Civilization Beyond Earth: What I Think

Hey guys, I hope you like Civilization, because that's exactly what I'll be talking about here- the subject of the most recent game, Beyond Earth. A lot of people say that the game is terrible, which is totally inaccurate and shortsighted, although it doesn't do a whole lot to evolve the series and take the big step forward that Civ Alpha Centauri managed in 1999. So, let's get started!

The Good...

Okay, since we're all optimists here, I'll discuss the spots where the game hits the nail right on the head. First of all, the sci-fi setting and futuristic graphics are totally awesome, cool and refreshing to look at as a contrast to the visuals of the history-based Civ games, although the quality of the textures and overall graphic engine are pretty much equal to what Civ 5 already had.

The music is incredible. It totally fits with the sci-fi setting with some passive tracks, some exciting ones, and some spooky ones that work well together with the knowledge that the world you are on is completely unexplored and hostile. Although the album with Beyond Earth's soundtrack is available on google play for $10, I'll tell you how to get it for free! Just go into your computer's OS (:C) and go to Program Files x86/Steam/SteamApps/Common/Civilization Beyond Earth/Soundtrack and the whole game score will be there conveniently in MP3 format, where you can copy and paste it into the music section of your computer and enjoy it all you want! It's not even illegal pirating or anything because you're just getting it out of the game that you already paid for, which you are entitled to do whatever you want with it.

Yet another aspect where Civ Beyond Earth knocks it out of the park is with the barbarian replacement. Instead of those smelly boring brutes, you get to fight vicious packs of wolf-like creatures, massive sea-dwelling abominations and towering siege worms. The sheer variety in the new planet's wildlife is a welcome change from the barbarians of past games that just upgraded to more advanced units over time as you did. The aliens still spawn from fixed, random locations on the map that are now known as nests, which they will defend fiercely and in huge numbers when any military units or explorers get near them. Speaking of which, the aliens are very unpredictable and will behave differently depending on the circumstances of the game. For example, aliens will usually leave you alone when you're keeping to yourself in your territory, but they will go on the aggressive when you try to explore the map and get close to their nests or send a colonist (futuristic version of the settler) out to create a new city.

The tech tree has also been redone into a tech 'web', which allows you to go in any direction you want and be a lot more creative with your strategies. There's a tech 'bunch' of three technologies in every space, and you need to research the basic tech before moving on to the so called 'leaves'. In Civ 5 I was constantly finding myself saying "well, I don't want to research this tech but I guess I have to if I want to get to this other useful one". With the tech web, you won't have to worry about that anymore!

As you can see in one of the pictures, the game also enables you to customize your faction even farther by selecting the type of people that you bring with you on your journey (artists, scientists, refugees, etc), and the bonus you will get before every match (start with a soldier, see alien nests on map, etc) This is really cool and allows players to diversify from the standard setup that Civ 5 imposed on them.

 There is an 'affinity' system that lets you choose between three outlooks on the new planet- Purity, where humans want to stay true to what life was like on earth and make a new home out of the planet in its image, Harmony, which states that people must use everything on the new planet to its fullest potential and get in tune with the alien world, and Supremacy, which looks to cybernetics and machines to help the people survive on the new planet. Each of these affinities has its own unique victory, which can be achieved by gaining affinity points with that particular affinity. For example, after researching nanotechnology and reaching purity level 13, their victory is to build an 'exodus gate' back to earth and bring the entire human race to their new home.

The affinities also grant you unique upgrades to your units, such as the ability for your soldiers to ride aliens with harmony or cybernetic enhancements with supremacy. The affinities also grant you bonuses the higher you get in any one area.

Finally, an orbital layer allows you to launch different types of satellites into orbit and assist you on the ground, like a giant superlaser of doom or a harmless collector. This adds even more strategy to the game.

The Bad...

The biggest problem with Civilization Beyond Earth is that it feels a lot like Civ 5. The hexagonal tiles and combat system are pretty much identical in both games, with some aspects of the game being reskins of previous mechanics in Civ 5. For example, the 'energy' in Beyond Earth is the same thing as gold in Civ 5, while 'health' is the same as happiness (albeit with smaller consequences for dipping into the red). I really feel like the game was a "fantastic opportunity, wasted" as Angry Joe puts it in his angry review. Although the changes that have been made are nice, they are just not enough to justify a $50 price tag. They're just not.

(Video Credits: AngryJoeShow)

Another major problem is the lack of customization of the map. While Civ 5 complete had literally hundreds of map types, Beyond Earth requires you to keep scanning for more planets to find one you like, since it only gives you 3 to choose from at first. Furthermore, the game only lets you put even numbers of AI's or players into a game. It doesn't friggin' make sense, and I don't understand it. Also, in Civ 5 there were options to turn off victory types, turn off barbarians or make them spawn more frequently, change the number of city states, change the climate and temperature and spawn rate of resources and so much more, but it's totally missing in the latest iteration of the franchise. I really enjoyed messing around with the different options in Civ 5, but it has completely been tossed out the window in Beyond Earth. Why?

The game also seems to be quite sluggish during gameplay, with noticeable lag in menus and panning your view across the map, which is really annoying, but I don't know for sure if it's the game or my computer's totally lame graphics processor lol.

Thankfully, Beyond Earth does come with an SDK kit like the one that was included in Civ 5 which lets you create content for the game like new factions, map types, resources, etc. I think this is really cool and you will be in heaven here it you enjoy creating meaningful content for the community to play. If you are interested, just hover your mouse over the "library" tab at the top of steam and click on the "tools" button that drops down. Scroll through the programs listed and it will be there.

Final Score

I give Civ Beyond Earth a 7 out of 10.

Although the game is tons of fun to play and the sci-fi setting is awesome, it just doesn't quite set itself apart from the Civilization V that preceded it. 

Pros: Cool setting, fun to play, interesting and deep affinities and tech web

Cons: Feels like a Civ 5 mod, boring leaders, slightly laggy, nonexistent customization features

I hope you guys enjoyed this review, and be sure to follow my blog so you know when I've posted more awesome content for your reading pleasure!

Stay swaggy people!