14 DAY TRIAL // Next up in our Softpedia Game of the Year 2014 awards is the runner-up in the Best Strategy category, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, from Firaxis.
The civilization series began a long time ago, back when hardware limitations sometimes functioned as gameplay features, like in the case of Space Invaders, and fortunately I got to play it from the start.
The first entry in the series was a ground-breaking game, and I still have fond memories of hacking into saved states to manually edit units and make them overpowered and other stuff in the same vein, things that today's mobile games usually let you do if you pay enough real money.
In any case, the game was great, it was intriguing and very educational, and had an enthralling gameplay, as there weren't as many games that put you in charge of an entire civilization back then.
Then the second game came out, and it was wonderful. Everything the original accomplished, the second entry in the series outdid, adding a ton of stuff and making it an even more memorable experience.
By the time the third game dropped, I had already lost interest somewhat, mainly due to the fact that it was the same game all over again, just with prettier graphics.
New kids on the block
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri remains one of my all-time favorite games, mainly due to the fact that it had interesting content that you don't see anywhere else, well-designed factions, rewarding (if somewhat clunky) gameplay, and a more serious overall tone.
Civilization: Call to Power introduced a couple of new ideas and then took things to the stars, expanding on the gameplay opportunities you were offered.
Civilization 3 and Civilization 4 were still good games, but they failed to impress me the way the first two iterations did. I had already been captivated by Master of Orion and I was neck-deep in science fiction novels.
The series simply lacked enough staying power, being essentially the same thing over and over. After playing one game, you could pretty much know what to expect from almost every subsequent playthrough.
This made the brilliant series fall off my radar for quite a while, up until the time Civilization V got its two expansions, when the game really felt whole, offering a polished and in-depth experience that it previously lacked.
Unfortunately, it was still the exact same game, with better visuals and too little to offer over its forebears.
There's a new kid in town
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth was, for me, a big leap for the series. Sure, it basically looks like Civ V with a makeover, feeling more like a total conversion of the previous installment than a full-fledged independent game, and it lacks a ton of the bold things it should have had.
But it represents a big step for Firaxis, finally moving out of its fortified position and trying to create something fresh.
I remember having Bronze Age pikemen fortified in the hills for hundreds of years while playing Civilization, oblivious to all that was going on around them, and Firaxis seemed to be doing exactly that with the series.
Sure, Civilization: Beyond Earth still needs some work before it can become a truly great game, but the wheels are in motion, and the series has made its first official steps beyond the original game plan.
It's a rather timid move, as Beyond Earth is not straying too far from home, but it's still something to look forward to.
I hope that Firaxis will continue support for the game, just like it did with Civilization V, and I can't wait to boot it up again once two expansions are out. I liked my time with the game, but I just felt like more could have been done, much more.
Alpha Centauri told a compelling story, gradually unveiling the great unknown, taking what we have and creating something new, and Civilization: Beyond Earth doesn't feel like it's doing any of that yet, not to its full potential anyway.
Sure, there are a ton of great ideas in there, but they're just waiting to be expanded upon. And this is I think Civilization: Beyond Earth's biggest merit: hope for something different.
The tech web is a pretty good move, Affinities are interesting, even though they kind of induce tunnel vision, the aliens add a ton of character to the game, tweaking your civ through Virtues is neat, and most important of all, you're no longer going through the same motions, waiting for the same crucial technologies as 23 years ago.
For more information, you can check out our review of Civilization: Beyond Earth.
