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Civilization 7 review: Brave changes payoff for beloved series but where is Gandhi?

Civilization 7 makes big changes to the series, and while they won't appeal to everyone, I found them to be a great way to keep me engaged from Turn 1 to Turn 1000

[Civilization 7 screenshot]

It's hard not to think Civ 7 looks fantastic

Ive been playing Civilization games, in both single and multiplayer formats, for around two decades. In all of that time rewriting history books, I can probably count on one or two hands how many games Ive actually finished.

Thats not a sleight on the series itself, but its to Civilization 7s credit that I not only finished a game, but it was so good I missed the review embargo (which is why youre reading this two days late).

Its not a perfect revamp of the long-running series, but Civilization 7 is so full of interesting decisions that I found something exciting in almost every one of my hundreds of turns.

Throw out your textbook

[Civilization 7 screenshot]

Civilization 7 is so good I almost forgot to write my review

Civilization is a series all about choice, both at the micro and macro levels. Starting out with a settler, youll choose where to found a city to call home. From there youll choose what unit to build first.

On the other end of the scale, all of those decisions feed into choosing which kind of ruler do you want to be. Will you antagonise and attack your contemporaries, or look to woo them through trade?

Those goalposts have been in play since the series began life in the nineties, and as fantastic as every entrant has been, theres always a point where players inevitably feel boxed in by their choices a few dozen turns in.

Civilization 7 marks a serious shakeup of that well-worn format, and its changes touch the early, mid, and late game. Early choices are relatively binary, but help set the template of your playstyle, whether you prefer any of the 4 'Xs' synonymous with the genre; exploration, expansion, exploitation and extermination.

[Civilization 7 screenshot]

Cultural victories still require you to build landmarks

Early choices will help you decide whether youre going to meet the people of the world by filling out your map, or assimilate them into your growing empire. Or, you know, attack and ask questions later.

The biggest change, however, is the Ages System. There are three of these Ages in the game at present (although it sounds like theres room for more with DLC ), and they help shake things up in major ways.

Having a plague leave cities as ghost towns in a little macabre, and dropping a ton of barbarian invaders on your nascent nation is certainly on the unfair side, but thats kind of the point to put obstacles in your path that lead to widespread changes in your rulership.

This helps a multiplayer lobby stay relatively close in power level, while still offering bonuses for being the first to progress and also manages to ensure you never feel as though youre going through the motions as you may have done in Civilization 6 or prior.

Its not a perfect system. Longtime Civ players will be disappointed to see units change vastly from one Act to the next, so you wont be able to guard your space rocket launch with a bunch of spearmen, but it kept me engaged throughout an entire match.

Storytelling on a global scale

[Civilization 7 screenshot]

Influence is a key new currency to understand

While Civilization has experimented with rulers that have dual nationalities in recent years, Civilization 7 makes the surprising choice to divorce rulers and nations entirely.

Want Catherine The Great at the head of the Roman Empire? Sure, its possible. Each leader has its own unique boost to their civilization, while each nation has its own, too.

Whereas in Civ 6 you could have bonuses that wouldnt come into play until after hours of play, Civ 7s switch-up means you can get your playstyle going earlier than ever, like leveraging the Persians ability to buff infantry through attacking to help build a solid foundation for an extermination win, and while Xerxes matches up nicely for that style, Confucius might help your cities grow back home while the war is going on.

[Civilization 7 screenshot]

The Ages system won't be for everyone, but I found it kept me engaged throughout

This puts a greater emphasis not only on the single choice of ruler and civ but how the two play together.

To complete many of the diplomatic actions in Civ 7, youll need to accrue influence which can be spent to kick off trade talks or open borders with neighbouring nations, or used to wear down opponents in a war.

This means youll always want to have eyes on your opponents, and their interactions with other nations. If theyre spending a lot of time negotiating trade routes or getting chummy, theres a good chance theyre building alliances that may not benefit you in the long run.

Remember, folks, snakes dont hiss they tell everyone Benjamin Franklin is doing a great job in his war against you.

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[Civilization 7 screenshot]

The satisfaction of knowing all of this came from a single settler is immeasurable

As with any Civilization title, theres at least some small part of me that feels like the game will grow into being even more life-consuming than it already is, but that means some things could definitely be shored up.

The menus are clear, and the game looks fantastic, but theres a lack of tooltips while the glossary does the heavy lifting. That helps keep things very clean while playing, but can make it feel like some of the deeper systems are buried somewhat.

Its also peculiar that, despite some games in the series building towards near-future technology, Civilization 7s final age (Modern) actually caps out with space rocket launches.

Heres hoping a fourth age helps add to the game, but its also jarring that the series cheekiest ruler, Gandhi, is nowhere to be found. Hes the stuff of legend in prior games, dropping nukes with reckless abandon, but hes simply not here at launch which is a shame.

The Verdict

Civilization 7 will likely grow to be the game I spend the most time with this year, but even sans Gandi its a polished, slick 4X strategy game that continues to lineage of prior games while offering brave changes for veterans.

4.5/5

Reviewed on PC. Review code provided by the publisher.

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