Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

 PC
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1084 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 343 out of 1084
  2. Mixed: 374 out of 1084
  3. Negative: 367 out of 1084
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  1. Zapiii
    Jul 31, 2023
    0
    The black sheep of the franchise, and for good reason. It tries to do something new, and fails, spectacularly.
  2. justandi
    Jul 14, 2023
    0
    Feels like a cheaper copy of Civilization 5, diplomacy is even worse than Civilization 5
  3. Worstgamever
    Jul 30, 2022
    0
    Worst game I have ever played my entire life I would rather consume a bucket of paint
  4. Wrathzo
    Mar 25, 2022
    4
    Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is a turn-based strategy, 4X video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. The game's setting is unique to the Civilization series in that it takes place in the future, with mankind traveling through space and founding colonies on extraterrestrial planets after Earth becomes uninhabitable due to anSid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is a turn-based strategy, 4X video game in the Civilization series developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. The game's setting is unique to the Civilization series in that it takes place in the future, with mankind traveling through space and founding colonies on extraterrestrial planets after Earth becomes uninhabitable due to an undescribed disaster known as "the Great Mistake". Beyond Earth is a turn-based strategy game played on a hexagonal-based grid, iterating the ideas and building upon the engine of its predecessor, Civilization V.[8] Co-lead designer David McDonough described the relationship between the two games by saying "The bones of the experience are very much recognisably Civ. The idea of the cities, city-base progression, leaders, the passage of time, tile-based, turn-based, building improvements, technologies. A lot of them are very familiar themes to the Civ player.… Expand
  5. IJustWorkHere
    Nov 17, 2021
    5
    I am a huge fan of Civilization IV, V, and VI so I purchased Beyond earth hoping it would be a good continuation of the series. In the end I view it as a soulless cash-grab hoping to capitalize on the success of the other, better games in the franchise. As much as I love the other Civs I would advise people to pass on this one.
  6. OldManGamerOMG
    Dec 4, 2020
    7
    Beyond Earth is a well made game. I had no technical issues, having the graphics at their maximum settings. I do feel that the UI (User Interface) is incredibly difficult to read. There were times that I would have to pull up information on my second monitor, to be able to read all of the information that was too small to read on an 85 inch display in 4k resolution. However, once you haveBeyond Earth is a well made game. I had no technical issues, having the graphics at their maximum settings. I do feel that the UI (User Interface) is incredibly difficult to read. There were times that I would have to pull up information on my second monitor, to be able to read all of the information that was too small to read on an 85 inch display in 4k resolution. However, once you have learned the game and understand what everything is, this is not something to worry about.

    I can recommend this game for those that like turn based strategy games. I prefer the classic style of Civilization on Earth, but this game was very well made and a fun twist to that concept.    … Expand
  7. gracjanski
    Nov 2, 2020
    4
    The idea of the game makes you surely curious to play it: the best strategy gameplay combines with an interesting sci-fi setting, where you try to survive against the aliens (hmm...in truth we are the aliens ;) ) and compete with other colonists. Great cinematics improves this feeling to get into a new world, the music is also great.

    But...it is true, the game is not done, even in 2020.    The idea of the game makes you surely curious to play it: the best strategy gameplay combines with an interesting sci-fi setting, where you try to survive against the aliens (hmm...in truth we are the aliens ;) ) and compete with other colonists. Great cinematics improves this feeling to get into a new world, the music is also great.

    But...it is true, the game is not done, even in 2020.
    Something is missing, somehow it is boring to have more or less the same units, buildings and the same era.
    The quests are a good idea and well written, but they are only text, at least there should be some pictures. In addition the messages are so political correct, as the whole game.
    The tech tree is very important in the Civ series and was understandable, here it is confusing with a lot of branches and mixed with an affinity system.
    And yes, the AI is so bad sometimes, they declare war on you, although they are much weaker and you had very good relationship before. In another game they went on war and the AI was much stronger, but their army was far way. In a third game I was dominant and had 2 allies, a lonely and weak AI declared war anyway, lol. So stupid, it ruins the game a lot and it is impossible to change the AI via modification. Overall there are not many good mods out there, I recommend Codex overhaul and Infoaddict.
    And, this is not the end of the bad things in this game. We have end of 2020 and this game is 6 years old. On steam this game costs 60€ with the very needed DLC Rising Tide. 60€ !!. This is unacceptable, so I didnt buy it, but played it anyway. It should cost about 10-15€ today by the way. An alternative is to play it retail, where the prizes are lower, but still too high. Or you play the "lost copy from the truck".    … Expand
  8. Parik
    Apr 7, 2020
    7
    This game isn't a really NEW Civilization, but it can give you a few dozens hours of fun while you are waiting for discount for Civilization 6. I like the idea with poisoned hexes and alien nests. Different ways of your progress make every game a bit unpredictable and you can't say what direction would be better before you land on a planet.
    I find new tech web is fuzzy, but on the other    This game isn't a really NEW Civilization, but it can give you a few dozens hours of fun while you are waiting for discount for Civilization 6. I like the idea with poisoned hexes and alien nests. Different ways of your progress make every game a bit unpredictable and you can't say what direction would be better before you land on a planet.
    I find new tech web is fuzzy, but on the other hand it gives much more freedom to your scientists.    … Expand
  9. Genek13
    Nov 18, 2019
    9
    It's not a CiV6 level of quality but still very decent one.
    Suck me in after few turns. Unique setting of the game, isolation and overall visuals are great.
  10. Sandro86
    Apr 27, 2019
    7
    I honestly enjoyed this game but I understand well why many didn't liked it that much.
  11. Fany000
    Feb 22, 2019
    5
    At the first look game seems to be very tempting, space version of great civilization V. But the whole game feels like a not completed piece. This should stay as a DLC for Civ V and then it would be considered as a masterpiece, but somebody has decided to make it a full game and that is the biggest problem of Beyond Earth.

    First, if you look at the game it's just reskin for Civ V, then    At the first look game seems to be very tempting, space version of great civilization V. But the whole game feels like a not completed piece. This should stay as a DLC for Civ V and then it would be considered as a masterpiece, but somebody has decided to make it a full game and that is the biggest problem of Beyond Earth.

    First, if you look at the game it's just reskin for Civ V, then you find out that many other things are just taken from Civ V and simplified. For someone it is a plus, but for me it was a little bit dissapointing. After 2-3 hours a stereotype appears as you do always same things and ways to develope your civilization are very trimmed. The thing I found out to be the most irritating about game is attitude of AI towards aliens lifeforms, all of them just seem to love them and if you start a proper war with them, your earth "comrades" always scold you. I think there should be more variety among nations in this attitude.

    Another minus is the missing campaing, it would be really nice to play this in some story mode. There is only sandbox mode and multiplayer a small amount of content for the full game, pity. Otherwise I really apreciate the idea of sci-fi Civilization, but it could be done better to be the honest part of Civilization family.

    Pros:
    All the good stuff from Civ V is preserved
    Nic graphics
    Wide range of ways how to develop your nations
    Proper Civ gameplay

    Cons:
    Predictible behaviour of AI
    Sterotype comes very quickly
    Missing campaign
    Classic Civ is still more funny and satisfying
    A lot of things could be done better

    Good but average game, there is plenty of better turn-based strategies than this.
    Time spent playing: 20 hours.    … Expand
  12. Vorpal_SF
    Jan 15, 2018
    5
    I came into the game with high expectations. I've been a Civ fanboy since the very beginning and Alpha Centauri was, in many ways, my favorite Civ experience. So, I was very hopeful. Maybe that was my first mistake.

    Beyond Earth and Rising Tide feel like they were designed someone who played enough Civ to like it, but never understood how and why it worked as a game. So, there are the    I came into the game with high expectations. I've been a Civ fanboy since the very beginning and Alpha Centauri was, in many ways, my favorite Civ experience. So, I was very hopeful. Maybe that was my first mistake.

    Beyond Earth and Rising Tide feel like they were designed someone who played enough Civ to like it, but never understood how and why it worked as a game. So, there are the clearly referential moments and common elements of design. But very little of the game balance or structured experience that made Civ really worth it. For one thing, the difficulty level is pretty flat. I started on the second difficulty level, got bored in a half hour, tried again on 3, got bored in half an hour and then finally played through on Gemini, the fourth level ("hard" per the game's description text) and got pretty bored. Unlike every other Civ game, no other Civilization attacked me until I already had an insumountable advantage, without even really spending any effort building a military. Being jumped on by other Civs is the check against people like me, whose tendency is to focus on making hyper-developed cities and building a tech advantage. I spent the last third of the game basically just wanting to beat it once, for personal satisfaction, but desperately bored and wanting the game to end.

    Besides the difficulty curve problems, which who knows, may have been solved if I went up to a higher level, the design just shows an ignorance of pacing and balance. One of the great hidden mechanics in the Civ series is how the different types of movement constrain you to a small, but ever-growing chunk of the map. When you start, you're on your island or continent, so you spend a lot of time focusing on the metrics of land conquest, expansion and road-building. Then you start exploring but your early ships are either limited to the coastline, or have a tiny capacity, so building transport networks or moving invasion fleets takes time, effort and planning.

    Nope, says Beyond Earth, everything can embark on its own boat, right from the start. Land and water might as well be the same thing. No mechanism to force you to concentrate on certain things before broadening your horizon. No mechanism that makes early game feel fundamentally different from late game. It's all the same, the numbers just get bigger.

    In most Civs, the tech tree does branch, but it stays in a fairly narrow wedge. No one can get too far ahead or behind unless they're massively dumping points into science and praying they stay alive long enough to benefit.

    Nope, says Beyond Earth. This hyper-branched stem-and-leaf approach means that if you want, you can run for endgame techs whenever you want and deploy a massively overpowered unit early.

    On and on, it goes like this. Rather than the carefully balanced, limited slate of buildings, Beyond Earth just throws in twice as many, all of which do really similar things and mostly just increase numbers. Units get some powers designed to make combat a little more interesting, but since you can get to endgame techs much faster than a computer (since the computer doesn't just min/max and run for an endgame tech) you can just walk over them with a unit 1-2 generations advanced.

    So, yeah. I really wished that they gave this project so someone with a better sense of game design, who could take the time to figure out a mechanic that added something to the experience, rather than just throwing in more units and more buildings which did basically the same thing: slightly changed large numbers in ways that made no appreciable difference.

    Man I hope Civ 6 is better than this.    … Expand
  13. AlexanderDM
    Oct 30, 2017
    6
    Not an objectively bad title; the gameplay is balanced and the tech 'web' is excellent. But nothing about the experience elevated it over Civ V in any meaningful way, and I found myself backing off after only two or three games. I admit I'm at a loss for definite suggestions aside from novelty - in all, this game really didn't need to be made.
  14. BadIdeas
    Jun 1, 2017
    6
    This game is said to be the spiritual successor to to Alpha Centauri. That is a fair assessment, because in order for Beyond Earth to be a true successor it would need to be more than a ghost of Alpha Centauri.

    Let us compare it to Alpha Centauri, a game released 15 years before it by the same studio. What BE has that SMAC lacks: Hex tiles instead of square tiles Much better    This game is said to be the spiritual successor to to Alpha Centauri. That is a fair assessment, because in order for Beyond Earth to be a true successor it would need to be more than a ghost of Alpha Centauri.

    Let us compare it to Alpha Centauri, a game released 15 years before it by the same studio.

    What BE has that SMAC lacks:

    Hex tiles instead of square tiles
    Much better graphics
    Visible research web instead of more linear hidden research web
    Better artifact system
    Marginally better AI?

    I think that is it.

    Now let us look at what SMAC had that was better than BE:

    Better story line, what little there was in each
    Much better factions/faction distinction
    Voice overs from all faction leaders, not just one generic voice reading quotes
    Unit customization, that gave a few dozen core designs, hundreds of specialized designs, and literally hundreds of thousands of possible variants.
    Wonder videos, not just panning over a blueprint.
    Terraforming, as in raising/lowering terrain, and the sea level as a whole.
    A chart in the UI that tracked your relative strength.
    Atrocities such as planet busters, nerve stapling, and nerve gas.
    The ability to manage social policies as actual policies you could change

    That is just off the top of my head. That is what we get after 15 years, a watered down Civ 5/SMAC hybrid, that dumbs down, or completely removes some of the best aspects of SMAC. The only reason to play this instead of SMAC, is you may have played SMAC a million billion times, and want something new, even if it is the kiddy version with limited depth.    … Expand
  15. KielW
    Jul 17, 2016
    8
    I bought BE on sale recently for under $10, so it gets a much more relaxed rating than if I had paid brand new game pricing for it.

    It pretty much is what everyone else has said, a glorified Civ5 space DLC. But does it need to be more? It's fun, it's (at this point) not full of bugs, and it works.
  16. xspidermanx322
    May 13, 2016
    4
    I'm a huge fan of the Civ series and I was very excited for this version of Civilization. However, since Civ VI is coming out and they've only released one expansion trying to fix this game I can't give it more than a 6. It's just not that great. It's pretty, but everything that makes a Civ game great seems incredibly lacking in this version. Diplomacy is a big deal for me and theI'm a huge fan of the Civ series and I was very excited for this version of Civilization. However, since Civ VI is coming out and they've only released one expansion trying to fix this game I can't give it more than a 6. It's just not that great. It's pretty, but everything that makes a Civ game great seems incredibly lacking in this version. Diplomacy is a big deal for me and the diplomacy in this game is AWFUL. It's laughably bad. I suggest buying this if it's ever on a damn good sale. Until then, you might as well stay away.… Expand
  17. ultraviper
    Apr 26, 2016
    5
    Some people claim this is a re-skin of Civ 5, but it's not. It's worse than that. Almost everything about this game is worse than previous games. The military units have been reduced to a small handful that automatically upgrade as your tech level rises. The tech web is confusing and hard to navigate. Aliens (the new barbarians) cover the entire map and go from being a danger early game toSome people claim this is a re-skin of Civ 5, but it's not. It's worse than that. Almost everything about this game is worse than previous games. The military units have been reduced to a small handful that automatically upgrade as your tech level rises. The tech web is confusing and hard to navigate. Aliens (the new barbarians) cover the entire map and go from being a danger early game to a frusration late game where they are STILL all over the map but pose no real threat. Trade routes are mandatory because of how powerful they are, yet they are implemented in a very annoying way that makes you choose trade destinations way too often. Health (the new happniess) is badly balanced and from what I've found it's impossible to keep it in the positive numbers if you have more than one city, until late game when your virtue tree bonuses can bring it back up. And playing with just one city in games like this is just not fun. Skip this one, play Civ 4 or 5 instead.… Expand
  18. Greywolf2001ca
    Feb 10, 2016
    7
    A good game that upgrades the Alpha Centauri and bring it into the 21st century.

    But like all civilization games, it does have a limited replayability albeit a bigger one than the usual crap that has been released since the year 2000. Unlike other civilization games, computer controled factions do not declare war on you for no reason although there is one exception that I have    A good game that upgrades the Alpha Centauri and bring it into the 21st century.

    But like all civilization games, it does have a limited replayability albeit a bigger one than the usual crap that has been released since the year 2000.

    Unlike other civilization games, computer controled factions do not declare war on you for no reason although there is one exception that I have noticed. Sometimes, at average difficulty level, a faction declares war on you for no reason and that faction is like a quarter of your size!!! makes no sense, maybe if he had allies, but he is alone. I had three times the number of cities he had and same for units. Why would the faction declare war on me? No point, he will be obliterated within 25 turns!

    So the AI needs some tweaking still.

    The game is also heavy for no reason. They have spent too much time on graphics and not enough on the game itself, resulting in questionable AI and AI decisions.

    Albeit this, it is still a good game, but try it first, do not buy blind, way too expensive for that. I suggest no paying more than 25$ for everything.    … Expand
  19. paranoid77
    Jan 20, 2016
    3
    Please, please; dont put civilization and Respectful Sid Meier name on this game. Its a shame and disappointment to make a game like this from S.Meier. A very very bad imitation of civilization.
    They just change the terrain and units and buildings and science. But where is AI. Its soo stupid.
    Dont buy this game, buy CIV 5 and play with mods, Mods created by players are much better then    Please, please; dont put civilization and Respectful Sid Meier name on this game. Its a shame and disappointment to make a game like this from S.Meier. A very very bad imitation of civilization.
    They just change the terrain and units and buildings and science. But where is AI. Its soo stupid.
    Dont buy this game, buy CIV 5 and play with mods, Mods created by players are much better then this and its free.    … Expand
  20. AnarchyAus
    Oct 26, 2015
    4
    I decided to play the game because of how much I loved Civ 5 and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. I would make the comparison that it feels like more of a Civ 5 mod then an actually stand alone game but that honestly would be insulting to the Civ modding community considering I have played mods for Civ 5 that have more more depth than Beyond Earth.
  21. ZeroWaitState
    Oct 24, 2015
    5
    This game came out about the same time as Interstellar. The backstory has the same vibe as that movie. Don't be fooled, though. The box says "Sid Meier's Civilization" is small letters and "BEYOND EARTH" in huge letters. The box has it backwards. This is a reskinned standard Civ game, and it has absolutely nothing to do with survival on an alien planet in terms of actual gameplay.This game came out about the same time as Interstellar. The backstory has the same vibe as that movie. Don't be fooled, though. The box says "Sid Meier's Civilization" is small letters and "BEYOND EARTH" in huge letters. The box has it backwards. This is a reskinned standard Civ game, and it has absolutely nothing to do with survival on an alien planet in terms of actual gameplay. Standard Civ game concepts like caravans, culture, wonders, etc. are translated into this game even though they make no sense contextually.

    Also, the graphics performance is terrible, with texture pop-in galore.    … Expand
  22. sbuenger
    Aug 15, 2015
    5
    It hurts to rate a game poorly in a series I enjoy so much, but I wouldn't recommend this game if you're a returning Civilization fan. Below I'll list the bad and the good.

    THE BAD 1. The game feels like a skin/mod for Civilization V. It felt all too familiar too soon. I was especially disappointed that the same strategies for Cvilization IV and V still apply to Beyond Earth. This is    It hurts to rate a game poorly in a series I enjoy so much, but I wouldn't recommend this game if you're a returning Civilization fan. Below I'll list the bad and the good.

    THE BAD

    1. The game feels like a skin/mod for Civilization V. It felt all too familiar too soon. I was especially disappointed that the same strategies for Cvilization IV and V still apply to Beyond Earth. This is the core flaw in the game, as it gets boring quickly and thus has no staying power.

    2. The maps are boring. Nothing unique in the alien world, just different names for the same tiles.

    3. The DLC adds components to the game that should have been included at launch.

    THE GOOD

    1. The affinity points are a fresh addition; however, the amount of units are still limited.

    2. The new tech tree provides a more engaging visual when teching up

    BOTTOM LINE: Don't buy this unless you catch it on sale. Newcomers to the series may enjoy it, but veterans beware.    … Expand
  23. hernethehunter
    Aug 15, 2015
    8
    A solid Civ title that is unfairly and inevitably is going to be compared as the spiritual successor to Sid Meirs Alpha Centauri.

    Without any expansions thus far it takes a relatively more conservative approach to a science fiction and gameplay context compared to that title. But it does innovate in respect to the tech web and affinity systems from previous titles. It has been    A solid Civ title that is unfairly and inevitably is going to be compared as the spiritual successor to Sid Meirs Alpha Centauri.

    Without any expansions thus far it takes a relatively more conservative approach to a science fiction and gameplay context compared to that title. But it does innovate in respect to the tech web and affinity systems from previous titles. It has been criticised as just a mod for Civ 5 but like its predecessors Civ 5 and Civ 4 the base game will improve with expansions. So far i've played 140 hours and have enjoyed the game very much. Looking forward to what Rising Tide the first expansion will bring.    … Expand
  24. omalley
    Jul 24, 2015
    1
    I am new to the Civ series. This was the first civ game I bought. I wasn't too impressed so I bought civ V. I was blown away by how better it was. Stick with Civ V. Way better.
  25. Derringer
    Jun 28, 2015
    0
    So from now on, after playing this one and Civilization V, I will consider Sid Meier's and their new games as . very good example of money leeches (like a lot of other videogaming companies). They give up any attempt to make a good deep game.They're recycling any good idea they had in the past and they are doing it wrong they are killing the very essence of Sid Meiers. only after the moneySo from now on, after playing this one and Civilization V, I will consider Sid Meier's and their new games as . very good example of money leeches (like a lot of other videogaming companies). They give up any attempt to make a good deep game.They're recycling any good idea they had in the past and they are doing it wrong they are killing the very essence of Sid Meiers. only after the money now. Huge dissapointment.

    Instead you should save your bucks and play again Alpha Centaury or Civilization II.    … Expand
  26. CarlosEmirSF
    Jun 22, 2015
    2
    Simple.. i just come here to negativate this game and i going back to play sid meiers brave new world..
    "here your least 150 chars......................"
  27. RickAucoin
    Jun 16, 2015
    1
    Talk about incredibly disappointing. Had no one in the dev team ever looked at Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri or Alien Crossfire?
    Did they not take note of how much atmosphere and character the SMAC devs managed to include in that game from low rez still images and voice-overs? How distinct the factions were from each other and how there was never any confusion as to what the goals and    Talk about incredibly disappointing. Had no one in the dev team ever looked at Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri or Alien Crossfire?
    Did they not take note of how much atmosphere and character the SMAC devs managed to include in that game from low rez still images and voice-overs? How distinct the factions were from each other and how there was never any confusion as to what the goals and actions of the various factions might be if you found yourself opposing them?
    If Sister Miriam ended up next door you knew what you were in for.
    So much incredible CHARACTER was in that game, and it was established by the technology voice-over quotes and the world wonder quotes as much as anything.
    Beyond Earth has NONE OF IT.
    And everything that is bad about CivV is included here in spades, just in case you missed needing a space the size of Nevada to make a u-turn in your bomber plane or needed a space the size of the Great Plains to have two tank divisions and an infantry squad maneuver.
    What was the point of this game? It's not even a good CivV reskin!
    There's no character. There's no FEEL to it. There's no distinction between the "factions" you get to pick from. There's no significant difference in how one or the other will behave when they are your neighbor. You will NEVER feel dread from discovering "Oh, no, Whatsername is my neighbor!" It just doesn't matter.
    And the Wonder Movies? Hah! The endgame? Hah!
    How, HOW, can an entire highly paid developer team not get ANY of the aspects that made SMAC a true classic of the genre right in this game? It doesn't appear that they even TRIED to do so.
    Trying and failing would be one thing. But this... this is just basic CivV with all its many flaws and shortcomings, with a mediocre sci-fi style mod set.
    I wouldn't approve of this if it were a freebie mod I downloaded for CivV. Much less as a full priced game.
    And the worst part? Firaxis will look at this game's poor performance in sales and critical reviews and just say "Well, there you go, turn based strategy just doesn't do well these days. Let's go spend all our time making Call of Duty knockoffs!"
    When it's not the game genre that is the problem. It's the utter lack of Firaxis even TRYING to make this game include all of the amazing stuff SMAC had.
    SMAC was Firaxis's first real success. There's no way I'll believe Firaxis doesn't know exactly what was awesome about that game. I just can't believe that.
    So why is none of it IN THIS GAME??    … Expand
  28. Violett
    Jun 14, 2015
    5
    Really nothing new. Though I'm a big fan of Civ series this game is EXACTLY the same as Civ5, just under another sauce. Though fans of old Alpha Centauri might find it intriguing.
  29. Critical_Fun
    Jun 10, 2015
    3
    I tried liking this. I tried for 68 hours. I don't get this game. What is the point? It's Civ V with different units and tech trees and terrain. And they are not improvements. The alien beasts require a maxed out tech tree and large army to defeat. Not sure why they did this. I ended up going back to Civ V and not looking back. I should not have spent the money on this. The worstI tried liking this. I tried for 68 hours. I don't get this game. What is the point? It's Civ V with different units and tech trees and terrain. And they are not improvements. The alien beasts require a maxed out tech tree and large army to defeat. Not sure why they did this. I ended up going back to Civ V and not looking back. I should not have spent the money on this. The worst thing about it, is that this was time wasted that they could've been working on Civ 6. Everything in this game, Civ V does a lot better.… Expand
  30. Rastrelly
    May 27, 2015
    5
    This game on every level Alpha Centauri succeeds. But its main problem is lack of atmosphere. Faction leaders are not interesting, there is no cool story about the Planet and humans, units feel not that entertaining, as well as ending scenarios. Game requires too much boring micromanagement which should've been easily automatizeable. Tech web is an interesting concept though. Better go getThis game on every level Alpha Centauri succeeds. But its main problem is lack of atmosphere. Faction leaders are not interesting, there is no cool story about the Planet and humans, units feel not that entertaining, as well as ending scenarios. Game requires too much boring micromanagement which should've been easily automatizeable. Tech web is an interesting concept though. Better go get Alpha Centauri - it's a much better experience.… Expand
  31. 123456
    May 25, 2015
    5
    I started playing Civ 5 again a couple of months ago (mid 2015) without any expansions, and whilst shopping for those I saw a deal on this and thought I would give it a try. For reference I played Civ 2-5 but not Alpha Centauri and I'm reviewing version 1.0.2.666

    The first thing I noticed was the game engine, it's exactly the same as Civ 5. That is not necessarily a bad thing but I did    I started playing Civ 5 again a couple of months ago (mid 2015) without any expansions, and whilst shopping for those I saw a deal on this and thought I would give it a try. For reference I played Civ 2-5 but not Alpha Centauri and I'm reviewing version 1.0.2.666

    The first thing I noticed was the game engine, it's exactly the same as Civ 5. That is not necessarily a bad thing but I did expect more than a reskin of a 5 year old game. Where happiness was, now we have health, and gold has become energy, among other rebrandings.

    Gameplay wise, the technology structure going from tree to web is a nice touch, giving a more open ended narrative compared to the history of human science. Things like borders and exploring remain from Civ 5, although they do not make much sense when you have so much technology that you can launch satellites and the planet is uninhabited by intelligent life, but you can forgive this as a game principle.

    The AI is quite unforgivable though. If you get an idea of how to play the AI will never attack you. The difficulty settings, like Civ 5, are based on giving the AI cheats instead of making it more tactically effective. It will attack other nations or independent stations (which you have no diplomacy option to complain about) or beg you for resources with the offer of favours, which are quite worthless.

    When war does finally break out, you end up being heavily penalised in Health (should you take an enemy city) or in reduced trade routes, which are extremely valuable throughout the game. If you set up your armies correctly you can rarely lose a unit to the rather incompetent AI. In fact, after entering into a war with several nations, and barely even a laser beam fired, I am offered a peace treaty and one of their cities! Not only is the AI incompetent, it actually wants you to win with as little fuss as possible.

    The affinity system is the basis for your new societies beliefs, or whatever. In actuality, it represents what upgrades your units get, and much like Leonardo's Workshop in Civ II, all your units are upgraded automatically. It also turns your cities a different colour. The levels for this are linked to the tech web, meaning science heavily outweighs culture in this game. This is also because most of the victory conditions rely on research. Whilst there are cultural borders and virtues provide buffs, there is no cultural victory (but military domination remains).

    The early game with explorers and aliens is quite fun as you try and dodge their nests and find relics and escape pods that aren't covered in poisonous gas, much like the early game of Civ 5 is enjoyable for finding city states and ruins whilst dodging barbarians. Quickly though the game becomes a grind, mostly due to the weak AI and the build more research more repeat actions, followed by the all too familiar "Next Turn" button spam.

    One of the most disappointing things is the lack of visual stimulation with regard to the tech and wonders. When you build a wonder you receive a pop-up screen with an image of a futuristic blueprint that basically looks like nothing at all, a quote which means very little out of context, and the buff it gives you. These are supposed to be world shaping discoveries but outside of the civilopedia the game offers you nothing. This was fine in Civ 5, it's Earth. But this is the unknown fiction.

    Beyond Earth is not a bad game but it feels very undercooked. With the first expansion coming later this year I hope, unlike the Earth the game leaves behind, Firaxis are more about looking back to what needs to be fixed before looking forward to new challenges to explore.    … Expand
  32. michael__b
    May 19, 2015
    4
    as of may 2015 this game is veryu buggy at best , worker automation is not working ( after some time they just stand there and do nothing but it spend there movements as if they did work ) the tech tree is horrible , so large and confusing you have no idea what to do or where to go to even build some new combat units , the affinity part is also broken you need to level up on one of 4as of may 2015 this game is veryu buggy at best , worker automation is not working ( after some time they just stand there and do nothing but it spend there movements as if they did work ) the tech tree is horrible , so large and confusing you have no idea what to do or where to go to even build some new combat units , the affinity part is also broken you need to level up on one of 4 style of game but have no clue how to .

    this is basically a haft baked civ 5 wannabe -- just get civ 5 or ANY other 4k game

    this game is simply not worth it - pending some massive updates I will stop playing    … Expand
  33. GodModule
    May 9, 2015
    8
    Disclaimer: I paid half price for this game, so my perspective might be a little different from people who dropped the full $50.

    So by now the secret's out...this is pretty much a space add-on for Civ 5. If you're like I was, the negative reviews put you off on this game and you're waiting for an expansion or two to come out to make it worth the while. Let me tell you, though, that    Disclaimer: I paid half price for this game, so my perspective might be a little different from people who dropped the full $50.

    So by now the secret's out...this is pretty much a space add-on for Civ 5. If you're like I was, the negative reviews put you off on this game and you're waiting for an expansion or two to come out to make it worth the while. Let me tell you, though, that there's plenty in Beyond Earth that makes it worth buying right now. Sure, it doesn't revolutionize the series like Alpha Centauri did, but it's still an outstandingly fun and addictive game.

    If you played Civ 5, you'll be able to pick this up on the hardest difficulty immediately. The mechanics are still very similar (or identical) to its predecessor. However, there are a couple of improvements that make this game worth the money. First, the tech tree has been redone to create a lot more strategy than Civ 5's linear tech. In Civ 5, it was pretty much a matter of researching everything as fast as possible. In BE, the tech tree branches out in every direction which makes researching everything quite impossible. This means that you have to plan out your research much more carefully. While this new mechanic is a definite improvement, it does take some getting used to, and you'll probably have to restart more than a few times before you're satisfied with your path.

    Affinities are another new feature, and they really help you to tailor your civ exactly the way you want it. Although they're similar to the ideologies in the Brave New World expansion, they offer much more substantial bonuses that can completely change the way you manage your civilization and its environment. For example, pursuing the Harmony affinity allows you to turn the land's natural dangers into benefits for your civ and can create a plethora of new strategic options when it comes to battling an enemy with a different affinity. Furthermore, each affinity offers its own path to victory, so choose carefully.

    One thing that really bugged me about this game were the endings. After dozens of hours of gameplay, all you get is a little one paragraph textbox that basically says, "You win! Congratulations!" I know that the Civilization series is all about the experience of managing your own empire in a sandbox world, but come on...it's a 2014 game. How hard would it be to tack on a five minute cinematic to reward all your careful planning and execution? BE features a lot more in the way of narrative elements than previous Civ games, so I was really hoping for a good ending. Make it happen next time, Firaxis!

    All in all, this was a very fun, very addictive game. Reviewed on its own merits, it would be a 9 or 10. However, being so similar to its predecessor really knocks it down a peg. Still, there is a lot of reason to hope that the expansions will really open this game up and build on what it already does right to make it something truly revolutionary. If you can set aside the expectation that this is supposed to be the next Alpha Centauri, or if you can pick it up for cheap like I did, you should definitely play this game.    … Expand
  34. ptrayal
    Apr 16, 2015
    6
    Well, this was the first Civ game I've bought since Civ 2 or 3 and I was a big fan of SMAC back in the day (with the wonderful alien expansion). This though, is nothing like SMAC. I really want it to be, but it's not.

    Pro's: Nice graphics (though from what I've heard, the tiles are similar to Civ V), decent tech tree/branch/leaf thing, I like affinities and virtues, seeding is a neat    Well, this was the first Civ game I've bought since Civ 2 or 3 and I was a big fan of SMAC back in the day (with the wonderful alien expansion). This though, is nothing like SMAC. I really want it to be, but it's not.

    Pro's: Nice graphics (though from what I've heard, the tiles are similar to Civ V), decent tech tree/branch/leaf thing, I like affinities and virtues, seeding is a neat feature.

    Con's: No faction editor, factions are pretty bland and have nothing to do with you after you land, the AI is pretty bad, aliens are nice but not very smart, no unique geographic features/landmarks (give me my Pholus Ridge).

    It's not a bad game, but I definitely do not think it is the "spiritual successor" to SMAC. Maybe a distant cousin, but no successor. Which is a shame, because I really want it to be.    … Expand
  35. HungryHippo123
    Apr 14, 2015
    5
    They added some new elements but its really just the last one and copy and pasted on and they changed a few things and that's all really, and i felt i always did the same thing over and over
  36. owen445x
    Apr 6, 2015
    3
    Regret buying this.

    Everyone hates you if you shoot an alien.. literally hate you.. so why play 2 of the factions that dont mind killing them.

    Researching is boring as sh*t, literally just research points that have the color faction you want to become.

    I played a few games and literally have no desire to continue what so ever.
  37. Megatanis
    Mar 23, 2015
    4
    Sid Meier's last good game (and it was very good..) was Civilization IV. Ace patrol was nice, yeah.
    Beyond Earth is boring, it's a reskin of Civ5 (which I absolutely disliked), and as a successor of Alpha Centauri it doesn't even get close. I still remember those secret project videos, absolutely brilliant. Alpha Centauri was (is) a much better game. Beyond Earth is not a terrible game, I    Sid Meier's last good game (and it was very good..) was Civilization IV. Ace patrol was nice, yeah.
    Beyond Earth is boring, it's a reskin of Civ5 (which I absolutely disliked), and as a successor of Alpha Centauri it doesn't even get close. I still remember those secret project videos, absolutely brilliant. Alpha Centauri was (is) a much better game. Beyond Earth is not a terrible game, I just find it uninteresting, boring and easy. Would deserve a 5 but I'm angry, because I know the Man can do a lot more, even though it's ten years things got a bit..streamlined.    … Expand
  38. RocKeR999
    Mar 12, 2015
    9
    I am new on Civilization so when I read all the comments about playing Civilization V and forget about Civilization Beyond Earth, that's what I did.
    I had a really great time playing Civilization V. However I wanted to try this one too, now I cannot stop playing Beyond Earth.
    Beyond Earth has improved a lot of little features that the previous version had and I considered to be flaws,    I am new on Civilization so when I read all the comments about playing Civilization V and forget about Civilization Beyond Earth, that's what I did.
    I had a really great time playing Civilization V. However I wanted to try this one too, now I cannot stop playing Beyond Earth.
    Beyond Earth has improved a lot of little features that the previous version had and I considered to be flaws, such as evolving all your units at the same time, and allowing you to choose how to focus your game play instead of one boring tech tree that everyone must follow.
    If Civilization V became so popular after so many expansions, I can just imagine how great Civilization Beyond Earth will be in the future after a couple of expansions.    … Expand
  39. Dartboard
    Mar 11, 2015
    4
    Feels like a comprehensive mod for Civ V, if anything. The AI is as incompetent as it has ever been, the diplomacy is lacking, and the decisions you make start to have little meaning to you as a player as time goes on. The lack of eras really gives you a feeling of little progression. There is nothing genuinely innovative to this game that keeps you hooked, either. When compared to Civ V +Feels like a comprehensive mod for Civ V, if anything. The AI is as incompetent as it has ever been, the diplomacy is lacking, and the decisions you make start to have little meaning to you as a player as time goes on. The lack of eras really gives you a feeling of little progression. There is nothing genuinely innovative to this game that keeps you hooked, either. When compared to Civ V + expansions, it really pales.… Expand
  40. bwheatley
    Mar 8, 2015
    10
    This game really scratches an itch that i needed to get scratched. I enjoyed the spiritual successor to alpha Centauri. I'd give this game a chance for folks on the fence.
  41. SherlockHolmess
    Feb 22, 2015
    9
    Wow i cant understand the many dislikes... sure it is no Alpha Centauri but first of all it's personal taste and second Alpha Centauri looks ugly.
    I don't compare this game to AC at all, i for myself started to become addicted aftr the very first round.
    The gaphics and soundscapes are beautiful. Trade routes, quests, outposts, aliens, make this game really exciting, the military battles    Wow i cant understand the many dislikes... sure it is no Alpha Centauri but first of all it's personal taste and second Alpha Centauri looks ugly.
    I don't compare this game to AC at all, i for myself started to become addicted aftr the very first round.
    The gaphics and soundscapes are beautiful. Trade routes, quests, outposts, aliens, make this game really exciting, the military battles are good thinked through but can be a bit annoying.
    The worms at the beginning have a very bad AI, and are very map dependent. But it happened only once that 3 worms attacked all cities of only me not the other player and the game was pretty much over for me then.
    Also the interface when leaving a city screen could be a bit faster, the "x" at the bottom is annoying.
    Also the tutorial is a bit sluggish und there's no campaign...

    But well these are just needles in the haystack. The game is great overall and you can spend lots of time with it. For me it's the best civilization at all, since i really enjoy the new setting on those planets and the graphics are so much more beautiful compared to it's predecessors.    … Expand
  42. uenoparker
    Feb 20, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After having a great time playing Civ IV and Civ V, I confess to being very disappointed with Civ BE. When you think of a futuristic game, what comes to mind? Advanced technologies? Maybe that's too much... what about modern, 21st century technologies? Still too much? How about mid-20th century? No?

    This game purports to have you as an interstellar colonial mission, and yet you are unable to map the planet's surface before landing. You are unable to develop a satellite that actually orbits the planet. You rely on trucks and ships to move materials rather than aircraft. Your scouts are ground-bound.

    What is the point of this? Civ V (and even Civ IV) plays better. Skip this over-priced offering and stick to one of the older games that's likely available much cheaper and with less room to disappoint.    … Expand
  43. Mittsies
    Feb 18, 2015
    0
    Are you new to the Civilization franchise? Play Civ V instead - it's a more complete game that outshines Beyond Earth in almost every single aspect. Are you already a Civ fan? Steer clear. Beyond Earth adds nothing new to the franchise and has no style. It feels like a total conversion mod of Civ V, but with extremely limited features. I guess you can wait for 2K games to pump out a bunchAre you new to the Civilization franchise? Play Civ V instead - it's a more complete game that outshines Beyond Earth in almost every single aspect. Are you already a Civ fan? Steer clear. Beyond Earth adds nothing new to the franchise and has no style. It feels like a total conversion mod of Civ V, but with extremely limited features. I guess you can wait for 2K games to pump out a bunch of costly DLC and then maybe the game will be playable once you've bought it 3 times over, but even then I have major doubts.

    Bottom line: an extreme disappointment. Don't be fooled by paid reviews and hype.    … Expand
  44. Nightioz
    Feb 17, 2015
    5
    I'm sad to say that this game really makes me wanting to go back and play the old Alpha Centauri game, instead of this one. Only thing this does better is the new updated graphics. The rest is just way too dull designed.

    Too bad, since I have been dreaming of a new Alpha Centauri game since I completed that the first time years back.
  45. NCCrank
    Feb 16, 2015
    8
    I've owned and played every Civ game. When this was announced I was hoping for Alpha Centauri 2. And I was extremely disappointed with this game when viewed against the original AC.

    But, for whatever reason - I kept playing. And, something funny happened - I found a pretty enjoyable game once I accepted it for what it is vs. what I was hoping for. The game is not perfect. In some    I've owned and played every Civ game. When this was announced I was hoping for Alpha Centauri 2. And I was extremely disappointed with this game when viewed against the original AC.

    But, for whatever reason - I kept playing. And, something funny happened - I found a pretty enjoyable game once I accepted it for what it is vs. what I was hoping for.

    The game is not perfect. In some ways, it is like a Sci-Fi expansion for Civ-5. But, if you spend some time with the game, it is a different game. The addition of: quests, affinities, and a different way of handling technology make for interesting games that vary from one game to the next.

    The weakest part of the game is certainly the wonders and the victories. Both are underwhelming and understated to the point of being flaws.

    But, the need to manage resources carefully - to build affinity specific units vs. city improvements - as well as having to manage the AI opponent's march to victory can make for some challenging games. For example, you may choose Harmony and work to build Xenotitans - but, will you have enough Biomass?

    Hopefully they will continue to support and develop this game. Is it AC2 - no. Is it perfect no. Is it fun, and can you spend a lot of time trying various strategies- yes.

    Judged on its own, SMC-BA is a good game that adds some interesting changes to the original Civ-5 model. Despite lackluster wonders, and a underwhelming (i.e. none) Victory screen - this is a fun game.    … Expand
  46. BigDegs29
    Feb 10, 2015
    9
    This is basically Civilization V with some improvements, and some drawbacks.

    Improvements: -Trades barbarians for more versatile aliens. -Trade routes are improved (but needs a mod to remove the annoyance factor). -Very much prefer the skill web to the old tree. -Very much prefer the virtue system to the social policy trees. -Spying is actually useful. -Affinities add a dimension    This is basically Civilization V with some improvements, and some drawbacks.

    Improvements:
    -Trades barbarians for more versatile aliens.
    -Trade routes are improved (but needs a mod to remove the annoyance factor).
    -Very much prefer the skill web to the old tree.
    -Very much prefer the virtue system to the social policy trees.
    -Spying is actually useful.
    -Affinities add a dimension to gameplay.

    Drawbacks:
    -Few civilizations (er, sponsors) to choose from; DLC anyone?
    -Sponsor perks seem unbalanced to me.
    -You'd think they'd incorporate some of the great mods from CIV:V, but no.
    -Similar enough to CIV:V that fatigue settles in a little too quickly.

    I'm giving it a 9/10 because that's what I would give CIV:V. Because it's basically on the same level. I don't give penalties for not fixing what aint broke.    … Expand
  47. rodericrinehart
    Feb 7, 2015
    4
    Civilization has to be one of my 10 favorite franchises over the past 30 years and has brought me possibly thousands of hours of entertainment and great memories.

    This game honestly was disappointing and does not live up to the Civ name. It was tedious, lacked the depth of Civ V, and is really a watered-down, poorly done skin on Civ V. I wish I had never bought it.
  48. Hurley
    Feb 2, 2015
    8
    This is an excellent addition to the Civ canon (I have played since the original Civ!). The game itself is based on Civ 5 and appears significantly influenced by Alpha Centauri (SMAC) and both of these are good. The alien feel is excellent and the interaction with alien life and implications on factions excellent. I find it good as a casual 3 hours or so build or a much longer and seriousThis is an excellent addition to the Civ canon (I have played since the original Civ!). The game itself is based on Civ 5 and appears significantly influenced by Alpha Centauri (SMAC) and both of these are good. The alien feel is excellent and the interaction with alien life and implications on factions excellent. I find it good as a casual 3 hours or so build or a much longer and serious immersion. Some small things detract, for example, if you have arrived in orbit why isn't all the land visible?… Expand
  49. Jack_TheRipper
    Jan 25, 2015
    0
    This game is nothing but a watered down pos re-skin of civ5 with a plethora of bugs almost no new content over civ5 but some content from civ5 striped out or dumb ed down and at a price of $49.99 its a insult to any gamer please do yourself a favor and pass on this game that will not even be respectable until it gets its 2 mandatory firaxis expansions priced at $29.99 and a few dozen minorThis game is nothing but a watered down pos re-skin of civ5 with a plethora of bugs almost no new content over civ5 but some content from civ5 striped out or dumb ed down and at a price of $49.99 its a insult to any gamer please do yourself a favor and pass on this game that will not even be respectable until it gets its 2 mandatory firaxis expansions priced at $29.99 and a few dozen minor dlcs priced at about $5-$15 a piece just to make it worth taking a look at. But at that point you have to spend nearly $100 usd to make this game good; now ask yourself this should you have to pay that much for a OK game. NO! so send a message to firaxis and pass on this gold painted turd… Expand
  50. Stefanakis
    Jan 24, 2015
    2
    Lots of gamers awaited this game for a long time. Too much time passed between this and Alpha Centauri. Me of course among them. But I am sad to say this is a shadow of a game. Did they try out the mechanics ? Every time you end up micromanaging a fleet of trade vessels while waiting. There is no real choice in anything. This game needed another 6 months of testing and/or development.Lots of gamers awaited this game for a long time. Too much time passed between this and Alpha Centauri. Me of course among them. But I am sad to say this is a shadow of a game. Did they try out the mechanics ? Every time you end up micromanaging a fleet of trade vessels while waiting. There is no real choice in anything. This game needed another 6 months of testing and/or development.

    And I can proudly say that I am a Sid Meier fan. Civilization is the game I played and am playing more than any other game combined. I hope they take another good look at it . Maybe a DLC and another 50 bucks will fix it ...... /irony off    … Expand
  51. Atr0s
    Jan 22, 2015
    3
    Completely disappointing. Even though it's marketed as a completely different game, it's just a Civilization V with different wrapping. Yes, the UI is less intrusive and the game slightly more complex in some areas but there are too many downsides to it. For example, there are fewer choices of civs and all of them can pretty much follow the same paths, with their unique trait being a minorCompletely disappointing. Even though it's marketed as a completely different game, it's just a Civilization V with different wrapping. Yes, the UI is less intrusive and the game slightly more complex in some areas but there are too many downsides to it. For example, there are fewer choices of civs and all of them can pretty much follow the same paths, with their unique trait being a minor advantage at best and being the only way to distinguish themselves (they have access to the same units, no matter the path taken). They at least took note of previous criticism and actually introduced more customization as "random" event choices ("random" as they're mostly tied to your colonies' buildings and research) but failed to be creative in several other areas, for instance most of victory conditions (besides Domination) consist of researching a technology and building its associated Wonder.
    This could be a Civilization V mod if there were any grand modders like in the past (as of Civilization IV). We've got to thank the developers for that, for making such crap they basically shoved this part of the community through the back door. If you had experience with previous titles (when Civilization was still a good reference), you should stay away from this release.    … Expand
  52. Vayra
    Jan 20, 2015
    3
    C:BE is a difficult game to review negatively when played only for a short period of time. At first glance, you are offered a new Civilization game with a completely overhauled tech tree, new units, new surroundings and a new setting. It holds promise until you have finished a couple of games and realize the truth behind this Civilization V reskin.

    Did I just say 'Civ V reskin'? Indeed.    C:BE is a difficult game to review negatively when played only for a short period of time. At first glance, you are offered a new Civilization game with a completely overhauled tech tree, new units, new surroundings and a new setting. It holds promise until you have finished a couple of games and realize the truth behind this Civilization V reskin.

    Did I just say 'Civ V reskin'? Indeed. Every resource has been converted into a seemingly different, yet extremely similar mechanic. Gold has become Energy, for example, and Happiness has been changed to 'Health'. Sensible choices for the setting the game is in, but these design choices make C:BE feel, play and look like a reskin. The game is not helped either by the minimalistic UI and the complete lack of backstory or CGI movies, every pop up feels like a glorified text box with little flair or soul to it.

    The above is especially disturbing when you consider this is a 4X developed by Firaxis, a company that released a game such as Alpha Centauri. There are loads upon loads of hidden references to that game, but not one single moment does C:BE aspire to that level of greatness, polish or immersion.

    Every faction in the game feels like a lifeless husk dropped onto an alien planet with an odd and surreal backstory, supported by what is supposed to be the backbone of the game: Affinities. It is through this mechanic that you progress to stronger units with more unique abilities. Affinities can be combined, mixed and matched in any way the player sees fit; another example of a game mechanic that just hasn't really been fleshed out and thought over critically, because it results in every game becoming an 'affinity race' and having access to more than one at high level is always a huge advantage. End result? Every game is exactly the same: you rush a few cities, a few starting techs to boost production or fill the blanks in your economy, and the affinity race starts. Early game units are nowhere near strong enough to rush enemy cities or really make a lasting difference, since the alien population will most likely destroy those attempts completely, while becoming utterly worthless and underpowered once you obtain the first Affinity-based unit. Oh, and don't even think those aliens will ever be an issue, or the planet will ever be a threat to your growth and prosperity. There IS no threat in C:BE. There is only the 'next turn' button, which you will find yourself clicking like a madman to finish that affinity race and finish the game.

    C:BE misses the mark completely as an enticing, deep or challenging 4X. It looks nice, sounds good, and that about sums it all up. All the rest feels like an incomplete shell of rehashed Civ V mechanics that lack in every respect.

    My two cents: avoid like the plague, maybe revisit after it has been expanded and properly fleshed out. C:BE is a shameless copy of tried and tested concepts with a price tag of a whole new game, which it is clearly not. There are dozens of 4X games that do literally every single thing a lót better.    … Expand
  53. pettina
    Jan 18, 2015
    1
    This game was a huge disappointment. It's trying to be something what they couldn't do. Game is just too complicated even oldschool civ fan. Tech trees is too complicated. Units get killed one shot by aliens in field. I can recommended this game only for star-craft people. And only if you like turn-based combat !
  54. diehard-gamer
    Jan 17, 2015
    1
    Slow. Slow. Unplayable slow. My basic Win 8 laptop will happily run Skyrim (low settings, game controller, all DLC plus 50 or so mods) at 25FPS. But Civ Beyond Earth (small world or tutorial, min graphics settings) runs like a snail swimming uphill through treacle. It takes so long to load the game and menu screens I'm never sure whether its crashed - then simply scrolling around the mapSlow. Slow. Unplayable slow. My basic Win 8 laptop will happily run Skyrim (low settings, game controller, all DLC plus 50 or so mods) at 25FPS. But Civ Beyond Earth (small world or tutorial, min graphics settings) runs like a snail swimming uphill through treacle. It takes so long to load the game and menu screens I'm never sure whether its crashed - then simply scrolling around the map in game is a frustrating jerky nightmare. This is a sim FFS - so how much graphics power does think it needs! It may be a good game, but I doubt I'll ever find out. The developers need to get the programming sorted.… Expand
  55. Canisrah
    Jan 17, 2015
    2
    This game is little more than a mod for Civ 5 - and not a very good mod at that. I don't know how they managed it, but Beyond Earth takes an interesting premise and the engine from Civ V and takes away all traces of personality, atmosphere and...fun. It's a soulless game which seems to be more about learning the game systems to win without ever engaging the player in the sorts of emergentThis game is little more than a mod for Civ 5 - and not a very good mod at that. I don't know how they managed it, but Beyond Earth takes an interesting premise and the engine from Civ V and takes away all traces of personality, atmosphere and...fun. It's a soulless game which seems to be more about learning the game systems to win without ever engaging the player in the sorts of emergent game play and stories for which Civ V and it's predecessors are famous. That addictive 'one-more-turn' mentality that Civ V promotes is simply absent in Beyond Earth and it's more of a chore to keep playing than a pleasure.

    Disappointing.    … Expand
  56. condythug
    Jan 15, 2015
    1
    Terrible game and not fit to bear the Civilization name. Sid Meier must be nearing his retirement if this is the sort of trash that he is turning out nowadays. i stopped playing it once i got into the early turns; boring graphics, strange bugs, stupid gameplay and quest goals. looks like games nowadays are all following the same formulae, "go there get that, come back get rewards"Terrible game and not fit to bear the Civilization name. Sid Meier must be nearing his retirement if this is the sort of trash that he is turning out nowadays. i stopped playing it once i got into the early turns; boring graphics, strange bugs, stupid gameplay and quest goals. looks like games nowadays are all following the same formulae, "go there get that, come back get rewards" repeat 100000 times.

    thank god i manage to get a refund for this piece of trash. advise to PC players, save your money and go play the old Civilization games instead (Civ 4) if u want a really good Civ game. This one is for the dustbin.    … Expand
  57. BlitzStein
    Jan 15, 2015
    8
    They accomplished the promise of a linux version. This is a good game. A little deceiving coming from the Civ saga, but we hope they will add space and other things on future expansions.
  58. iseeall
    Jan 14, 2015
    5
    What do you expect... Brian Reynolds who was the designer behind Alpha Centauri and Civ 2 left Firaxis long ago. AC is my favorite game of all time, and I still play it. Yes, AC has some minor flaws (like, poorly tested endgame, and some minor bugs with happiness display and predicted outcomes of worms vs fusion powered units) which could be fixed with 1-2 patches, but in general AC is aWhat do you expect... Brian Reynolds who was the designer behind Alpha Centauri and Civ 2 left Firaxis long ago. AC is my favorite game of all time, and I still play it. Yes, AC has some minor flaws (like, poorly tested endgame, and some minor bugs with happiness display and predicted outcomes of worms vs fusion powered units) which could be fixed with 1-2 patches, but in general AC is a perfect game. It corrected all the flaws of Civ 2 and expanded many of its features. AC could easily be the last game in the series. Yet, to keep monetizing the franchise, they made the awful Civ 3, then Civ 4 (which I also didn't like due to absence of collateral damage) and Civ 5 (which I bought on a crazy Steam sale with all expansions for just 1.5 euros or so) - I tried hard to like Civ 5 and played it maybe 8 times but no, I still failed to like it really. Civ 5 was an ok game but so far from AC. Now comes this game, which is mostly a reskin of Civ 5, with many features removed and without even a proper tutorial (?). It's definitely worse than Civ 5 and undoubtedly worse than AC. Good thing I tried a demo first. The demo crashed after 20 mins of play. The worst thing about Civ: BE (which other reviewers didn't mention, or I didn't see it) - is that the terrain tiles are just a mess of gray and violet colors. It's very hard to tell where miasma is, and where hills are. Even in Civ 5 I wouldn't usually be able to see the terrain types and even the units (!) properly, if not the icons hovering over them. But here it's just nonsense. The bad design decisions which I didn't like in Civ 5 stay here too: "unlockable" civics which stay with you forever (instead of selectable ones like in AC), crippled diplomacy system, too abstract and too simplified espionage system, 1-unit-per-tile rule. Now, here they removed the unit editor, the water bases, terrain up/down, and the psy combat. The small improvements (like, more interesting tech system and the quests) don't really save the situation. It will be funny if no one ever reaches the level of Alpha Centauri :) It's similar to what happened to Jagged Alliance 2. So many remakes, and all were a disappointment to the fans.… Expand
  59. ScireActus
    Jan 14, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What this game should be: Alpha Centauri remake
    What this game should is: A average mod from CIV 5

    This game is simple a reflection of 2014's games... disappointing, engine reused, RUSHED, unbalanced, and lack of care for the franchise ideology.
    What is more frustrating is that they already have lots of good ideas that them can had used even from the original alpha centauri , of civ 3 , civ 4 .... but no... it´s civ 5 engine.

    Ideas that work:
    Affinities are great... by the end of the game, they change what resources are most important to you, the way you have to fight , and the way diplomacy works

    Units are simple to understand, and they upgrade as you upgrade

    Ideas that didn’t work:
    Aliens... are there to be killed or ignored. most of the time, killed ... all that "they are a new level of strategy" , just forget that

    Orbital layer: must of the time is useless buff

    Tech web: that one is actually a good idea, just need some fix. to became more affinity centric

    World Map and Resources: Man...... this is were you fell the lack of commitment. its just civ 5 , copy and paste... change the resource name and that is it. A rock planet , fungi , desert, water, earth like.... all look and play the same way.    … Expand
  60. Dethmar
    Jan 12, 2015
    4
    I've been coming to metacritic for years to read reviews and opinions. You always have to read the user reviews with a grain of salt as there are far too many gut reaction reviews thrown in. However, I've put in a good 20 hours into this game and can't help but feel utterly and completely cheated and disappointed.

    I am a big fan of the series, recently playing Civ V for over 60    I've been coming to metacritic for years to read reviews and opinions. You always have to read the user reviews with a grain of salt as there are far too many gut reaction reviews thrown in. However, I've put in a good 20 hours into this game and can't help but feel utterly and completely cheated and disappointed.

    I am a big fan of the series, recently playing Civ V for over 60 hours...I absolutely loved that game. Beyond Earth takes so many of the things that were good in Civ V and either simply rehashes them with space-like skins or removes them from the game entirely. Believable AI personalities with character? Gone. A good variety of units for each race? Gone (yes you get more variety as you progress through the game but a lot are just a very slight variation on the previous unit). Building an empire through various Ages in technology and innovation? Gone (instead a dependent-based tech tree is utilized and it's not pretty).

    Beyond Earth uses the same graphics engine as Civ V...this isn't necessarily a negative b/c I love the art style in both games. However, it makes it feel like a professional mod instead of a full priced game. In fact, almost every aspect of the game could have been created with a mod. If the game sold as a $25 expansion, it would have been a good addition to the series.

    In my over 20 years of gaming, I've never been so upset and disappointed in a release. This past fall saw some great games drop (see Dragon Age, Destiny, Endless Legend, Divinity, Talos Principle) and I was looking forward to Beyond Earth above them all. All in all, the game has a great concept that is lazy in its execution and innovation.    … Expand
  61. overkoell
    Jan 12, 2015
    6
    The biggest problem of this game is certainly the extremely high reputation of its predecessor.
    The truth is Civilization Beyond Earth is simply not as good as Civilization V. Its just not.
    But that doesn't mean that its not worth a look. The fact that it is much simpler than Civ 5 can also be a plus for people new to the series. And the Sci-Fi setting is interesting too. Civ 5 wasn't    The biggest problem of this game is certainly the extremely high reputation of its predecessor.
    The truth is Civilization Beyond Earth is simply not as good as Civilization V. Its just not.
    But that doesn't mean that its not worth a look.
    The fact that it is much simpler than Civ 5 can also be a plus for people new to the series.
    And the Sci-Fi setting is interesting too.
    Civ 5 wasn't as great on release either. The addons made it what it is today - one of the best Strategy games ever. Maybe 2K will give this game one or two addons that will also greatly improve it.

    Beyond Earth is a good strategy game. But it is not nearly as good as Civilization V... yet.    … Expand
  62. Zeriel
    Jan 6, 2015
    0
    Wow is this game a huge disappointment! basically the same exact thing as Civ V but remove ALL OF THE CIVILIZATIONS and replace them by some customizations that will always play the same! The game is repetitive and boring! It may not deserve a Zero, maybe a 4 but I'm giving it a 0 to combat all of the dishonest critics giving it 10s just because is a Civ game

    I want another Warlock game!
  63. Robobob
    Jan 4, 2015
    5
    I got Civilization: Beyond Earth for Christmas and finally got around to playing it. I have been a long time Civilization fan, starting with the first one from the early 90's. I've never played Alpha Centauri, though so I cannot compare. Looking at the User Score.. a 5 is about accurate. It's an OK game, not terrible, not great.

    I'll start with some of the pros. I like the Affinity    I got Civilization: Beyond Earth for Christmas and finally got around to playing it. I have been a long time Civilization fan, starting with the first one from the early 90's. I've never played Alpha Centauri, though so I cannot compare. Looking at the User Score.. a 5 is about accurate. It's an OK game, not terrible, not great.

    I'll start with some of the pros. I like the Affinity system: researching certain technologies to increase my level with a certain affinity. These increases in affininty can automatically upgrade my units, which is another great plus. No need to rebuild units or return to base to upgrade. The units upgrade immediately with a great increase in Power. That is nice.

    Another pro: The Quest system gives you little missions with bonuses to achieve when completed. Though, there weren't nearly enough of them in the mid to late game to keep things interesting. Also, when new buildings are built for the first time you can choose a bonus to add to that building. That is nice.

    Another pro: There is a huge technology tree with tons of things to research, which leaves tons of buildings to build. This actually leads to a con: There are so many buildings to build and it's very easy to very quickly have huge cities with high production and "energy" (or gold) output. But it is impossible to keep up with the Health stat. My entire civ takes a penalty if it is "unhealthy" so I'm constantly scouring the huge and confusing tech web to find anything to help improve my health. And there isn't much. As a perfectionist, I found it annoying that I couldn't improve this stat at even easy difficulty.

    The next big con: The game is dull. The Civilization games are a great race to build that awesome Wonder you need, or research that next big tech to give you the big edge on the battlefield. I didn't feel that at all on this game. Every Wonder just gave you more production, energy, food bonuses, etc. No techs really stuck out and were kind of confusing. I chased after a couple techs to increase my Affinity, but other than that my research was mostly random.

    Games like this have to realize that they need to keep me interested by throwing something at me to keep me fishing for the next tech or Wonder. One that changes up the game or give me something more than just a production bonus. Or give me a cool cutscene to show my patience and strategy paid off. Otherwise it feels like a slow grind to.. nothing.    … Expand
  64. Swiftright
    Jan 1, 2015
    3
    Writing this review kills me, I wanted to love this game, I really did. But it is just a re-skinned version of Civ5 minus all of the character that made civ5 enjoyable. It's especially disappointing considering that SMAC was possibly the greatest "world" that a 4x ever existed in.

    Factions feel like spreadsheets. Units might as well be archers and musketmen in SPACE! and while the tech    Writing this review kills me, I wanted to love this game, I really did. But it is just a re-skinned version of Civ5 minus all of the character that made civ5 enjoyable. It's especially disappointing considering that SMAC was possibly the greatest "world" that a 4x ever existed in.

    Factions feel like spreadsheets. Units might as well be archers and musketmen in SPACE! and while the tech web is an interesting idea its really just a different way of displaying a tech tree. I understand that SMAC has gone to the IP graveyard but come on, why couldn't they have just done Sid Meier's Beta Sirus??

    Sales wise the game has not faired well which I expect will be blamed on a lack of demand for sifi 4x vs consumers rejecting a poorly thought out game which means that we won't see another game like this for years. And 2k, how much money did you spend on reviews??? Rarely do you see a game with such a huge divide between professional critics and gamers. SMBE might have been a decent game if 2k would have taken the money spent on review writers and hired a professional scifi writer to flesh things out for their game.    … Expand
  65. FreeAsInBeer
    Dec 29, 2014
    2
    Let me start by saying that I've never played Alpha Centauri, so I don't have any expectations for this being a "spiritual successor," etc. However, I have spent hundreds of hours with Civilization V, its expansion packs and some of the previous Civilization games. That said, my expectations for this game were quite high. And unfortunately, I was disappointed.

    This game feels like a    Let me start by saying that I've never played Alpha Centauri, so I don't have any expectations for this being a "spiritual successor," etc. However, I have spent hundreds of hours with Civilization V, its expansion packs and some of the previous Civilization games. That said, my expectations for this game were quite high. And unfortunately, I was disappointed.

    This game feels like a reskin of Civ V, but not as polished; most aspects of the game have a one-to-one correlation with it. Instead of gold, you have energy. Happiness is now health. Workers now ride in robot machine things (which can enter water tiles, so that's cool). Espionage is still there, founding cities works relatively similarly, and fighting is exactly how it did in Civ V (with the exception of getting mutilated by incredibly overpowered and sometimes aggressive aliens).

    There are several negative changes to the game as well. Some of those include:
    - Barbs have been replaced with aliens, which are even more random and difficult to deal with. They don't attack your cities as frequently, but they can utterly destroy early game units. If you're unfortunate enough to have several nests located near your founding city, and you're playing on anything beyond easier difficulties, exploration can be hindered because of this.
    - When you research a tech or build a wonder, a dialog pops up with a quote (and no picture). The quote is entirely fictional and doesn't carry emotional/historical weight like the quotes from Civ V.
    - No religion. I know this was part of a Civ V expansion, but without this system the game feels less complete. Being in space there are tons of new systems they could incorporate that wouldn't work as well in a historical setting. It seems like this could have been in vanilla BE, and they simply chose not to include it.
    - Victory conditions are not equally difficult to achieve, meaning that most players will opt for the easier win conditions.
    - Owning a sprawling empire is simply not economically possible like it was in Civ V. If you own any more than a handful of cities in the first 150 turns, your economy will tank.

    Perhaps I'm judging this game too harshly because I know what Firaxis can achieve, and this simply misses the mark. Perhaps I'm being unfair comparing Civ V + expansions to a recently released title. But even comparing BE to vanilla Civ V, this game is a disappointment and would be better offered as an optional expansion pack to Civ V than a standalone game. I recommend waiting to purchase this game until an expansion comes out that balances what's there, and adds more systems to make the game feel more complete. Maybe I'll give it another shot when that happens.    … Expand
  66. Ehriggn
    Dec 28, 2014
    1
    In no way deserving of a high score, large important parts of the game do not work properly.(covert ops, improvement repair, station spawning, line of sight), and the parts that work perfectly are poorly thought out(Affinity system is imbalanced at end game, sponsors and cargo choices are imbalanced at start).

    There would be a lot of good things to say about BE if those things were in    In no way deserving of a high score, large important parts of the game do not work properly.(covert ops, improvement repair, station spawning, line of sight), and the parts that work perfectly are poorly thought out(Affinity system is imbalanced at end game, sponsors and cargo choices are imbalanced at start).

    There would be a lot of good things to say about BE if those things were in anyway new. or even improved from Civ 5. The list of things that are copy/pasted from Civ V is long and shameful. (DIplomacy, city management, trade, SAME BUGS like planes not finishing an animation, just repeating it over and over, worker improvements, Multiplayer instability, Even the opening screen that states the game has a HISTORICAL setting and any similarity to people is coincidence, etc, etc)

    Beyond Earth is half the game Alpha Centauri is, and not even a fraction of the game Civ 5 is. I would recommend either of those games over Beyond Earth.    … Expand
  67. MoreBokeh
    Dec 23, 2014
    6
    Although I played Civ 5 to death (have beaten Deity and share strats online), I've always been a larger SMAC fan. However, this game is a disappointment as it's just a Civ5 reskin and not a spiritual successor. It seems most of the budget was spent on 3D artists but even the new assets aren't that great (in terms of style and quality).
  68. KalikoKat
    Dec 23, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Great game, some differences from Civ V, replaces the tech tree with a web so that you don't have to worry about being ahead of other civs in researching, adds affinities, love it.… Expand
  69. Deathwafflez
    Dec 22, 2014
    7
    it is good but not great aliens the replacements for barbarians are everywhere and no naval units are safe at all and auto explore sadly now translates to *kill off this unit without any reward*

    "the npc people sort of lack personality" is what people say but is not true it has just the same amount of substance maybe it is just because these people do not exist but it is true something    it is good but not great aliens the replacements for barbarians are everywhere and no naval units are safe at all and auto explore sadly now translates to *kill off this unit without any reward*

    "the npc people sort of lack personality" is what people say but is not true it has just the same amount of substance maybe it is just because these people do not exist but it is true something is just sort of...off about them

    there are a lot of resources in the first part of the game and when you see them you cannot do anything with them until a certain era and in a civ game it just does not make sense

    at this point you might think how is this good all I mentioned was the cons and well yes that is true all the pros are the same as civ 5 pretty much

    and finally the tech tree it is not the traditional one as it is in a radio type set up in the original you could only go so far without one tech in this one however you could be all over one side and never touch the other

    7/10    … Expand
  70. MongoLloyd
    Dec 20, 2014
    3
    five dollar game at best. why that requires a hundred and fifty characters to get across is absurd. the beauty of language is the minimal effort it takes to say, "the game is not so good. 310. wait for it to be five dollars" done.
  71. Scottar
    Dec 19, 2014
    7
    The game is good but needs some enhancements to make it more enjoyable and less confusing. I accomplished my first victory and found it disappointing as with some other negatives.

    One thing I hate about this game is the loading. First it goes through the credits which I can’t bypass. Then a graphic screen appears with no loading indicator, I thought the game got hung during the first    The game is good but needs some enhancements to make it more enjoyable and less confusing. I accomplished my first victory and found it disappointing as with some other negatives.

    One thing I hate about this game is the loading. First it goes through the credits which I can’t bypass. Then a graphic screen appears with no loading indicator, I thought the game got hung during the first run and I have an SSD. Then it goes to the first menu of single or multiplayer or setup. Then in single player i select the saved game section and i goes to another graphic screen with no loading indicator.

    In my first victory I contacted the aliens, I was expecting advance technologies or insights from them along with an invite to their world. Perhaps even a harmonious path to existence on their planet. But instead I got a little scene that opens up- You have made contact, you are victorious, not even good fanfare. The game needs a better scheme, more adventure, better interface.

    There are some things about the game that seen dysfunctional.

    1) The Diplomacy Interaction seemed limited on Trade options along with diplomacy dialog. Why not have options on working alliance agreements like mutual wonder developments by sharing resources and technologies.

    2) On the manuals, instead of the tacky poster why didn’t they have graphical trees on Virtues, Units, and Tech developments. This would help in determining which way to proceed in desired development.

    3) More control over unit upgrades, it’s too canned.

    4) On spy ops, why couldn’t they have been more flexible in how it would proceed on advancement. Suppose I wanted to spy on an ally, why do I have to go through siphoning energy first for advancement? It too canned! And why could their be spy satellites to observe development.

    5) Some things require too much maintenance like some Orbital unites and trade caravans and just makes the game more tedious.

    6) Quests should involve 1st person adventure and puzzles. If I want to upgrade something in technology then the quests should be the mode to achieve them for some exclusive advantages. You search for alien technology for upgrades. Explorer unit should have the ability for armament upgrades and Lev capabilities. They also should have sensor enhancement upgrades for finding alien technology.

    7) On many off- shore resources there didn’t seem to be a way to harvest the bounty of the sea. I acquired one city that had an offshore drilling platform but I was unable to repair it after I pillaged it.

    8) I don’t quite like the cities growth patterns, I think there should be better options on where you want the city to grow such as toward strategic resources.

    9) There’s a city defense called a Tacjet. It’s very annoying to maintain so I put it to sleep. But then when I needed it I could not awaken it. May be a game bug.

    There were other negatives I can’t get into in the limited space.

    Here’s what I think should have happened. The alien bio life would evolve to threaten the colonists, that is why the original inhabitants left. The aliens would offer technology to prevent that via a certain development path. After developing that technology the victor would offer alliances to help defeat or subdue the life. Based on what was found that is what I would expect. Or it could have been the sun going supernova or some other impending disaster. Or the aliens would give the victor the technology for a warp driven space ship to another habitable planet.

    If an emancipation gate was constructed then the offer would be a return to earth.

    There are so much better outcomes then the canned programed one. Or how about a quest for alien technology to construct a ship to a better planet and then construct a gate to get a number of Earth inhabitants over.

    Maybe what this game needs is a strategy guide, I didn’t care much for the AI assistance. And the extended manual needs some better coverage on some things like Covert Ops. I could never get them past 4 level.

    I would also like to see mini game add-ons of first person scenarios such as 1st person video games of certain quests where you interact on a virtual world level instead of an icon strategy level. Just more money for you Civilization developers. ;>)

    I would like to also see a pre-game where the civilizations have to develop the technology for space travel. I think it would involve more then just rocket launches into space since you have to travel for years to the destination.

    I don’t much under stand the harmony approach, unless your some dye in the wool enviro, boring.

    I think this game needs a whole do-over, it’s too haphazard.

    I see there is already an upgrade that I have not had time to check out.    … Expand
  72. Shane_IL
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    I was very excited for a new civ game with a different spin, but my excitement was short lived. This game is basically Civ 5 in space. They really could have done some great stuff with this concept, but nope, you're pitted up against other human civilizations with pretty much the same graphics, game-play mechanics and development trees as previous title, just in space.
  73. owen1218
    Dec 14, 2014
    4
    Exactly what Firaxis said it wouldn't be: a mod of Civ V. For the standards of a mod it isn't a bad one, but it's absurd to sell this as if it was a new game.
  74. FelipeAlbrecht
    Dec 14, 2014
    5
    My first impression when I started a march: It does look like a Civ5 Mod. I really do not know whay I paid 40 euros for this "mod". The game is not so bad. The "civs" are interesting, but they strongly look like normal civs from Civ5 but with another names and futurist clothes.

    The technology tree is interesting, but *very* confusing. You know which path to follow when do you play    My first impression when I started a march: It does look like a Civ5 Mod. I really do not know whay I paid 40 euros for this "mod". The game is not so bad. The "civs" are interesting, but they strongly look like normal civs from Civ5 but with another names and futurist clothes.

    The technology tree is interesting, but *very* confusing. You know which path to follow when do you play vanilla Civilization, but it was impossible in Beyond Earth. What I did? I focused in one of three colours that are: I am a pure human, I am human but I like aliens too, and I am a machine. These specs are interesting, because you got new units from them. But again, it was really hard to follow a strategy.

    Besides, why strategy? The IA is to dumb that will lost for the IA from first civilisation running on a old DOS. It is sad to see how a Sid Meier's game can have so horrible IA.

    After all, the game is... okay. The aliens are interesting, but repetitive. The technologies are interesting., but confusing.

    My conclusion: Wait a few more months or some promotion, buy the game for 15-20 bucks and spend an evening playing. It does not worth more than this.    … Expand
  75. Lord_Rapo
    Dec 14, 2014
    3
    I have started with Civilization 1. In my opinion, the game got with every release better.
    Sid Meier achieved the peak with Civ4 - Conquest.
    All Civ's after where not anymore the game liked so. Civilization:
    Beyond Earth is definitely the last Civ i bought.
    The game develops in a direction that I do not like anymore.
  76. dshuflin
    Dec 11, 2014
    3
    Pros: Beautiful graphics. Excellent game concept. Fun early game play.
    Cons: Ergonomic nightmare warning. User interface is poorly thought out causing lots of pain. All the upper screen information is very small leading to problems for most people over 35-40. All small writing should be at the bottom of the screen.
    Inconsistent menu commands. All menus should work the same. You should    Pros: Beautiful graphics. Excellent game concept. Fun early game play.
    Cons: Ergonomic nightmare warning. User interface is poorly thought out causing lots of pain. All the upper screen information is very small leading to problems for most people over 35-40. All small writing should be at the bottom of the screen.
    Inconsistent menu commands. All menus should work the same. You should not have to reach from the bottom of the screen to the top and then back to the bottom to click something in a menu screen.

    I have played Alpha Centuri for 15 years because of the infinite game play. It has true customization features. Beyond earth is pretty low on the control side of things. Basically only a few strategies to play.

    My biggest complaint is that after completing the required steps to reach a victory you are left guessing who will get there first. Turn after turn you are clueless. Then you get a screen that says. You lost. No explanation, No out come, you don't even know who won. A beautiful intro video took lots of time to watch. The endgame leaves you wondering what happened and who won.    … Expand
  77. ravinhood
    Dec 9, 2014
    0
    I give this game a 1/10. I do this after reading all the reviews, and I AGREE with them and will say why.

    Why I agree: People wanted an entirely different game? Like Alpha Centuari was to Civilization? Everyone I know LIKED Alpha Centuari. It differentiated itself from Civ A LOT, and over-all was GREAT. Then when they make a this POS Civlike game and keep many of the mechanics that    I give this game a 1/10. I do this after reading all the reviews, and I AGREE with them and will say why.

    Why I agree: People wanted an entirely different game? Like Alpha Centuari was to Civilization? Everyone I know LIKED Alpha Centuari. It differentiated itself from Civ A LOT, and over-all was GREAT.

    Then when they make a this POS Civlike game and keep many of the mechanics that worked LIKE CHIT well people complained... and a very darn good reason to complain too..

    Review:

    Graphics: I HATE them. I HATE them I tell yah. They are an NOT an improvement over Civ V, and DO NOT work well. Now on some planets It can be a bit tough to differentiate Tundra and plains at a glance, but it's an alien world and the terrain, flora and fauna are different than that of earth. It just makes DOO DOO NON sense.

    Sound: Again, I HATE the sound. It's NOT an improvement over Civ V. Less traditional music but that's the case, it's the future and you left tradition behind.

    Game Mechanics: (the big part)

    1) Cities. HATE THEM. Build buildings, then get a choice of customization on their function/abilities through a choice. ASSanine! I can play differently (who cares), plan out what I want to (who cares). The Unit customization based on what you do and how you do it is AWFUL. I can make an army designed to kill other units or attack cities, heal quickly etc BFD. lol

    I HATE the new espionage functions. It's NOT an improvement over Civ V's. The Level gain is also WORSE, and if you're in the lead there is NOTHING your Spies can do. Technology isn't linear anymore, it's a web. (WhooptifarkinDOO)

    The Tech Web: HATE it. Linear tech IS realistic future, decisions, Values, Philosophy, Play-style all should and can play a part in how you advance. Once I got FIGURED it out, I say it's the WORST part of the game.

    Diplomacy: Meh. It's the same as Civ V (you got that right) :) except you can trade with people who have nothing to give to you with "favours" I can trade Titanium I'm not using and don't plan on using for a while to Civ's that may or may not need it for Favours. I can effectively bank them for later. I don't really like this. In Civ games I NEVER ignore diplomacy, not because It's a bad feature, but because I care about my opponents. I play to HELP them not work with them. For my play-styles I just wish some of the phrases the AI used in the screen were more varied and different than Civ V when I refuse 100% of the time to aid them in war, and I always refuse all requests to stop settling near them etc.

    I'm sure there are people who play civ, and by the comments I can see it, that HATE diplomacy... I find that it's the same as liking the garnish in a 6 course meal. I play to interact diplomatically with AI's. I give them and their wants/needs I'm so nice. :)

    War, movement, is all the same as CIv V but with the added unit complexity. And I HATE this. Resources are a little hard to figure out at first (cause he's a dumbchit lol). I know what Wheat does, but what about Chitin? Or Fibre? all it takes is a few 100 games to get this as 2nd nature. A

    Alien Life: They could have done a LOT better job of taking advantage of this, and it's why this game gets a 1 and not a 0. You can kill the roaming aliens but still 'preserve' Life on the planet and that makes sense. Some life is hostile, you deal with it, and the rest isn't. As tech advances I'd have liked to see alien life not interrupt your use of a tile for resources, or even try to attack you, and they get small (graphic wise) and become part of the background animations. Or you can keep killing them.

    I HATE the ideology of Purity, supremacy and harmony. I also HATE how virtues replace several key racial bonuses or wonder bonuses of Civ V that were mandatory and you needed to RUSH (I like to RUSH) to have a given play-style.

    Wonders: they are there, just a tad hidden, and when you look for them on the tech tree you're uncertain if it is or not until you figure it out and just remember it. They also could have done a LOT more art-work on the wonders graphics... they are all whiteboxed...

    Overall this is a CRAP POS game. Some EXTREME fixes they should put in and then this game is a 5/10 lol    … Expand
  78. brunoconde
    Dec 6, 2014
    10
    As a Civilization fan (since the first version), I think this is a great game. Civ V is very simplified, true, and Beyond Earth looks like a well-fashioned mod. But it really looks like the title I was looking for, after finishing a Civ V game. Fills that emptiness that we feel after finishing a Civ V game. Very good game. I just Hope the guys from Firaxis keep enhancing it.
  79. wtfskilz
    Dec 5, 2014
    9
    okay I really have to make a comment because after reading some of these comments although they made me laugh until my sides hurt, they are doing this game an injustice.
    Like warhorse complaining how it takes mid game or end game to kill an alien siege worm, dude your so wrong you can do it on I think it was turn 20-30, as long as your two squares away with a ranged char you can hit it    okay I really have to make a comment because after reading some of these comments although they made me laugh until my sides hurt, they are doing this game an injustice.
    Like warhorse complaining how it takes mid game or end game to kill an alien siege worm, dude your so wrong you can do it on I think it was turn 20-30, as long as your two squares away with a ranged char you can hit it over and over until it's dead and get your quest reward..
    Miasma benefits aliens not good for humans. you can easily clean it up in early to mid game all around your cities with orbital launches. the additional aspect adds a strategy on your movements. is it worth it to go straight through? I will loose 20HP on this path! the other path will take 2 more turns!
    Movements in the sea are very strategic as well, you will find yourself mostly in shallow water avoiding the Alien Krakens I found my self following trade routes or units I cared less about to test the route before going into the deep ocean and many other times I just went the long way, there defiantly is a Huge risk Huge reward factor that you can find in this game compared to the last.
    This game also has no lack of options, your options have options. I love the added special ops, it's another fun Variable that makes it feel like your really running a real country. For example I took out a minor power, most of the superpowers started to despise me and like 3 turns later there were covert spies in 3 of my major cities, I had to take my agent and get him working on Homeland security because of the unpopular political mistake I had made.
    The game performance is excellent even if you only have and AMD CPU/GPU you can play at max graphics and Vertical SYNC, when the map is full of stuff and DX11 has issues hitting above 40FPS I switch the API to Mantle and I'm back to 60FPS    … Expand
  80. Fjonk
    Dec 4, 2014
    6
    I am a loyal fan of the Civilization serie, having played more than 45 days of Civilization V on a pirated copy only to buy it on steam in order to show my support to the brand, allowing me to play an additional 45 days. However, Beyond Earth has caused major turbulence to my dedication of the brand.

    Firaxis wanted, of course, to continue the Civilization serie, but also to evolve the    I am a loyal fan of the Civilization serie, having played more than 45 days of Civilization V on a pirated copy only to buy it on steam in order to show my support to the brand, allowing me to play an additional 45 days. However, Beyond Earth has caused major turbulence to my dedication of the brand.

    Firaxis wanted, of course, to continue the Civilization serie, but also to evolve the brand. The outcome was Beyond Earth. For those who are aware of its prequel, Civilization V, Beyond Earth is simply Firaxis take on a Sci-Fi based Civilization V. Now, the strength of Civilization V was its historical accuracy and description, which Firaxis managed to bring forward beautifully. After Firaxis announced Beyond Earth and its Sci-Fi theme I was already hesitant. I don't believe that I hold a grudge against Sci-Fi based strategy games, but I would never favour it over the historical narrative Civilization V had. Regardless of the theme and setting, I admired the thought that Firaxis could and would meet my expectations, and then exceed them.

    It saddens me, however, to say that Beyond Earth fell short. I feel that given the new setting Firaxis managed to distract itself, and drift away from what previously had made the brand so special. Beyond Earth had very few new features or unique development, that could possibly suprise and intice experienced players. Instead, Firaxis completely revamped Civilization V into Sci-fi Beyond Earth.

    I would be furious if Beyond Earth was Firaxis' panic move, in order to continue the serie. As if there was no more future for development to the setting seen in Civilization V. Civilization V proved itself worthy due to its unique setting. Beyond Earth, however, is just another game with the Sci-fi theme.    … Expand
  81. Mike_M
    Dec 3, 2014
    2
    Too many game design flaws mar what could be a great single-player strategy game:
    Dumb AI opponents. Alliances are basically meaningless.
    Dumb AI workers.
    Different planets with the same aliens over and over.
    Even on the lowest difficultly levels, the game handicaps success.
    The franchise has taken a wrong turn since the first expansion for Civ5
  82. faelinn
    Nov 30, 2014
    3
    Once again, extremely disappointed.

    Game is a cash grab. It has new art, and new music. With a tech tree that makes 0 sense, wonders that do not have ANY benefit to any victory and 95% of the military units are useless.

    I strongly advise you stick to Civ 5. This game was undoubtedly a project from a junior producer.

    Stay very far away
  83. Tick
    Nov 30, 2014
    9
    I give this game a 9/10. I do this after reading all the reviews, and I disagree with them and will say why.

    Why I disagree: People wanted an entirely different game? Like Alpha Centuari was to Civilization? Everyone I know hated Alpha Centuari. It differentiated itself from Civ too much, and over-all was meh. Then when they make a extra-planetary Civ and keep many of the mechanics    I give this game a 9/10. I do this after reading all the reviews, and I disagree with them and will say why.

    Why I disagree: People wanted an entirely different game? Like Alpha Centuari was to Civilization? Everyone I know hated Alpha Centuari. It differentiated itself from Civ too much, and over-all was meh.

    Then when they make a extra-planetary Civ and keep many of the mechanics that worked VERY well people complain... Can't make people happy I guess.

    Review:

    Graphics: I'm happy with them. I like them. They are an improvement over Civ V, and keep graphics that work well. Now on some planets It can be a bit tough to differentiate Tundra and plains at a glance, but it's an alien world and the terrain, flora and fauna are different than that of earth. It just makes sense.

    Sound: Again, I like the sound. It's a slight improvement over Civ V. Less traditional music but that's the case, it's the future and you left tradition behind.

    Game Mechanics: (the big part)

    1) Cities. LOVE THEM. Build buildings, then get a choice of customization on their function/abilities through a choice. Perfect! I can play differently, plan out what I want to. The Unit customization based on what you do and how you do it is great. I can make an army designed to kill other units or attack cities, heal quickly etc.

    I like the new espionage functions. It's an improvement over Civ V's. The Level gain is also better, and if you're in the lead there is actually something your Spies can do. Especially since Technology isn't linear anymore, it's a web.

    The Tech Web: Love it. Linear tech isn't realistic the future, decisions, Values, Philosophy, Play-style all should and can play a part in how you advance. Once I got used to it, I say it's the best part of the game.

    Diplomacy: Meh. It's the same as Civ V except you can trade with people who have nothing to give to you with "favours" I can trade Titanium I'm not using and don't plan on using for a while to Civ's that may or may not need it for Favours. I can effectively bank them for later. I do like this. In Civ games I usually ignore diplomacy, not because It's a bad feature, but because I could care less about my opponents. I play to crush them not work with them. For my play-styles I just wish some of the phrases the AI used in the screen were more varied and different than Civ V when I refuse 100% of the time to aid them in war, and I always refuse all requests to stop settling near them etc.

    I'm sure there are people who play civ, and by the comments I can see it, that like diplomacy... I find that it's the same as liking the garnish in a 6 course meal. I don't play to interact diplomatically with AI's. I toss them and their wants/needs aside.

    War, movement, is all the same as CIv V but with the added unit complexity. And I like this. Resources are a little hard to figure out at first. I know what Wheat does, but what about Chitin? Or Fibre? all it takes is a few games to get this as 2nd nature. A

    Alien Life: They could have done a bit better job of taking advantage of this, and it's why this game gets a 9 and not a 10. You can kill the roaming aliens but still 'preserve' Life on the planet and that makes sense. Some life is hostile, you deal with it, and the rest isn't. As tech advances I'd have liked to see alien life not interrupt your use of a tile for resources, or even try to attack you, and they get small (graphic wise) and become part of the background animations. Or you can keep killing them.

    I like the ideology of Purity, supremacy and harmony. I also like how virtues replace several key racial bonuses or wonder bonuses of Civ V that were mandatory and you needed to RUSH to have a given play-style.

    Wonders: they are there, just a tad hidden, and when you look for them on the tech tree you're uncertain if it is or not until you figure it out and just remember it. They also could have done a bit more art-work on the wonders graphics... they are all whiteboxed...

    Overall this is a great game. Some SIMPLE fixes they should put in and then this game is a 10/10.    … Expand
  84. atr577
    Nov 28, 2014
    3
    A boring reskin of Civ5.
    I quit when I suddenly realized I was making myself to make that one more turn. Nothing new was going to happen anyway.
    In 30 minutes I lost that feeling, I was doing something meaningful; I was simply gathering resource to gather more resource to build that victory condition. Hard to say exactly why, but in CivV I constantly feel like I am choosing a way for my    A boring reskin of Civ5.
    I quit when I suddenly realized I was making myself to make that one more turn. Nothing new was going to happen anyway.
    In 30 minutes I lost that feeling, I was doing something meaningful; I was simply gathering resource to gather more resource to build that victory condition. Hard to say exactly why, but in CivV I constantly feel like I am choosing a way for my people to develop. Here, I dig res.

    Things I did not like:
    - Resources are a copy paste from CivV with different names. Not bad in itself, but not good either.
    - Civilizations are all the same. Bonuses differ, but leaders do not feel unique. Just random talking heads saying all the same. No feeling "that civ has a background" like in CivV.
    - Civilizations do not do anything interesting. The only things I got from them was "stop killing these aliens" and "give me something, and I will be grateful to you for that". Was fun the first time I received these, but then they just kept spamming same messages repeatedly. They never tried to push me in any manner.
    - Units are all the same. They start to differ when you develop an affinity, but still, they feel all the same. Just units, able to deal damage. I did not feel the need to think like 'ok, i will place an archer behind that militia so that if the barb moves that way, he would be blocked and if that way, he will be stuck in mountains'. Just push with whatever...
    - Units have no tactical promotions. They just increase in strength (the only promotion is +10% str). In CivV I had to think whether I want strength bonus to deal with barbs, or ranged def to attack a civ soon.
    - Units get upgraded to next tech tier at once. No need to plan your finance to be able to upgrade the army for upcoming war. Just research the tech.
    - Tech web is confusing. It is probably not bad, but confusing. The development variants are quite numerous (which is good!), but unless you studied and memorized the whole tech web, a good decision cannot be made. Each time I opened the web I pondered for several minutes, thinking what I would get from a tech, and which techs I will access after that. I do not want to spend time studying game mech, I want to feel I can make a valid, if not optimal, game decision on spot.
    - Wonders are stuff you build to get resource bonuses. No wonder picture, just some blueprint. No short and clear description what that thing actually is. No feeling you build something unique. Just another resource factory.
    - Caravans now originate from each city and have to be assigned manually. You also have to remember if you have max number of them in every city. Tedious.
    - It is probably just me, but I did not like the landscape colors. Overall, the land is bleak and inexpressive. Again, I liked it first, but it became a boring view soon.
    - (Fun part) In intro, a priest is crossing the Russian vessel before launch. I know they really do it (sadly) nowadays, but flying on holy spirit is a slap in the face of science. Disliked it.

    Things I liked:
    - Affinity system idea. Not how it was done.
    - Aliens. Piu-piu.
    - Space theme. Unit models look good.

    Definitely not worth the money, probably not worth to play at all. Might get better with DLCs, but unless they get REALLY positive reviews, it is hard to believe BE will ever surpass CivV.    … Expand
  85. Vendaron
    Nov 27, 2014
    4
    Graphically the game is impressive. However if you've been playing Civ 5 there's not enough newness to justify paying $49.99 for this game. If you haven't played Civ 5 before then maybe the $49.99 is justifiable.

    Given the hype of the game before launch my expectations were high, however they were dashed soon after I started playing. :(
  86. vjosullivan
    Nov 27, 2014
    3
    Early days yet but very disappointed, so far. CBE appears to be little more than an "alien" theme or skin thrown over Civilization V. The game play is identical and the various bonuses and hazards dotted about the landscape behave in much the same way as before, albeit while looking totally different. Side quests are new and welcome but are little more than a distraction on the way toEarly days yet but very disappointed, so far. CBE appears to be little more than an "alien" theme or skin thrown over Civilization V. The game play is identical and the various bonuses and hazards dotted about the landscape behave in much the same way as before, albeit while looking totally different. Side quests are new and welcome but are little more than a distraction on the way to WORLD DOMINATION (oops, I meant world harmony, peace and love).

    The empires are very impersonal and I am experiencing little of the "one more turn" drive that comes from the motivation to make your own empire bigger and better. Here, I find myself mildly interested but not really engaged with my "colony".

    Graphics are very dark and very cluttered making it very difficult to see exactly what is in front of you.    … Expand
  87. dhegelund
    Nov 26, 2014
    0
    I feel tricked into buying an unfinished game. I love Civilization games. This game, however, feels like they didn't even try. It doesn't feel finished... at all.

    I feel tricked into buying it, because the trailer and ads made me think this would be another awesome Civilization game. Instead it seems as if the sole purpose of this game is to make some quick bucks. The game has no soul,    I feel tricked into buying an unfinished game. I love Civilization games. This game, however, feels like they didn't even try. It doesn't feel finished... at all.

    I feel tricked into buying it, because the trailer and ads made me think this would be another awesome Civilization game. Instead it seems as if the sole purpose of this game is to make some quick bucks. The game has no soul, no sense of awe. It does not qualify as a new game. It hardly qualifies as an expansion.

    Don't even think about it. Do not buy this game. Not yet, anyway. Maybe after they release some expansions. What a waste of hard earned money, tie and expectancy.    … Expand
  88. stephale000
    Nov 26, 2014
    5
    I have been a longtime fan of the Civilization series, with Civilization 4 being one of the all time best RTS games I've ever played. That being said, I was hopelessly confused when I started my first game. I selected the New to Beyond Earth option but the tutorial person didn't explain very much of what I needed to do. The map was completely overwhelming with tons of strange new resourcesI have been a longtime fan of the Civilization series, with Civilization 4 being one of the all time best RTS games I've ever played. That being said, I was hopelessly confused when I started my first game. I selected the New to Beyond Earth option but the tutorial person didn't explain very much of what I needed to do. The map was completely overwhelming with tons of strange new resources which weren't explained at all. All of that being said, I'm going to continue to play and try and figure out everything that is going on because the potential for this game is off the charts.… Expand
  89. yaeger
    Nov 22, 2014
    0
    This is the most disappointing game from a very reputable company. Unfortunately, the game is just a re-skin of Civilization 5. It is amazing to look at, the graphics are what you would expect from a new Civilization game. However, the game runs just like Civ 5 for the most part. The technology web was not as i thought it was going to be. In Civ 5 you had a tech tree that would progressThis is the most disappointing game from a very reputable company. Unfortunately, the game is just a re-skin of Civilization 5. It is amazing to look at, the graphics are what you would expect from a new Civilization game. However, the game runs just like Civ 5 for the most part. The technology web was not as i thought it was going to be. In Civ 5 you had a tech tree that would progress you through time with different inventions and technologies. In Beyond Earth you have a Tech Web which at first is a little hard to understand, and then just turns into a mess while you are trying to stick to a certain affinity. I would not recommend this game to anyone.… Expand
  90. Jingo
    Nov 22, 2014
    6
    I tend to play each Civ game for around 400 hours. Might not with Beyond Earth. It's a downgraded version of Gods and Kings with space flavour added. Nice change at first, but then you realise it's the same game with less content. They'll fix that, I'm sure, but you'll have to pay $50 for each expansion. Overall it's still a playable game, but not quite as good as the most recentI tend to play each Civ game for around 400 hours. Might not with Beyond Earth. It's a downgraded version of Gods and Kings with space flavour added. Nice change at first, but then you realise it's the same game with less content. They'll fix that, I'm sure, but you'll have to pay $50 for each expansion. Overall it's still a playable game, but not quite as good as the most recent predecessor. And unlike those people who gave DA3 a 0 rating because they didn't like one thing, I'm mature enough to understand a 0-10 rating system...… Expand
  91. Agilio333
    Nov 21, 2014
    3
    8/10 according the the " professional critics". Clearly they are neither professional (paid off shills who refuse to rate bad games bellow 8/10) and certainly aren't critical of anything.

    Beyond Earth is an over hyped, under developed game. Maybe if the franchise spent more money in actually developing the game, instead of paying off "professional critics" and marketing the game, they    8/10 according the the " professional critics". Clearly they are neither professional (paid off shills who refuse to rate bad games bellow 8/10) and certainly aren't critical of anything.

    Beyond Earth is an over hyped, under developed game. Maybe if the franchise spent more money in actually developing the game, instead of paying off "professional critics" and marketing the game, they would actually have something. this game looks like it is pre-alpha. Nothing you do is of any consequence, the colors of the terrain looks like a rough draft. Nothing in this game has any strategy to it. It's a mere re-skin of the original, but with many of the features and polishing removed, never to be re-added. Oh wait, maybe you can buy the "rest" of the game as an expansion for $100. This is scam-ware, and the company is paying off it's gamer gate reviewers because nobody would actually buy this game if they played it beyond 8 hours.    … Expand
  92. Stevie_D
    Nov 21, 2014
    3
    I was worried that this would be just a graphical total conversion of Civ 5, and be me wasting my money.

    I was largely right. The bit i wasnt right about was just how convoluted and bogged down in frivolous ideas it is. They obviously felt they needed to -try- and add something other than just new graphics, so kudos for trying, but the ideas themselves are lackluster afterthoughts that    I was worried that this would be just a graphical total conversion of Civ 5, and be me wasting my money.

    I was largely right. The bit i wasnt right about was just how convoluted and bogged down in frivolous ideas it is. They obviously felt they needed to -try- and add something other than just new graphics, so kudos for trying, but the ideas themselves are lackluster afterthoughts that feel pointless and meaningless.

    The developers would have been better served by thinking "lets not worry about keeping it SO close to the original Civ5 experience, and introduce some bold new ideas that may disgruntle 1 or 2, but make it more fresh for everyone else."

    Its game design by attempting add safe, little ideas that dont change it from being Civ5. But Civ5 was already at that point of being streamlined enough, but having enough features to keep it interesting.

    I felt bored. I felt bogged down, and like i was being asked to play Civ5, but with a lot more pointless-feeling tasks, and a tech tree that was counter intuitive and lacked playtesting.

    And because of all this, it still felt like just an expansion, and not worth the money of a new game in its own right. A large disappointment for me indeed.    … Expand
  93. Iduakil
    Nov 21, 2014
    8
    How to put it .... at release day I was disappointed. I had much hopes for this title after over 900 hourse spent in Civ5. And after few hours I felt I played a major mod for Civ5 .... I felt depressed. And at that moment I was rating the game as 5 or 6 tops ... but now. I think the game is quite good actually but the balance changes are ESSENTIAL if it`s lifespan is supposed to lastHow to put it .... at release day I was disappointed. I had much hopes for this title after over 900 hourse spent in Civ5. And after few hours I felt I played a major mod for Civ5 .... I felt depressed. And at that moment I was rating the game as 5 or 6 tops ... but now. I think the game is quite good actually but the balance changes are ESSENTIAL if it`s lifespan is supposed to last longer than 6 months tops. Affinity is great, Tech web is great, New setting, graphics, environment, aliens. Superb. But all of those can be tweaked even more and I hope Firaxis still see potential to improve with their game as it is a solid game. Just polish it a bit more!… Expand
  94. matt79
    Nov 20, 2014
    5
    This is a reskin of Civ5 with all the expansions taken out, no improvements, and problems in the interface department (20% of the game time I'm setting the trade routes). I'm dissapointed. Game is ok, but i just don't see the point in playing it when I have a fully developed Civ5.
  95. Doc_Hopwood
    Nov 20, 2014
    5
    I buy pretty much every Civilization game at some point. This one I bought at release and I was pretty satisfied with it until I realized that it's pretty much a single play through game.

    I had it in my head that this was going to be a bit grander than it actually is. The units are all identical and only vary a little bit based off which affinity you choose. Maybe it was just that I had    I buy pretty much every Civilization game at some point. This one I bought at release and I was pretty satisfied with it until I realized that it's pretty much a single play through game.

    I had it in my head that this was going to be a bit grander than it actually is. The units are all identical and only vary a little bit based off which affinity you choose. Maybe it was just that I had it in my head this was going to be an updated version of Alpha Centauri and really it's like a watered down Civ 5.

    The factions are all pretty much the same. The units are literally the same no matter your faction. The entire universe is populated by the exact same insect like creatures and every planet is just a shuffled around version of every other planet.

    I guess there's a chance it's just me getting tired of the same game over and over again but I don't feel like there were any improvements made here. Pretty disappointed.    … Expand
  96. Shatosen
    Nov 19, 2014
    2
    Beyond Earth lacks many of the features that made Vanilla Civ 5 so good - luxury resources, natural wonders, and other features. As a whole, it is a lesser game when compared to its predecessor.
  97. theirrelephants
    Nov 19, 2014
    1
    There are few things that can make me mad enough to rate a game lower than 5. The game has to be completely broken, bug filled, or just genuinely not fun at all. Or, in the case of Beyond Earth, a reskin of an existing game with no new features (unless you count bugs as a feature) repackaged and sold as a new game for full price in an attempt to cash in on an old, dead series that wasThere are few things that can make me mad enough to rate a game lower than 5. The game has to be completely broken, bug filled, or just genuinely not fun at all. Or, in the case of Beyond Earth, a reskin of an existing game with no new features (unless you count bugs as a feature) repackaged and sold as a new game for full price in an attempt to cash in on an old, dead series that was actually good (Alpha Centauri).

    I'm not sure exactly when things like this became acceptable to do, but it certainly explains why pirating video games is now so widespread. When you can't trust your brand new purchased game to actually be a new game, pirating becomes a must in order to save your wallet.

    This is over fifty dollars I'm never going to get back, so yeah, I'm a little mad I got ripped off like this. Civilization V didn't hold a candle to Civilization IV, but at least it was a new game.    … Expand
  98. ddkehr
    Nov 17, 2014
    4
    I've been playing Civ since the beginning and each version has grown to be better for the most part, however, Civ:BE is a different case. I was really looking forward BE, a new Civ and Alpha C combined! NOT...It is for lack of a better description Civ 5:Lost in Space, but somehow more boring...Even with fast play on it drags to the point I have actually fallen asleep playing. I'm not sureI've been playing Civ since the beginning and each version has grown to be better for the most part, however, Civ:BE is a different case. I was really looking forward BE, a new Civ and Alpha C combined! NOT...It is for lack of a better description Civ 5:Lost in Space, but somehow more boring...Even with fast play on it drags to the point I have actually fallen asleep playing. I'm not sure where they were going with this game or even if they cared. If they put as much though in the game as the trailers it would be a great game. I like the mapping, units and tech web, even though it is a bit confusing at first. The game play is what really sucks here, it's slow and tedious, making for a boring game. I've actually provoked other civ's to attack me so I had something to do. Could have really been something wonderful, too bad, this will probably kill the franchise.… Expand
  99. KyleSearle
    Nov 17, 2014
    4
    Civ: Beyond Earth is a giant meh, that compares rarely poorly with it's prior art, Alpha Centauri. Here I was hoping for something with some novelty, like Sid Meier's Colonization, but in space. Instead we get the same old Civ formula, with some new skins. The gameplay itself is very cookie cutter and lacks any of the energy that Alpha Centauri carried to the table. AI is also massivelyCiv: Beyond Earth is a giant meh, that compares rarely poorly with it's prior art, Alpha Centauri. Here I was hoping for something with some novelty, like Sid Meier's Colonization, but in space. Instead we get the same old Civ formula, with some new skins. The gameplay itself is very cookie cutter and lacks any of the energy that Alpha Centauri carried to the table. AI is also massively inferior to Alpha Centauri, and provides no challenge even on the very first playthrough. This was a good opportunity to try and explore colonization on an extra-solar world and the designers were -far- too conservative and made a very dull reskin.

    Short answer: get Alpha Centauri on Gog.com.    … Expand
  100. TFORPULLONE
    Nov 17, 2014
    6
    Firaxis Games got a great change to bring up the Civilization's franchises excellent turn-based strategy
    to bigger audiences with new environment, enemies and totally with experience on another
    planet. But the great opportunity for this massive game was wasted by just using the same figures which were in the last game Civilization 5. The differences from Civilization 5 to Beyond Earth    Firaxis Games got a great change to bring up the Civilization's franchises excellent turn-based strategy
    to bigger audiences with new environment, enemies and totally with experience on another
    planet. But the great opportunity for this massive game was wasted by just using the same
    figures which were in the last game Civilization 5.
    The differences from Civilization 5 to Beyond Earth are nonexistent. Barbarian rebels are
    replaced with aliens. Science progression tree is replaced with progression web. Communicating
    with civilizations in the game is still as poor as it was in the earlier Civilization game. The multiplayer
    suffers from connection problems and lack of active servers as well public ones.These problems
    with game and lack of new gameplay aren't acceptable.
    The game doesn't really give new figures to the game. But the new players can think that the game kicks
    ass and it's cool what it is now. But the older players like me doesn't feel like this game deserves a 9/10 or 10/10. It's a huge disappointment and the game doesn't deserve 50 bucks to spend right now. But when new civilizations and bugs are fixed and price is lower. It's then one of the best strategy games to
    pick up. PS 17.11.2014    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Best PC Game of 2014
21
#21 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
4
#4 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 78 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 78
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 78
  3. Negative: 1 out of 78
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 9, 2015
    90
    Cancel all your plans and fill up the fridge, because once you launch Beyond Earth you will not want to leave your home. [13/2014, p.46]
  2. Worth Playing
    Dec 23, 2014
    85
    Passive AI and lackluster online support from the community isn't enough to make Civilization: Beyond Earth a total wash. If you've enjoyed the series over the years, you'll likely spend many hours with this entry as well.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    Dec 21, 2014
    80
    Prepare for tech tree troubles, but the amount to discover and overall quality wins out. [Christmas 2014, p.64]
See all critic reviews »