The developers were inspired by their competitors, but also added their own innovations.
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The Civilization series of turn-based strategies is finally returning, after 8 long years since the release of the sixth volume, in June of this year we saw the announcement of the seventh. A few days ago, the 2K publisher prepared a full-fledged announcement of the gameplay, and at the Gamescom exhibition area, another commented demo version appeared, in which the key innovations were presented.
The foundation remains the same, and at first glance the new title may strongly resemble the previous part, be it the hexagons, the interface or the general stylization. But what is not broken does not require management, the basis of Civilization has proven itself, so for me it is the right decision not to make a complete revolution.
In any case, the graphics have undergone visible improvements, and judging by the frames, the game seems noticeably more alive, which is especially noticeable in battles. Otherwise, we traditionally expect excellent music and, of course, narration. This time, Sean Bean will not take care of this, and actress Gwendoline Christie, who, like Bean, you may know from the series “Game of Thrones”, specially played Brienne of Tarth.
If you look under the hood, you will find that there have been some serious changes, and the main one is the historical eras. If in the sixth, as in the previous volumes, there are several of them and they are tied to research, then in the seventh there are only three: antiquity, the era of research and the modern era. But these are much more complex units, which have an absolutely fundamental impact on the gameplay, and you can even play them on their own.
Source: own photo
Source: own photo
First of all, it should be noted that you will no longer have to choose one civilization. For each era, you will have a unique choice, which will provide not only greater historical accuracy, but also more varied gameplay. Until now, your nation had advantages related to the period of its origin, which greatly limited your options. Someone had an advantage at the beginning, someone, perhaps, until the end of the game. And the new system completely levels out these differences, you will be able to choose exactly according to your ideas and nations will mix with each other, creating a unique mixture.
You might be familiar with this idea, as it was one of the main mechanics of Humanity, the great Civilization challenger that came out in 2021. I already wrote in the review back then that I would like Civilization to be inspired by this, and as you can see, my wish was granted. I am very happy that even in the face of competition, the 4X turn-based strategy genre can continue to move forward, and Firaxis has to fight for its still relatively dominant position.
But the selection of eras does not end with the choice of nations. The technology tree has been reworked, where you can not only research available technologies, but also their improved versions, or focus on the technologies of the future and gain an advantage in the next era. The culture tree consists of two parts, in addition to the general, this is a branch exclusive to each nation, which can thus receive additional bonuses.
Another new feature is the ability to choose a leader independent of the nation, which further expands the potential of the gameplay as a whole. You can stay true to history, but feel free to choose a completely unrealistic duo that will have advantageous bonuses. Leaders should not only be real world leaders, but also, for example, scientists, philosophers, artists and others. At the same time, their role will be even more expanded, because as the game progresses, they will undergo a certain development and you will be able to assign them new abilities and bonuses.
The last big news we know about so far is the improvement of combat. In addition to it looking more alive, as I mentioned above, it will also be possible to gather units into larger formations and thus move them around the map, deploying them only during combat. These units will be led by a commander, who you will also be able to gradually improve in different areas, such as attack or defense. For example, you can have one commander who is good at everything, or you can create a group of experts in certain areas.
Although there are still many things that the developers from Firaxis have not shown us, Civilization VII so far makes a very good impression on me. It is not a revolution, but it is also impossible to say that the game has not advanced anywhere since the sixth one. The creators were inspired by the competition and introduced several of their own, very pleasant innovations that can radically improve the entire game. But if this is really the case, then we will have to wait for the full version.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will be released on February 11 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.
Source :Indian TV
