Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide Reviews
There's still work to be done – the end-game still fizzles out unspectacularly, and it's disappointing that each world's exotic alien lifeforms still act as little more than troublesome barbarians – but Rising Tide is an excellent first step on the road towards a better Beyond Earth.
The new, ocean-based mechanics breathe some fresh life into Beyond Earth, but perhaps not as much as the new diplomacy and affinity systems introduced by Rising Tide.
Fans of CivBE will want to pick this one up. While nothing groundbreaking has been added, the new features flesh out some gameplay from the original, and add the new frontier of aquatic colonization. Perhaps a little heavy on the micromanagement, the overall pace of the game retains that "one more turn" quality.
Aquatic cities, a completely new diplomacy system, and hybrid affinity units represent just a few of the seemingly countless changes in this expansion
A definite step in the right direction, as added complexity and variation from game to game complement a radically redesigned diplomacy system
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Rising Tide is a well developed, superbly balanced, and refined evolution of the original. It's a classic example of what can be accomplished when developers and gamers learn from one another to make the best experience possible. If I had known that buying the original could have lead to this, I may have done so twice. Even if you only liked the first one you're going to love this.
Nearly every complaint with the base game has been handled with attention, though the new diplomacy overhaul comes with its own unfortunate issues. But that aside, Rising Tide is an essential purchase for Civilization fans who want to give Beyond Earth a well-earned second chance.
Rising Tide brings other content to Beyond Earth as well, from new factions to new planet types. But these additions pale in comparison to the systemic changes Firaxis has made. There are bothersome issues with the new diplomacy approach, and some of these mechanics are too obfuscated to call excellent. But Rising Tide encourages new ways of thinking, and lends character to a very impersonal subject. That old Civilization mantra still echoes, just like it used to: One more turn.
To use a Civilization V metaphor, this is "Beyond Earth: Gods and Kings,": it adds a few new things, adjusts a few others, but overall doesn't really have much impact on the core game. The mechanics are still there, but it's sort of ironic that this expansion adds in aquatic combat, since the thing it seems to lack most is depth. It's a coat of paint, not a deep fix.
A few of my complaints from last year remain - the user interface could still use some beautification and the tech web is borderline impenetrable for first-time players. But Firaxis has made some smart choices with Rising Tide. It's starting to distinguish itself from Civilization V finally, and not just in terms of the way units look. Playing Rising Tide - especially on a water-heavy map - feels appreciably different from previous Civ games.
It still comes up short on character compared to the best Civs and, of course, Alpha Centauri, but it's without doubt less anodyne than before. Diplomacy, however, seems to me like a significant misfire even without the bugs – the question of your place in this new world, and in relation to your rivals, remains unresolved. I suspect Beyond Earth's road to recovery has only just begun.
A solid expansion addressing the right problems, but still shackled by its core game's choices.
Rising Tide's great new diplomacy and artifacts can't quite fix Civ: Beyond Earth's replayability problems.
Civilization's anything-can-be-traded-however-unlikely diplomacy system was a key element of the game and seems to have been removed and the war and peace system is broken as stands. Hopefully this will all be patched at some point, the way Beyond Earth had a significant patch history, as Rising Tide brings a number of positive changes to the table.
Rising Tide is much needed but a bit shallow
I wouldn't go so far as to say that Beyond Earth fully captures the feel of the Earthbound Civilization games yet, but Rising Tide makes for a far better game than the original.
Civilization: Beyond Earth - Rising Tide is an enjoyable expansion pack that offers numerous new features and improvements. However, it's not quite the leap forward that some Civilization fans are hoping for.
Rising Tide is a solid package, and in many ways, this is how the game should have been delivered when it first arrived last year.
A useful expansion that unlike most doesn't ignore the failings of the original, although even with the improvements Beyond Earth still isn't as engrossing as the real Civilization.
It's not often that I stare at a game's menu screen for a few moments just because it looks so good. That's exactly what I caught myself doing the first time I loaded up Civilization: Beyond Earth with the Rising Tide expansion installed.