Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Reviews

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
GameSkinny
Top Critic
Jan 25, 2015

Civilization: Beyond Earth is my game of the year for 2014

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8.5 / 10.0
Dec 22, 2014

Passive AI and lackluster online support from the community isn't enough to make Civilization: Beyond Earth a total wash. If you've enjoyed the series over the years, you'll likely spend many hours with this entry as well. It deviates just enough from the excellent Civilization V to be a worthwhile experience, and it offers a different pace than its predecessor, so even though it's not a significant upgrade, it's still pretty remarkable.

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GamingBolt
Top Critic
9.5 / 10.0
Nov 13, 2014

Civilization takes to the stars, and lands right among them to deliver the greatest strategy game experience in years.

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Nov 11, 2014

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.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 9, 2014

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.

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4.5 / 5.0
Nov 9, 2014

Aims for the stars and reaches them

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Nov 7, 2014

The new Civilization game gives you more of what you expect from the franchise without much to blow your socks off.

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9 / 10
Nov 7, 2014

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.

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70 / 100
Nov 5, 2014

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.

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GameGrin
Top Critic
7.5 / 10.0
Nov 5, 2014

It's funny, there's a lot about Beyond Earth that I'm not too sure about and a fair number of mechanics that could be better. Yet it's incredibly playable and just as addictive as every other Civilization game. It's incredibly easy to lose a lot of time while playing, which is a testament to how the game can really get the player involved. It's ever-present that the game has a tendency to force the player down a certain path, lacking the overall freedom of something like Europa Universalis IV. Yet when the path is as beautiful, thoughtful and fun as Beyond Earth, it's not exactly a challenge to walk that path over and over again. It does indeed feel like a reskin of Civilization V, but it's a skin that the game wears quite well.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 3, 2014

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 3, 2014

Civilization: Beyond Earth sets itself apart from the previous games in the series in ways big and small, and you would be mistaken to dismiss this entry in the strategy franchise as "Civ V in space." Beyond Earth is an excellent standalone experience that can be enjoyed regardless of your history with the series—though having some understanding of how the turn-based strategy gameplay works is certainly an asset. After 300 hours of Civ V, the time has come to move on; I've left Earth and headed into space, and I think I will be there for thousands more turns to come.

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Nov 2, 2014

The final result is a brilliant alteration of an old friend, shining a new light on a proven structure.

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9 / 10.0
Nov 1, 2014

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.

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6 / 10
Nov 1, 2014
Civilization: Beyond Earth Angry Review video thumbnail
8.8 / 10.0
Oct 31, 2014

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.

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EGM
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Oct 30, 2014

Taking the playstyle from Civilization V and launching it into space, Civilization: Beyond Earth introduces a number of interesting concepts into the series' tried-and-true strategy formula. While the gameplay remains addictive, the learning curve here is steep, with lots of small details that demand your attention. What you make of it depends on your patience and ability to adapt to the cruelties of space.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 29, 2014

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.

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Attack of the Fanboy
AOTF Staff
Top Critic
Oct 29, 2014

Civilization: Beyond Earth is a solid attempt to bring back the glory days of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. It isn't what everyone has hoped for, but if you have the time and patience to put into it, it makes for an enjoyable game for fans of the franchise, while simultaneously being pretty accessible to newcomers as well.

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AusGamers
Joaby
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Oct 29, 2014

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.

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