Civilization 6, the newest installment to the long-running strategy franchise, has now been released. The latest entry looks to introduce new features and mechanics to Civilization while still capturing the magic that has made it one of the most popular series of all time.
A look at the game's initial reviews shows that Civilization 6 has the potential to be remembered as the best one of the franchise. However, the title comes with one serious flaw, a problem that is made more frustrating by the fact that it was already seen in previous installments of Civilization.
Districts Features In Civilization 6
According to PC World's Hayden Dingman, Civilization 6 is better compared to Civilization V upon launch, with features found in expansion packs in the past such as trade, espionage and religion making their way into the base game.
One new thing in Civilization 6 that Dingman particularly loved was the Districts feature, which was previously reported to be a major change to how players built cities. Previously, cities occupied single tiles, with all improvements and additions to the city happening within the tile. In Civilization 6, a city will be occupying several spots, which are now hexagons instead of tiles, and players will be able to assign a certain type of district to hexagons within a city.
Dingman says that the Districts feature makes the map livelier, with city planning now a bit more hands-on. This need for a more thoughtful approach on how cities are developed is echoed in the review by Polygon's Colin Campbell, who describes the feature as a clever solution to the problem of Civilization V players rarely straying from their preferred path.
Much More Complex Game
Civilization 6 is much more complex with more depth compared to Civilization V, as written by iDigitalTimes' Apolon, with the Districts being tagged as the killer feature of the game.
Campbell's favorite change, however, is the elimination of the happy meter. The previous mechanism of the happy meter suppressed the rapid growth of population, as players are forced to acquire luxury goods or build entertainment structures. With happiness now being measured per individual city, players will no longer be burdened by these requirements.
Enemy AI
Campbell then went on to discuss the returning problem in Civilization 6, and that is the enemy AI. According to Campbell, while the enemy AI saw an improvement compared to Civilization V, it is still "barking mad." Apolon, meanwhile, described the AI as "a little weak," while Dingman said that the game's AI is "bonkers."
Mic's Tom Mckay had good words for Civilization 6, saying that it is a massive improvement compared to its predecessor. However, with an AI that he claims is virtually unmatched in "sheer stupidity" among recent high-profile strategy games, Civilization 6 finds itself hobbled.
Civilization 6 has the potential to be as good as Civilization IV, which is widely regarded as the best game in the franchise so far. How far the game will go with its current AI, however, remains to be seen.
