In the previous Civilization games the diplomacy system was crucial if you were getting attacked, and decimated, you could bargain everything you had for aid. When I was playing through this expansion I had a horrendous time with the changes to this system, to the point where even I jumped online to make sure I wasn’t missing something. If you’ve played a little bit of Rising Tide and are checking for some kind of critical consensus then you’ll be eagerly awaiting my thoughts on the new Diplomacy system. It’s not so much a criticism though in fact you could argue that its inclusion is another example of Beyond Earth being pushed away from Civilization 5, for better or worse. In fact, even when I did build a city in the big blue, I’d find myself skipping over it as I conducted the million and one activities on my turn, only to find it ransacked later because I forgot to build any kind of military on it. That is engrained in Civilization players – certainly in my mindset – but when I ignored the oceans here I was routinely punished. Oceans are notoriously boring in Civilization games, to the point where players simply ignored them they were simply bodies that needed to be crossed to reach other areas. It is though, as with most of the additions that Rising Tide makes, one that carries its own set of problems. There are aliens in the ocean, cities can be built and captured. Far from being the blue coloured hex on a map that simply limits your movement around the world, now the oceans are an integral part of the Civilization: Beyond Earth experience. The complete revamp of the oceans being one of the most important. It’s a shame in many ways because there are additions to the formula here that make the game feel unique compared to its predecessors. Instead they’re merely there an obstacle, a thing that’s preventing a casual passage through the turns. This expansion offered Firaxis the opportunity to make the interactions with the various species a profound one. In Beyond Earth, and still in Rising Tide, the aliens are merely a reskin. Doing so would grant you bonuses and freedom of space. The barbarians in the original Civilization games were a roaming annoyance constantly aggressive and in need of destruction. Having said that, though, the inclusion of aliens still feels lazy. The aliens, those things that were just green insects in the base game, finally have character and variety and, along with some cool new tech opportunities, are finally demonstrating a little life and refreshing the formula. Rising Tide, even within the opening hour or so, feels much more confident, much more like its own game. Much of the criticism levelled at Beyond Earth was that it felt like a reskinned version of Civilization 5 or, at best, a total conversion mod. Once you dive into your first game some of the game’s strongest, and weakest, elements become instantly apparent. Google searches demonstrated that I wasn’t alone so, as with any PC review, a caveat has to be attached to any kind of recommendation I can give you may well have technical issues but, thanks to Steam’s refund system, it’s less of an issue than it used to be. In fact my first three hours with the game were an exercise in getting the game start. I would especially have loved to say “Yes!” but, as with my relationship with the franchise, it’s not quite that simple. The question I’ve been tasked with answering is did it succeed?Īs I sit here, with hours sunk into the game, I wish I could give you a simple answer. This expansion, we were told, would correct mistakes and make up for the horrendous issues that people experienced with the game. Technical issues were abound at launch, while experienced players decried the lack of soul, the needless homogenisation of factions and leaders (while stripping down their AI to boot) and a tacked on quest system to try and compete with Amplitude’s wonderful Endless Legend. Regardless, I knew going back was going to be an issue, especially give just how much I disliked Beyond Earth’s original release and, judging by the panning the game got from hardcore and experience Civilization fans, it seemed I wasn’t alone. Maybe the ex-girlfriend metaphor doesn’t extend that far… The late nights, the failed attempts at culture domination and the last minute losses to a space race victory. My glasses are firmly tinted with a rose hue until I double click on the icon and am quickly reminded, a few hours later, of all the things that went wrong for us last time. I have a history with the Civilization games, a long and painful history, and being asked to go back is like being asked to revisit an old girlfriend. “Max, I need you to take a look at Rising Tide – the next DLC for Civilization: Beyond Earth.” I shuddered.
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