benefit from Firaxis' attentive and proven post-launch development plan. Its series of interconnected systems are well balanced and while some of them will feel disappointingly familiar to series veterans, there's sufficient diversity and flexibility here to feed the series ongoing evolution.
It must be an interesting challenge for developers of a series so focused on history to tackle questions of humanity's future. Obviously both subjects tap into many of the same sources, but where most Civilization games explore who we are, Beyond Earth systemizes who we could be.
The space-themed Beyond Earth is polished, deep, and addictive—what more could you want from a Civilization game?
Put aside your expectations of an Alpha Centauri successor, play it like a sci-fi Civilization V and enjoy experimenting with the combinations of sponsors, affinities and techs.
Overall, I would say that Civilization: Beyond Earth was fun, at least as fun as Civ 5. It just wasn't mind-blowing, which is a shame because all the Alpha Centauri fans out there were kind of hoping for that. The game almost feels like a Civilization 5 sci-fi mod, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. If anything, the game sells itself on promise. I can see expansions including new factions, new tech, and possibly even new affinities making this game a wonderfully fun and addictive experience that lasts for years. For now, however, the game is simply fun, and that is probably enough to warrant a purchase for most. Just don't expect this game to give you the stars.
Beyond Earth takes Civilization V's core game structure and manages what Civilization games always do. They have added just enough new (re-skinning the gameplay, story, graphics and base tactics) without letting the game become too unfamiliar. Once again I am sure many of us will find ourselves muttering 'one more turn' under our breath as the sun comes up over our own beautiful world.
Civilization: Beyond Earth makes a few alterations to the standard Civilization formula but Beyond Earth never really feels like much more than a glorified expansion for its predecessor.
If you're a fan of the series and you're not short of money, then Beyond Earth is worth getting. Otherwise, wait for a sale or buy Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri instead.
If you ever want to play another game again, this series is not for you. But, if you had to pick only one to play for the rest of your life, Civilization: Beyond Earth would be a solid choice. The various factions and Affinities will ensure multiple, robust playthroughs, each presenting unique scenarios that will encourage the player to strategize in challenging new ways with each file. I look forward to my next 400 hours with the game.
Beyond Earth grasps its topic less firmly, but more fully, insisting that whatever future comes to pass won't be the only future that might have been. Truth be told, though, Beyond Earth likely won't have quite the staying power of either Alpha Centauri or Civilization V.