Civilization: Beyond Earth review: Buy-in Alpha Centauri

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:00:00 EST

Viewed through the idea that it's a standalone expansion to Sid Meier's Civilization 5, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth streamlines gameplay in the long-running strategy series to enhance the pace of the historically-strapped franchise. As a spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, however, it's a cut-rate disappointment.

Beyond Earth is best described as an epilogue to the events of Civilization 5. Humanity has ruined the planet and must commit itself to starting all over again on another rock and potentially making the same mistakes. And so, various nations make conglomerate factions and shoot for another spherical mass to strategically explore, expand, exploit and exterminate (4X) one another.

Why I wish Firaxis had never mentioned Beyond Earth as a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri is that this game doesn't look like it was given the financial resources to kick off a new franchise. It feels like it had the budget of a Civ 5 expansion, where asset creation went into making a visually interesting game world, but not its overall presentation. The characters are painfully dull and inarticulate. The tech and wonder voiceovers are all done by one person, but in many cases are attributed to faction leaders within the game (who do have their own voices). The experience doesn't feel luxe. Firaxis has been the benchmark in accessible strategy games and it's owned by triple-A publisher Take-Two Interactive, but I've seen stronger production values from independent European competitors.

Continue reading Civilization: Beyond Earth review: Buy-in Alpha Centauri

Civilization: Beyond Earth review: Buy-in Alpha Centauri originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Civilization: Beyond Earth not just the new Alpha Centauri

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:00:00 EST

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is unabashedly the spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which Electronic Arts retains the licensing rights for, keeping it safe deep within Yucca Mountain for never use.

We spoke with Pete Murray of Firaxis Games about how Beyond Earth will balance what Alpha Centauri fans expect with delivering a new experience for the uninitiated.

Civilization: Beyond Earth not just the new Alpha Centauri originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments