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Clean and simple, indicative of the game within.
That old familiar feeling
Civ: BE is a familiar game. Not just that it's clearly just a re-skin of Civ V, but it also invokes memories of the Alpha Centari, the game Sid Meier made instead of Civ III. In fact, there are so many subtle hints of Alpha Centari, that it become apparent that, were they able to, this game would've been called Alpha Centari 2. For legal reason Firaxis can't so they decided to make it a sequel to Civ V instead.
Make no mistake, this is a sequel, something of an odd choice considering that the Civ games don't have stories, or even characters for that matter. Civ: BE is built on the idea of one of the possible endings for the previous Civ titles: shooting a colony pod into space to settle other worlds. There are eight different human factions that are nods to the humans of old earth, each with their own bonuses. None of this should come as a surprise to any seasoned Civ vet. So much of the game is treading on familiar ground that it would be easy to write of Civ: BE as just another Civ V expansion pack and call it a day. But Civ: BE is bigger then that, and asks that you not dwell on all the old, but look at all the new it has to show you.
Seeking new frontiers
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the venerable Siege Worm, tearing shit up.
Easily the biggest change from the old games is where Civ: BE takes place, ie. a new unexplored alien world. There's echoes of earth to be found, but usually in name only. There's still snow at the poles, and wide oceans separating land masses, but there's also tonnes of new resources and landmarks that really make it seem like a different world. And then, of course, there's the locals.
Barbarian tribes have been a long time staple of the Civ franchies, acting as independent factors raging against the more established factions. In previous Civ entries barbarians were usually only slight nuisances, only really an issue when they attacked en masse. But the alien life forms of your new world are truly a force to behold. Able to appear in large groups seemingly out of nowhere, and with a great variety of enemy types, it's often best to avoid prolonged engagements unless absolutely necessary. Thankfully the game balances itself by making the aliens mostly passive. You can send units fairly deep into infested territory without firing a single shot, although they do seem to have a fondness for destroying unarmed units such as trade convoys and outpost trucks.
Clean Machine
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The new tech web, doing away with the old tree.
Apart from the world itself, there are huge changes to the mechanical side of Civ: BE. Gone are the tech trees of old, replaced with a spiraling web of technology, reminiscent of that found in Endless Space that allows you to cherry pick from different branches. Religion has been replaced by three different affanities: Harmony, Purity, and Supremacy. Harmony focuses on adapting to the world, unlocking alien units and immunity to the poison gas that permeates the land; Purity focuses on creating a better human through science, allowing your citizens to be happier, healthier, and better then the humans of old; and Supremacy focuses on crushing all who would oppose you.
Everything in Civ:BE is just stream lined. This is a sleeker, faster machine then it's earth-bound cousins and it all works out great. Instead of constantly having to upgrade your units, you now globally upgrade all units with an RPG style upgrade tree. This also means there's less units, meaning you don't have to scroll down a huge construction list to find the one you want, and every unit continues to be functional into the late game.
The AI too, has received an updated. Each AI leader now has an agenda that they stick to, and will only engage you if you threaten that agenda. They tend to select one of the three affinities I mentioned before and follow them to a fault, meaning that a purity AI will be only purity, while a supremacy AI will be only supremacy. Contrary to Civ V, AI leaders rarely start an unprovoked war with you, often sending multiple warnings before any sort of conflict, and will usually tell you why they're starting a war with you.
In for the long game
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The AI, giving a warning before things get violent.
Civ: BE isn't the best entry in the Civilization series. What it is, however, is a perfectly functional step forward for the series that toys with some really great ideas. It's somewhat disappointing that it's not as good as Sid Meier's masterpieces like Civ IV or Alpha Centari, but it's still a fantastically fun game that'll keep you coming back for just one more turn. Fans of Sid, or fans of Alpha Centari really owe it to themselves to pick this game up, and I'm excited to see what they add in future updates. It's the most fun you can have with an inter-planetary spaceship.
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