The 4X game genre has changed dramatically in the eight years since Civilization VI was first released. Sid Meier’s strategic management series of exploration, expansion, exploitation, and destruction has always been dominant—but over the past decade, competitors have been rising.
In civilized terms, we have entered a new era. Now, there are more viable alternatives to Civilization than ever before – which puts developer Firaxis in an interesting position at the rare moment of introducing a brand new Civilization. At first glance, Firaxis seems to be taking this step without complacency.
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Civilization 7 is about change. Clearly, Firaxis has taken a long, hard look at several of its recent contemporary competitors. It seems that no civilizational tradition is impossible. That, combined with a day-one launch on every imaginable platform (not just PC) and a dedication to cross-platform play and progression, defines this game. This forces the team to think differently.
In a brief demonstration detailing this new feature, the changes came thick and fast. When it comes to Civilization sequels, I think generally each game is defined by a few smaller changes that combine to provide a greater overall difference in feel and flow. However, Civilization 7 offers a set of bigger, more important changes. I would classify multiple shifts as being on the same scale as the series’ shift to a hexagonal gaming grid in the fifth entry – by far the largest system shift the series has ever attempted.
Concepts like decoupling leaders from civilization are huge in terms of the entire civilization meta. The notion of which combination of leader and civilization is best will inevitably dominate fan discussions. Each civilization now has its own citizen tree, separate from the main tree, which will have unique unlockable features that simulate how society functions in the real world. As you advance through Ages, you don’t just unlock new units and technologies: you actually choose an entirely new civilization to layer on top of the one you had before, and your leaders remain the same.
This is the biggest change: instead of playing as the Romans and simply maintaining a relatively static empire, you’ll build history and culture in layers and waves, just like in the real world. It’s up to you if you go a historically consistent path, blending cultures that are consistent with the real world, or if you’d rather create new, unreal mashups with your choices across the eras.
Instead of being a monolithic beast, the progression tree is now divided by era, with each era of the world having its own tech and citizen trees. This would obviously remove the anachronism of players unlocking nuclear fission in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, but would also clearly tip the scales in interesting ways.
Combat has been overhauled, making actions such as flanking maneuvers more feasible, meaning positioning is more important than ever. There’s a new way to “march” a number of military units together with the new commander unit – which, coincidentally, will make moving armies through one-block-wide bottlenecks easy rather than annoying.
The construction unit is missing! This means less busy work on each new unit they train, or lazy, less urgent “automation builds.” When you say this out loud, it feels smaller – but if you stop and really think about it, it’s a huge change – and this choice sends a clear message about the type of game Civilization 7 is. message.
I’ve logged over 1,500 hours in Civ 4 through Civ 6, and I thoroughly enjoyed the sixth game, although the fourth is still my favorite. Civilization VI is a great and subtle evolution and enhancement of all the ideas expressed in Civilization V – but I’m glad Firaxis thought it was time to introduce something new. In an era of upstarts, market leaders are not content with the status quo. It’s exciting.
Conventional wisdom holds that competition is good for markets. Under the threat of competitors, even market leaders are forced to think big and try to offer bigger and better products. Civilization 7 is a great example of this. By making some big tweaks, Firaxis can deliver the most exciting 4X gameplay in years – but the effect of these changes will only become clear over hundreds of turns and many hours of play – not quickly. trade show demonstration. I can’t wait to experience Civilization 7’s new systems for myself.
