Any PC gamer worth his salt would have tried a Civilization game at some point. Now in its sixth iteration – Civilization VI (obviously) – we managed to get a night’s worth of turns (and a lack of sleep) thanks to the guys at 2K. We had 10 out of 20 civilizations to choose from – here are our early thoughts.
We were very very lucky to be able to get our hands on the Civilization VI Early Access Preview. While we haven’t had the time to really get deep into the game yet, the few hours we’ve had with Civ VI is very promising.
At first glance, Civ VI looks like ‘every other Civ game’. But that could not be further from the truth. Basics remain, but it feels as Civ has gotten a fundamental overhaul. The 10 things we covered earlier talked about some of the major changes, but after some more playing, it’s clear that that list barely scratches the surface.
There is so much relearning to do that anyone who was afraid that Civ VI would be a rehash of the apparent Civ IV to V ‘simplification’ doesn’t have anything to worry about. In fact, there are enough changes that I would recommend playing at a lower difficulty setting just to figure out what you should and should not do (Pro tip: cities now live and die based on their access to fresh water).
I feel that is a good thing. At its heart and soul it is still a Civ game, but all the interactions are so complex (and so deeply meshed with the procedural terrain generation) that right now I honestly do not believe that any Civ VI game will feel exactly the same. As befitting the 25th Anniversary sequel of the game, of course.
Civilization VI releases Oct 21 on Windows PCs. Stay tuned for our full review!
