The king of the 4X strategy games has made its return after quite a hiatus, which saw rivals flourishing as they toiled away at a new installment.
And now, the seventh installment in this series about recreating history within the player’s image, they have pulled all the stops to showcase why they are still the series to beat.
Civilization 7 is what happens when Firaxis has learned from their previous endeavors to create the essential Civ experience for both veterans and even newcomers to hop in and enjoy thinking whether this turn could make or break a run, for hours on end.
Presentation
While I’ve already covered most of the details within the preview of this game back in January, I still love the aesthetics of the Civilization series. The designs of the leaders, how they speak in their native languages now (like Jose Rizal in Tagalog, or Lafayette, even though he is touted in the American history books, speaks French) and how you could see their emotions when agreeing or disagreeing on your actions, along with them now using the proper names of some civilizations that they included in, are all neat touches helps the game stand out amongst their peers.
It’s such incredible synergy that its art design also just speaks well with the nature of the game. The music also being so mesmerizing, in a way that fits well with whatever you do on screen, as the music motif changes seamlessly in and out as your turn counter goes higher. From classical music to even some Balinese Gamelan, it’s a unique mix that makes the gameplay experience completely zen, at times.
The UI design is impeccable too, especially when you compare it to 6, with how identifiable most of the elements are even when switching between its PC/Laptop UI elements to portable gaming (for this example, the Steam Deck), and most of the UI scales accordingly to the options, with the Deck version making it quite easy to spot smaller details and even restrict the notification to a stackable option on the screen, reducing the screen clutter.
However, the loading times to come back to a save file during the latter half of a playthrough are quite substantial still even on an SSD Drive, so I’m afraid to see what an endgame save load times would be like on a Switch, for instance.
Gameplay
As mentioned in our preview, this game now incorporates a three eras system that makes the game feel more open-ended and reduces the amount of micromanaging during any of the eras as their Crisis event during the end point of it, would give a sort of soft reset before heading into a new round, so to speak.
The Crisis Event essentially is sort of a big-timed event that could be reducing all of your resources (like Population, happiness, culture) to zero, which can be combated by you enacting quicking with Civics that either reduce the damage or make sure you could get to the checkpoint without losing altogether. It’s a sort of battle of the wits as that Crisis might be a Plague, or a Population uprising, which isn’t beneficial if you, I dunno, run an Autocracy by the end of that era.
This makes the start of an Era later on in a run more strategic, as it’s a sort of semi-fresh start as you aim for the endgame with a more cohesive idea of what needs to be done, or perhaps noticing that you are now one rival less sometimes, as both you and the NPC could drop out of the game if your cards don’t play right.
I had leaders drop out twice in two separate playthroughs, and it’s still fascinating to see the AI making substantial mistakes that force them to bow out. These leaders are still quite feisty in their art of war as well, but they could be killed off-screen by their own demise, which is one way to shape a player’s story when playing this game.
The strategizing itself is still the classic Civ style, like opening the borders so that you don’t accidentally cause a war with Napoleon of Egypt again, or trying to annex Istanbul to ensure Benjamin Franklin of Majapahit doesn’t get full control of the coast. It’s the nature of the game to be thinking about either going horizontally or vertically, build wide or build tall, as you eye for complete Victory.
One little complaint that I have is that there doesn’t seem to be any warning of an incoming attack ahead of time if you don’t put your attacking units on standby, like how some of their rivals do it, but if you’re in a war period, I think that doesn’t really matter when you’re doing the clicking shuffle around your towns and cities to ensure your population survives.
Content![]()
Without a shadow of any doubt, this is still the Civilization game that will have you turn after turn, as the time flows like water and your window to the outside world gets brighter or dimmer depending on what time you started playing this game. The content itself is substantial, with the many leaders and different starting Civs that you can pick and choose, which can also unlock more locations in subsequent playthroughs.
While some veterans might feel like the reduction of Ages to only 3 from the previous 5 could be a step-down, the turns now feel much longer than before, and that is before the added stress that is the Crisis Events that could turn the game right up its head on a moments notice that could see players having to restart over. I think Firaxis has balanced it well, in my view.
You’re still looking at a 20+ hour playtime per campaign mind you, so it’s still the content-rich 4X game that people know and love. And with them already revealing whats upcoming on the roadmap, I can see them going the distant like 6 as well.
Personal Enjoyment![]()
As one of those older folks who played the 3rd game secretly in the computer room after class, this does bring back some fond memories of playing and discovering how the game system works, and learning about history, of course. And while I did play the 6th game on the Nintendo Switch later on in life, this new iteration feels more in line with my old memory of how it used to be, quirky and just plain fun to boot up and play for hours upon end.
Am I learning something as I build monuments one after another? Probably. But it is an exciting prospect to know that new players coming into this generation of Civilization are going to learn all the excitement of learning about policies, civics, and why opening a trade market with your enemy does lead to more income in the longer run.
Verdict
Civilization 7 is Firaxis showcasing what they have learned over the years to master their craft of creating an incredible strategy game.
It’s why this series still has an incredibly dedicated following that plays every one of the Civ games to this day, and this installment just feels like another great addition to its illustrious history.
Played on PC, Review code provided by 2K Asia
Civilization VII
An incredible 4X Strategy game that just showcase what Firaxis has been learning to master their craft.
- Presentation 9
- Gameplay 8
- Content 9
- Personal Enjoyment 9