Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 is out now in full public access on Steam, Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store and once again, I ask myself: does Sid Meier keep a hit list of journalists who just call it plain old Civilization? What about journalists who come up with cute puns like Sidilization or CiviliSidtion or SimSiddy: The Meier The Merrier and whoops, I’ve just been assassinated by sniper drone. Fortunately the drone is equipped with one of those generative AI chatbots and can write the rest of this news post for me.
The latest helping of Firaxis 4X strategy launched in early access to Founder Edition buyers last week. You may have noticed that we don’t have a review yet. This is because our Civilization 7 review is the best Civilization 7 review, and much as with Worldly Wonders, the best things take time. It is marinating underground like, I don’t know, some kind of exotic resource you can build an absolutely banging library with. It hangs unseen in the air around us, a cloud of purest Schrödingas refusing to condense into anything so trivial and gauche as a concrete verdict.
That verdict’s absence may even be for the best, as far as Firaxis and publisher 2K Games are concerned. RPS strategy game columnist Sin Vega has already reviewed Sid 7 for Eurogamer and she wasn’t especially wowed. “Its design broadly works, and a certain kind of city-optimising fan may even love it,” she wrote. “But its lack of character is endemic, the extent of its annoying habits and oversights shocking for a series of such pedigree.” I gather that a lot of the game feels both pointless and characterless, and that “the interface is ashamed that it’s a strategy game”. I’m disappointed to read that the fancy new Age structure, which breaks your campaign up into more digestible, narrative-driven chunks, is simply a source of irritation.
Sin’s review is one among many, and there are plenty of positive write-ups – perhaps the RPS review will be among them – but the player mood on Steam is currently Mixed. Firaxis have put together a patch for launch that suspends cross-play while they implement fixes for various issues with the camera, AI and features or systems such as naval combat and how Age progression works. There’s also a substantial menu of planned seasonal updates, including new civilizations and leaders, which has naturally attracted some accusations that certain features should be part of the game at launch.
But you, reader dear – what do you make of Cid 7 so far? I know that a few of you are Founder’s Editioners who already have dozens of hours under your belts. If you have complaints, are they the kind that can be addressed with patches, or are they more fundamental issues? Me, I look forward to playing the game six months down the road once the dust has settled. This is Meierbot85, signing off.