‘Civilization’ gives opportunity to choose future of humanity
By Daniel Tack | Game Informer Magazine
“Civilization: Beyond Earth”
Platform: PC
Style: 1 to 8-Player Strategy (8-Player Online)
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games
Rating: E, for Everyone
The Civilization series heads to the unexplored and uncharted realms of outer space with “Beyond Earth.” The game serves as a spiritual successor to the much-acclaimed “Alpha Centauri,” but along with alien life and covert operations in enemy bases, the title also draws from recent Civilization games to create its own distinct feel.
Civilization fans should have a fairly painless transition, as many of Civ V’s features are intact, but there are plenty of new moving parts to keep things interesting. Aliens are the franchise’s new take on the barbarians from the earthbound games. Unlike barbarians, these are not just some A.I. annoyance that needs to be occasionally purged from your borders. While there’s no faction leader to negotiate with, these creatures are everywhere and they will remember your actions toward them.
As in “Alpha Centauri,” the aliens and the planet itself play a bigger role that must be dealt with over the course of a game; they are not factors you can ignore like the bumbling barbarians. You can try and live in harmony with these creatures (which are everywhere, mind you) but often they’ll be in the way of “progress.” Busting up a few packs of baby green monsters may incur the wrath of siege worms or worse. Aliens must be handled in some fashion in every game, and these interactions with pervasive A.I. units add a new element to the mix. The aliens are a fun, thematic addition to the core gameplay, but they can take some getting used to, as your forces may be slaughtered during a war with another faction by a persnickety Kraken or swarm of other alien units.
Players gain minor perks from selecting a specific faction, but much of the customization in “Civilization: Beyond Earth” comes from a new affinity system. This represents your take on how to approach the alien life and the future of humanity on the new planet. Will you commit to preserve the old world, look to change things to a new existence, or integrate alien life and the new planet into your very DNA? The three affinities – Purity, Supremacy, and Harmony – all provide wildly different gameplay options, each with signature units, technologies, and victory conditions.
You can win a standard game of “Civilization: Beyond Earth” in five ways. Beyond the classic ways to win via dominance or superior technology, “Civilization: Beyond Earth” features unique victory conditions associated with each affinity, generally advanced to by playing within the style that suits each ideology. This gives players opportunities to play in a wide variety of ways to win and does an excellent job of doing so.
“Civilization: Beyond Earth” doesn’t take the series to the outer galaxies in terms of revolutionary new gameplay, but it provides fantastic modifications and mechanics that allow it to stand proud as a worthy bearer of the Civilization name. This is a must play for strategy fans, and if you’ve always been curious about the genre but never jumped in, your opportunity is here.
