Unleash the Ultimate Civilization Experience: Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 Revolutionizes the Series
The Ultimate Civilization Experience: Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 Review
After investing over 50 hours in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, I can confidently say that this latest installment in the legendary turn-based strategy franchise from Firaxis Games is as strategically rich and engaging as ever.
A New Era of Strategy
While previous Civilization games have relied on a few new mechanics to keep things fresh, Civilization 7 takes a bold step forward by fundamentally changing the series’ core formula. The decision to separate Leaders and Civs (the many playable historical groups) opens up a whole new level of planning and strategy.
Mix and Match, Masterfully
Employed aptly, swapping between Civs allows you to pivot your strategy on the fly, helping to prevent those painful, protracted losses that were once almost guaranteed to occur if you were unlucky enough to mess up early on. Competitors like Humankind have experimented with similar mix-and-match formulas in the past, but only demonstrated the potential pitfalls of such systems with uneven, poorly balanced matches. Thankfully, Civilization 7 has eliminated these issues.
A Game of Greatness
Civilization has always been the archetypal 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) strategy game, heavily employing all the elements of the genre’s namesake. You play as a historical leader in a particular civilization, guiding it through the ages, researching technologies, building cities, and competing with other civilizations.
Accessibility Options
There are a solid number of accessibility options in Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, which can be found in a dedicated accessibility menu. Keyboard and mouse controls can be remapped on PC, and there is also full support for custom controller layouts. On top of this, you can increase or decrease the font scale, enable colorblind filters, turn on dialogue subtitles, and enable in-game menu or chat narration. There are a range of difficulty options to choose from when playing with AI and a comprehensive tutorial system.
My Review Process
I played Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 for almost 60 hours on PC, experimenting with a wide range of leader and Civ combinations. I managed to succeed at each possible victory type, learning their mechanics and following the various legacy paths.
Key Specs
My PC build includes an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, i5-11400F CPU, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. I relied on an Asus ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition mouse, an Endgame Gear KB65HE keyboard, a Lenovo Q24i-10 Monitor, and a SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 gaming headset for audio.
Comparison
Throughout my time with the game, I compared my experience to that of not only Civilization games but also a wide range of other 4X strategy titles, including Humankind, Ara: History Untold, Endless Legend, and more.
The Verdict
Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 is a masterpiece of strategy, offering a unique blend of exploration, expansion, and combat. While it may not be perfect, it is an absolute must-play for fans of the series and the 4X genre.
