Civilization VI Gathering Storm Review
Developer: Firaxis
Publisher: 2K Games
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Android (review based on Windows version with full DLC)
Release Date: October 2016 (Windows)
Sid Meier’s Civilization has been a staple mark in the turn-based strategy genre for 30 years. This iteration marks a particularly diverse version complete with additional game modes, over 50 different leaders to select when leading your civilization, and an infinite variety of maps through random seeding along with advanced customization options. Empire building enthusiasts, be prepared to yearn for one more turn.
Firstly, the aesthetics are wonderful. Playful animation with a crisp and vibrant colour palette helping the game’s accessibility to those in fear of a typically busy screen often seen in the strategy genre. One feature shown in the video below is the map options tab in the bottom left of the player’s HUD, allowing specific map keys to be toggled on and off, again helping declutter the screen or add extra detail for those more familiar with this format.
The soundtrack is also fantastic, courtesy of Geoff Knorr, an American composer and recording engineer. As players progress through the game accumulating science and culture, they will advance through the ages and with each new age a new version of the soundtrack to their chosen civilization will play. Soundtracks from each civilization the player meets in-game will also be added to the playlist and played randomly, and the icing on the cake is the voice acting from Sean Bean to deliver newly discovered technologies and civics, as well as famous quotes from renowned persons throughout history.
Civilization VI has 5 core victory types, as well as a general score based victory.
Players must utilize certain strengths from each leader to head towards a particular victory condition. Dominate and secure the lands with the Roman Legions and their forts, build the greatest wonders the world has ever seen as China or expand on knowledge with Korea’s unique Seowon district to garner a hefty science buff. Merely 3 examples of styles of play and victories to achieve. Being able to hit any victory type with any leader or civilization is the bulk of its flexible playstyle, however. While the leader specific benefits are powerful and can help players progress towards specific goals, other factors that can influence play include terrain, resources, or nearby AI-controlled cities providing certain bonuses. Specific victory types include Domination; in which players must capture all capital cities. Scientific; players must accumulate enough science to launch the first space mission to the Moon to win here. Culture and Tourism; building enough culture and tourism will garner more tourists from other civilizations. Religious; spread your religion and ensure it is the predominant religion in all civilizations in the game. Finally, the Diplomatic victory type is a peaceful option. Players must forge long-lasting relationships and complete given tasks by the world congress to achieve diplomatic points. The first to 20 wins. Certain world wonders in-game can also award diplomatic points, among many other bonuses!
The DLC — value for money?
In order to access all additional game modes and leaders mentioned above, the game is costly. The full game is on sale for $120USD when buying the platinum pack on the official site. A whopping price for any full game. Furthermore, while the replay value is a big plus, the updates frequently pose some issues upon their release. Most are ironed out and Firaxis actively listen to the community via their social media feeds, but the downtime due to these temporary errors, after paying a great deal to play the game, understandably unsettles some of the fans.
The additional content definitely adds features to the game that influence the style of play. Gathering storm’s biggest focus is the effect of climate change and how a player's actions can better the environment or speed up drastic events like flooding, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and blizzards.
All devastate the immediate area causing significant damage to those nearby but can grant additional yields on the playable tiles affected. The magnitude and the occurrence of such effects are directly influenced by player’s actions such as chopping forests to further production, or what source of energy a player chooses to use. Coal and oil factories increase the maps Co2 emissions and all of this is recorded in the world climate screen.
Sometimes this will take a toll on the relationship with other leaders in the game — a realistic representation of the real world. In the latest DLC, the New Frontier Pass, new content was available every 2 months, the final piece being launched on April 21st. This ranged from new leaders to new game modes, or new map types for players to experiment with. Again, this demonstrates the vastness of the content available for Civ fans.
Overall Civilization runs smoothly if system requirements are met and the Steam workshop has literally thousands of mods from other users, plenty of them supported by the game, and have been encouraged by the developers and other staff in their reveal videos. Naturally, this yet again extends this game’s lifeline and can add exciting new options depending on the mod chosen. Some alter the games aesthetics or terrain yields, others completely revamp civilization abilities and perks.
Final Verdict
7/10. While the full game with all content is certainly expensive, it is unquestionable that Civilization VI has a great deal to offer. Even the vanilla game itself is impressive and is available on steam for just over $60. It is jam-packed, hugely customizable, and the modding community will always offer other options if players manage to exhaust the official content. For those who value strategic turn-based scenarios, but with less depth, than perhaps Stellaris, for example, and enjoy city planning with a pretty bow on top, this is the right game for the right price.
Review by James Nunn
