Civilization Beyond Earth

To write a review about a game of Civilization Beyond Earth’s scale is no small feat. After playing over 20 hours during the weekend, finishing a single campaign and getting acquainted with its new features, I feel ready to judge if this new entry in the legendary series is worth one. More. Turn.

Sid Meier’s epic franchise has been evolving steadily since his startup, Firaxis, took over development. The popular 4x series has gone through several changes in the past years, notably the rite of passage to 3D environments but surprisingly enough, the biggest improvement to the game was made in its 5th entry, when the hexagonal tiles were introduced. This modification altered core game mechanics drastically and won Civilization V many awards. With two incredible expansions under the belt and practically infinite content available from its loyal Steam Workshop community, it was inconceivable the developers could surpass this legend of strategy gaming. But here comes Beyond Earth, reminding us there’s always a way to make something great even better.

Put yourself in the mood with some ambient music, straight from the original soundtrack. Don’t worry, I’ll get back on it later in this review.

A New Beginning

The year is 2600 AD. Earth is in disarray as human made destruction has caused the planet to be unsustainable for its population. The only option left for survival is the discovery of an inhabitable planet on which a select few will have the chance to start anew. The premise is grim but it doesn’t take long for the game to transfer this feeling of despair into something more adventurous. The fear of the unknown is palpable, but quickly dismissed to make place for excitement.

The player is brought onboard as the commander of a sponsored colonist crew sent from earth by fictional yet realistic alliances such as Polystralia, a union made of Australia and neighboring Asian countries. Joining them are ARC (American Reclamation Corporation), Franco-Iberia, Brazilia, Kavithan Protectorate, Pan-Asian Cooperative, the African Union and of course, the Slavic Federation.  They all make for suitable alternatives to the usual civilizations. The made up Leaders have distinct personalities and agendas that continuously remind the player they truly come from Earth. The only shortcoming from these imaginary factions is how poorly dubbed their cities are (looking at you, Zimboomba), but it’s nothing that cannot be fixed by the rename tool.

Core Game Mechanics

Civilization beyond Earth was built on its predecessor’s engine and core design. Hexagonal tiles, multiple tiers of resources, science, culture and good old warfare, only this time the fictional universe in which the game resides enabled the designers to take many liberties that ends up changing the flow of the game in ways no other entries in the series ever attempted before.

Barbaric Arthropods and Unpleasant Vapors

Trying to colonize an uncharted planet is no small deal and it would be foolish to expect no resistance from its ecosystem. Early on in the game your colony will be facing the threat of anthropoid aliens not different from what Dune and Starship Troopers portrayed. Their nature varies from neutral to aggressive depending on the player’s behavior. Get close to one of their nests, regularly attack them on sight or leave them alone and they will react accordingly. Early offenses are forgotten over time as their nature changes as the years go by.

The terrain and resources in this brave new world are very similar to Earth’s (after all it’s inhabitable for a reason), but some areas will be covered in a toxic vapor called Miasma. This new tile effect will damage units standing in his for the duration of one turn as well as prevent certain improvements. This forces the player to think thoroughly when moving armies around, but some technologies exist purely to eradicate or embrace this poisonous air.

Speaking of Technology

Being in the future the science is purely speculative but it is what makes the technology web so refreshing. History was made in a linear way, therefore scientific research in the previous games felt more like a race than exploration. With its new web-like interface, players can discover their own path freely as newly researched techs open multiple branches. Technologies are split between primary and secondary types, the latter unlocked when its parent is discovered. The openness of this system benefits from requiring more player creativity, making every new game feel like a different experience.

Affinities

In addition to a complex, non-linear technology web, the customization of your civilization is doubled through Affinities. A player’s choices will ultimately decide what philosophy their newfound colony will adhere to. Each Affinity will level up as you complete specific researches, with the most evolved one established as your main. This mechanic defines the play style of the ongoing game, each Affinity coming with a related winning condition and unit’s upgrades.

Purity is focused on preserving, glorifying, and creating the ideal version of humanity as we know it now. If Harmony and Supremacy represent the changes humankind will face in the future, Purity is a total rejection of that adaptation. The look of the cities and units call back to the past, and feature lots of banners and sigils you would commonly see on the great civilizations of old. Purity units have no adaptations to the alien atmosphere and instead rely on big bulky sophisticated exosuits and vehicles.

The Harmony Affinity is themed around a faction’s integration with the alien planet. Players who decide to develop the Harmony line will transform their people through genetic manipulation to become one with the alien environment. Units and buildings take on more organic forms, so you end up with tons of cool unique units like tanks that look like living creatures.

Supremacy represents the most dramatic change for humanity. This Affinity sees technology as the thing that saved humanity after The Great Mistake. Technology is what took man from Earth to the new planet, so they decide to double down in cybernetics. As the supremacy player sheds his or her humanity, they adopt a more austere robotic appearance. By the end of the game, vehicles and military units are sleek, efficient, and often unrecognizable from their human origin. 

Interesting Winning Conditions

On top of the usual Domination in which a player must destroy every other civilizations, Beyond Earth offers 4 fresh victory conditions. First Contact is a general victory, whereas The Promised Land, Transcendence and Emancipation are all Affinity specific. Besides Domination, each victory is achieve by completing quest-like goals, meaning the players must pool and plan resources throughout a full game to ensure triumph over their opponents.

Questing

This is without a doubt the most welcome addition in CivBE. Starting early on, quests will progressively challenge the player to perform certain actions or take decisions that will affect the outcome of the game by modifying certain variables. Quests may involve the player making a choice. Choices can branch the quest narrative or provide alternate rewards. When a player is presented with a choice, it must be resolved before the turn is complete. In the case of a multiplayer game where the player fails to make the choice before the turn timer expires, the player is presented with the choice on the next turn.

Overall, the questing system serves as some sort of narrative driven tutorial. This is a clear departure from the standard Civilization early game blandness and provides the players with interesting smaller goals to achieve on their way to the end game.

Presentation

Graphics that stands the Test of Time

From the gorgeous opening cinematic to the first time your space pod lands on your new home, the game never fails to look fantastic in every aspects. The aging engine renders intricate, randomly generated landscapes and beautifully animated units. You can tell the artists put a lot of efforts in detailing the world. From workers welding a tile improvement to a city in ruins following a siege, subtle touches are displayed wherever your eyes pay attention.
The interface is a futuristic version of Civilization V’s; it’s elegant, functional and the detailed Civilopedia plus tutorials will ensure they never feel too complex.
(regular gameplay screenshots)

Music to chill a thousand suns

Composers Geoff Knorr, Griffin Cohen, Grant Kirkhope and Michael Curran all contributed to make an exceptional soundtrack to match every emotions stirred by the evolution of a civilization’s game. From ambient synths calmly cradling you eardrums in peaceful times to intense violin pieces during warfare, the orchestral tunes never fail to accompany you on this adventure. With 42 tracks, the complete compilation has a length of 2 hours and 48 minutes. Needless to say it never feels repetitive, with the game smartly spacing every song with a few minutes of silence. I can’t get sick of this grandiose soundtrack; it’s been playing on loop during my commute as well as during this review’s writing. It’s that good. Listen to the Destroyer to develop suspense as you scroll down to the final verdict.

The Verdict

With a solid foundation based on Civilization V’s gameplay, refined game mechanics, refreshing features, stable, balanced single player and multiplayer experiences, Beyond Earth does to not only move the series forward with impressive game design, but succeeds as the long awaited spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri. The presentation is stellar in every way, with graphics that hold true to the franchise’s pedigree and music that reflects its epic scale. Civilization Beyond Earth is easily my favorite contender for Best Game of the Year 2014, 2 months before the polls close.