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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Surg3on
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    Generally a disappointing reskin of Civ5 with what looks like very little work put into it (seriously, Firaxis either didn't spend much money or the employees spent a lot of time watching cat videos on YouTube). Luckily the core game is OK and looks nice. I would recommend waiting until the first expansion pack to fix the multitude of terrible UI decisions, useless diplomacy, trade routesGenerally a disappointing reskin of Civ5 with what looks like very little work put into it (seriously, Firaxis either didn't spend much money or the employees spent a lot of time watching cat videos on YouTube). Luckily the core game is OK and looks nice. I would recommend waiting until the first expansion pack to fix the multitude of terrible UI decisions, useless diplomacy, trade routes mess, missing win screes, slapped together wonder screens.

    I do like the new style of military upgrades and the tech tree is a good idea (if very difficult to learn). The aliens will be good after some patching.    … Expand
  2. sebbby
    Nov 13, 2014
    6
    When I first heard of Beyond Earth, I wasn't exactly hyped. For me, the Civ series has always been a historical series, not a futuristic one. Nonetheless, I quite like many of the features in Beyond Earth. The quests system is quite nice. The art style is quite nice and the upgradable military units is a cool feature. By far the best thing added, is the new tech web. It allows for yourWhen I first heard of Beyond Earth, I wasn't exactly hyped. For me, the Civ series has always been a historical series, not a futuristic one. Nonetheless, I quite like many of the features in Beyond Earth. The quests system is quite nice. The art style is quite nice and the upgradable military units is a cool feature. By far the best thing added, is the new tech web. It allows for your colony to be what you want it to be.

    But, Beyond Earth is far from perfect. It is built upon the same engine as Civ V and it shows. Some of the wording makes little sense, as if they copy and pasted from Civ V. There is also a major lack of Civilizations. There were also a plethora of bugs when I played from crashing and disconnecting, to issues with multiple monitor setups.

    All-in-all, its a decent game. Definitely not worthy of being a sequel to Civ V. I hope that Beyond earth is a distraction while Civ 6 is being developed.

    6/10    … Expand
  3. Yesname
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    Almost nothing new. Worse than any predecessor almost in every aspect. Factions and aliens have no personality. Awkward UI. Dumb, illogical AI. It is just a scam. A DLC, a reskinned Civilization 5. Not worth more than $10. I am very disappointed.
  4. Verdan
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    All i can say is that Sid Meier set new record for an expansion. Making a new skin for an all ready working game is pretty bad and i personally was expecting bit more than new theme.
    Game looks good but then again. I just played this game for a lot of hours under different title.

    9 points for the CIV V
    - 3 points for going for "shake my money makers" strategy
  5. 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
  6. Spiralus
    Nov 2, 2014
    6
    This one started out really rough for me. After discovering that I had to leave and then re-enter full screen (huge bug?) frame rate and resolution stabilized enough to be playable. I actually wound up liking the U.I. After two play-throughs I can't give the game a lower rating than a five. No game that I willingly play for more than six hours deserves a lower score than that. That beingThis one started out really rough for me. After discovering that I had to leave and then re-enter full screen (huge bug?) frame rate and resolution stabilized enough to be playable. I actually wound up liking the U.I. After two play-throughs I can't give the game a lower rating than a five. No game that I willingly play for more than six hours deserves a lower score than that. That being said - the criticism that keeps coming up here - that the game doesn't do much new is pretty much spot on. That said, there ARE some fresh mechanics that I found interesting. The affinities while awfully named are neat in that they link the tech tree directly to your civ's cultural personality - which makes a lot of real world sense. The other noteworthy criticism is that the game DOES play a lot easier than Civ V. I annihilated both my first two games on normal +1 then normal +2 - which just shouldn't be possible in this type of game. We the players expect to loose our first game when we select anything harder than normal in a strategy game.
    In short: if you loved Civilization V and would like to play it again in space then buy this game. It IS a good turn based civ builder. It's expensive but it's a pretty big budget development for a small target market.    … Expand
  7. Escherichia
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    Beyond Earth constantly forces you to continually pick between small numbers and fixed percentages, I did not like to be spammed by all these constant, meaningless decisions that do not seem to affect the gameplay at all. The factions are bland and soulless, and the tech quotes make me cringe.
    The only thing this game has that reminds me of Alpha Centauri is the inconsistency in its    Beyond Earth constantly forces you to continually pick between small numbers and fixed percentages, I did not like to be spammed by all these constant, meaningless decisions that do not seem to affect the gameplay at all. The factions are bland and soulless, and the tech quotes make me cringe.
    The only thing this game has that reminds me of Alpha Centauri is the inconsistency in its leader's motivations: In my first game, 3 different factions kept praising me for not engaging in combat with the aliens. Suddenly, 2 of them declared war to me for no reason. Not that it matters, the combat AI is as dumb as ever. Enemy units will just go back and forth, struggle with the terrain and camp on damaging miasma hexes, just to beg for peace a few turns later and start praising you all over again. Somehow, enemy factions are dumber than in the previous civ games.
    The new tech web is a nice addition, altough I dont think it will help newcomers find their way, and the affinity system is alright, but it does take ages to truly kick in.
    All in all, It still is a Sid Meier's game, a 6 is as low as it gets.    … Expand
  8. Spoodey
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    Loved Civ V. This one (so far) feels like a lifeless version of Civ V with some changes to game mechanics and a science theme. Factions are bland and boring, and progressing in the game just feels... not fun...
  9. Tubey
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    All the flaws of the original Civ5 game before it was fixed with DLC, with a glossy space finish over the top.

    Not much more to be said. It's an above average strategy game that will enthuse newcomers to the series or those who got their feet wet in Civ5, but underwhelm anyone who played Civ4 due to unwelcome return of streamlined gameplay and fairly linear development paths. If    All the flaws of the original Civ5 game before it was fixed with DLC, with a glossy space finish over the top.

    Not much more to be said. It's an above average strategy game that will enthuse newcomers to the series or those who got their feet wet in Civ5, but underwhelm anyone who played Civ4 due to unwelcome return of streamlined gameplay and fairly linear development paths.

    If you're looking for a truly top class space strategy experience, you'd be better off investigating your hours in Alpha Centauri. Beyond Earth isn't a bad game, but it isn't a classic either, and given that it strives to live in the lofty company of some other titles in the Sid Meier back catalogue, it doesn't reach those heights or even come close.    … Expand
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. bthomas
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    Beyond Earth brings a few nice additions to the franchise. The new branch-leaf concept for the Tech Web makes for a more versatile playthrough, and the new Affinities and their related unit upgrading system is really interesting.

    UI and overall graphic experience is reasonable. The filter on the Tech Web is really handy and in my opinion is one of the best UI improvements in the    Beyond Earth brings a few nice additions to the franchise. The new branch-leaf concept for the Tech Web makes for a more versatile playthrough, and the new Affinities and their related unit upgrading system is really interesting.

    UI and overall graphic experience is reasonable. The filter on the Tech Web is really handy and in my opinion is one of the best UI improvements in the franchise.

    AI problems still persist, though. Workers have no sense of opportunity, and AI civilizations have no sense of measure when deciding what to offer or demand in a peace deal.

    It is a good game, but I expected more.    … Expand
  13. m0nitor
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    The AI is frustrating. It's been said 1,394,934,022 times of Civ V so I don't know why they would build on Civ V in making this game without addressing it. Automated workers wander into stupidity and die, enemy units behave illogically. The issues I have with AI are literally identical to the ones I had with Civ V.

    The game is beautiful and I like the atmosphere. The tech web is    The AI is frustrating. It's been said 1,394,934,022 times of Civ V so I don't know why they would build on Civ V in making this game without addressing it. Automated workers wander into stupidity and die, enemy units behave illogically. The issues I have with AI are literally identical to the ones I had with Civ V.

    The game is beautiful and I like the atmosphere. The tech web is nice and while the UI is strange to me I don't mind learning it. I don't need to play the same exact game over and over - I'm capable of learning new things.

    Some of the concepts don't feel fully fleshed out, though. If this is because they're playing at future DLC then I wish they'd stop that crap and build and sell a complete game instead of piecing a complete game out for additional money. But whatever.

    This game isn't horrible and over time (like when they decide to get around to selling me the rest of the game) I'm pretty sure it'll improve greatly.    … Expand
  14. Jayschwa
    Nov 1, 2014
    6
    The game feels like it needed another 6 months of play-testing and polish. After playing a few games, I think I'll probably go back to Civ 5: BNW until BE gets some patch love. I do still have some faith that after some patches and maybe an expansion, it can be a great game. Firaxis is usually good about that (e.g. Civ 5 sucked at launch too).

    My biggest problems with the game right now    The game feels like it needed another 6 months of play-testing and polish. After playing a few games, I think I'll probably go back to Civ 5: BNW until BE gets some patch love. I do still have some faith that after some patches and maybe an expansion, it can be a great game. Firaxis is usually good about that (e.g. Civ 5 sucked at launch too).

    My biggest problems with the game right now are:

    1) There are 5 advertised victory conditions, but it's realistically more like 2 *types* of victory conditions. Classic domination (i.e. defeat all your enemies and capture their capitals) and building a planetary wonder. Each affinity has its own planetary wonder victory, plus a generic Contact one. They're all essentially the same - research some stuff, build a thing, wait for thing to countdown, win. It doesn't feel very interesting, nor does it involve interaction with other civs like the tourism or world leader victories in BNW.

    2) The UI feels like several steps backwards from Civ 5, both in terms of functionality and aesthetics. City screens require extra clicks to show what is being built or to change production. Trade route screens no longer have the ability to sort by different resources. The monotone color scheme makes it hard to identify stuff.

    3) AI is dumb, repetitive, and more or less unnecessary to interact with unless you're going for a Domination victory. The American CEO quotes Adam Smith. The African guy talks about a village. Every god damn time. It's both extremely repetitive and extremely cliche. How hard would it have been to book the voice actors for a couple more hours and record a larger variety of lines? I also think there was wasted potential with the visual changes to the leaders as they go down an affinity. Most changes are just a change in clothes color, and maybe there's a wire on their forehead. The African leader actually looks pretty cool for the Supremacy (cyborg) affinity. It makes me think maybe they just ran out of time to be detailed on the rest of the leaders.

    4) Game balance is broken. In Civ 5, I used to enjoy playing with just a handful of super-cities (playing tall?). Thus far, it seems that dropping cities on every available space is the way to go since trade routes are capped per city and not per civ. Trade routes get spammed between cities, and then you end up in trade route micromanagement hell in late game as you have to keep reassigning them.    … Expand
  15. sundeki
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    I really wanted to like this game.

    When I first started playing, the first thing that came to mind was "This is just a Civilization V re-skin". That feeling began to go away the more I played and I began to enjoy it quite a bit. Then I began to get a different feeling: The game feels completely empty. There is a complete lack of content and variation. There is no Alien variation. I    I really wanted to like this game.

    When I first started playing, the first thing that came to mind was "This is just a Civilization V re-skin". That feeling began to go away the more I played and I began to enjoy it quite a bit. Then I began to get a different feeling: The game feels completely empty. There is a complete lack of content and variation. There is no Alien variation. I thought: "Well each different map you play on the aliens would have different stats and abilities randomly selected from a pool". Nope, they are identical every single time.

    The Alien AI is even poor. I thought that because of something else in the game (can't say because of spoilers) the Aliens would be far more efficient, adaptive and co-ordinated. They aren't. They are literally glorified barbarians.

    When the devs explained the affinity mechanic, I thought you would have to make hard choices. That you could only really go down one path, that each path was unique in some way. Disappointed yet again. Every game I've played; I've ended up with maxed of all affinities and that was without even trying to get them.

    There is a new mini-quest system that allows you to make small changes to your empire depending upon your choices. At first I thought this was really cool, as I've always enjoyed customization and choosing things for myself in games. Then I realized the quest pool is so small, unoriginal, void of any real choice and repetitive. I found myself doing the same things at the end of the game, that I did at the start of the game.

    The HUD was confusing until I figured it out, the whole thing is just one giant grey blur. The terrain was slightly interesting at first, but once that first feeling fades away it begins to look really ugly. The Diplomacy screen in every way has just been ripped from Civ V. The other factions literally say the exact same thing they did in Civ V. I could go on.

    Overall: the game is effectively a glorified re-skin of Civ V, but 80% of the content was removed and the HUD and terrain has been made ugly.

    6.5/10 : I would pay $30 max for this with hindsight (paid $50) and that's only if I was in a good mood.    … Expand
  16. Sjalka
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    I will compare that game to the old Alpha Centauri (hopefully that is fair to do)

    Beyond Earth feels just different enough from Cvilization not to be confused as a mod - however - the planet and playstyle is still too similar to civilization so you never really get the feeling to be on an alien planet. ( could as well be earth with a mutant mod ) Alpha Centauri felt much more alien -    I will compare that game to the old Alpha Centauri (hopefully that is fair to do)

    Beyond Earth feels just different enough from Cvilization not to be confused as a mod - however - the planet and playstyle is still too similar to civilization so you never really get the feeling to be on an alien planet. ( could as well be earth with a mutant mod )

    Alpha Centauri felt much more alien - landscape and design was so different from civilization that it was never confused for something earth-like.

    Where Alpha Centauri scored big time was the technologies AND how they were delivered. Starting with future tech and getting more and more trancendent - Beyond Earth fails in that department. The commentary by the factions upon reaching a tech was kept, but the voice acting is worse than in Alpha Centauri - also what they say about the tech is less interesting ( mostly due to the factions being a lot less fundamental/extreme )

    The graphics seem to be a little worse than Civ 5 - not so much in quality, but in design; but not by a greatly significant margin. The sound and music can only be described as average.

    Personally, i find it a little sad that the "original" .. Alpha Centauri beats this remake in terms of atmosphere a hundred times.

    However - Beyond Earth is not a bad game. It is very playable - it just feels like the dumbed down junior version of a much more mature Alpha Centauri.    … Expand
  17. Smellfire
    Nov 8, 2014
    6
    Disappointing and feels shallow and pretty lifeless after playing Civ V. Has lots to recommend it but also, lots not to.

    Visually its not stunning. I expected an alien world to look fun and funky, but besides a few plants and buildings, it doesn't. The cities while building up don't look spectacular either. The aliens are mostly a bland green. The Buildings are many and interesting    Disappointing and feels shallow and pretty lifeless after playing Civ V. Has lots to recommend it but also, lots not to.

    Visually its not stunning. I expected an alien world to look fun and funky, but besides a few plants and buildings, it doesn't. The cities while building up don't look spectacular either. The aliens are mostly a bland green.

    The Buildings are many and interesting as are the new ways for skill ups like the tech web. Its really not clear what your doing in the beginning but sorts its self out after a few games. I can't say how much I like the Tech Web, but its a lot!

    The other major problem I have with the game are the victory conditions. Except for Domination, they are far to easy to get in any of the first 4 difficulty settings. After that it becomes harder, but no more interesting. Spying is also completely over powered in those difficulty settings.

    Voice over is also terrible and lacks any charisma at all, as do about a 1/4 of the playable characters. Yet another bug bear is the inane sayings that have been put in. Where as Civ 5 you had passages from Shakespeare, Washington, Dickens, Ghandi etc you get some barely cohesive drivel about nothing in particular. Quotes from the like of Jules Verne, Asimov, PJ Farmer etc would have been far more enjoyable and immersive.    … Expand
  18. Kazek7
    Nov 3, 2014
    6
    There isn't much to say about this game. It's Civilization 5 with aliens and more futuristic units. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on your view. I found that there weren't enough leaders, and the leaders we got were boring talking heads. The Computer AI is horrible with combat, They send in their units in to die with no strategy. And if they declare war on you, TheyThere isn't much to say about this game. It's Civilization 5 with aliens and more futuristic units. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on your view. I found that there weren't enough leaders, and the leaders we got were boring talking heads. The Computer AI is horrible with combat, They send in their units in to die with no strategy. And if they declare war on you, They usually beg for peace 5 turns later. There isn't much new in this game, Which is disappointing But it doesn't make it a terrible game.… Expand
  19. rebi
    Nov 11, 2014
    6
    Horrible user interface and color selection, otherwise solid game. Seriously lacks replayability but some concepts in game are really promising. This game needs a lot of polishing but it has the potential to be a great game. Needs 1-2 expansions to catch Civ 5 Beyond Earth tough.
  20. axxiusdecius
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    I disliked how the Civ 5 „streamlined” (read dumbed-down) the great Civ 4 to appease a broader, less sophisticated audience. Well, Beyond Earth simplifies even further the Civ 5, which is a bad thing and a bad omen for the future of the series. It’s still a good game, with some nice new additions and plenty of „one more turn factor”, but it’s not a great game (or even a game, actually, itI disliked how the Civ 5 „streamlined” (read dumbed-down) the great Civ 4 to appease a broader, less sophisticated audience. Well, Beyond Earth simplifies even further the Civ 5, which is a bad thing and a bad omen for the future of the series. It’s still a good game, with some nice new additions and plenty of „one more turn factor”, but it’s not a great game (or even a game, actually, it just feels like a Civ 5 mod/expansion).Let’s see what i mean (note that my review is the view of a Civ veteran, so most things make no sense for those who haven’t played at least Civ 5).
    The Good:
    - because of the separation of „ways” of development („religions”), civs are building different wonders, so it’s gone the annoyance of working tens of turns on a wonder just for it to be built by the AI 1-2 turns before you finish it;
    - the units also upgrade very differently, and so don’t usually look or feel the same for different civs; they also upgrade on themselves, automatically and with no cost, which feels really good;
    - the non-linear tech-tree provides much more research freedom and control;
    - the workboats are gone, the workers can improve water tiles, too;
    - there are a lot of quests and decisions, so the player feels more involved and responsible;
    - there are also choices like getting augmented or not (hello deus ex reference) which get you the approval or disapproval of the other civs; too bad there’s no other visible difference (like how cities or units look);
    - the aliens are more varied and imply different approaches than the typical Civ barbarians; unfortunately, though, they are all insects (no smart apes here);
    - the covert-ops section is more varied and better thought than the spying in Civ;
    - they kept and improved a little the culture layer (virtues);
    - the UI is well-thought, non-intrusive and easy to use;
    - the exploration of sites provides various results;
    The Bad:
    - in the city screen the buildings have no picture, just an icon, and therefore the satisfaction of producing them is reduced; also, the building/unit being produced no longer shows what it does, so I have to go to civipedia to see that, especially if it’s a wonder; i really think the city screen is a big step back and quite bad right now;
    - the wonders also don’t feel satisfying, lacking a picture or animated pop-up;
    - the air war feels underdeveloped;
    - the over-boasted orbital layer is actually not much yet and rather useless, they probably intend to develop it in dlc’s;
    - everything is too streamlined, lacking in lore, one must look a lot in the civipedia to understand what is what;
    - the player doesn’t get the Civ feeling of evolving historically, since it’s only one era;
    - th city-states (stations) are no longer available for any other diplomacy than trade;
    - the techs in the tech-tree all seem the same, because of the same streamlining (they have icons, not pictures);
    The things i would have wished for (and didn’t get, but weren’t promised either):
    - a darker setting, the planet is too earth-like and green;
    - real aliens (sentient), for example in some of the stations;
    - more civs (but they’ll surely come in dlc’s);
    - a political system like in Galactic Civ;    … Expand
  21. Nican
    Nov 1, 2014
    6
    Definitely not one of the better installment of the series.

    The user interface is lacking. The soundtrack mediocre. But most of all, the game is a bit simplistic. The strategic choices you make have significantly less impact then in the previous civ games. Managing the military units in particular has become almost boring. You can safely skip this title to save some money. If you    Definitely not one of the better installment of the series.

    The user interface is lacking. The soundtrack mediocre.

    But most of all, the game is a bit simplistic. The strategic choices you make have significantly less impact then in the previous civ games. Managing the military units in particular has become almost boring.

    You can safely skip this title to save some money. If you want to discover the Civilisation series, go for Civ 5.    … Expand
  22. masterhoodwinke
    Nov 11, 2014
    6
    Missed opportunity here in Beyond Earth. I've played and loved all previous Civ games. This one just feels rushed, like a re-skinned Civ 5 Mod. Yes the Tech tree is new, and a step in the right direction, but I found it almost boring. The space age technologies are so incomprehensible that it takes the joy out of technological progress. What the hell are half of these technologies...Missed opportunity here in Beyond Earth. I've played and loved all previous Civ games. This one just feels rushed, like a re-skinned Civ 5 Mod. Yes the Tech tree is new, and a step in the right direction, but I found it almost boring. The space age technologies are so incomprehensible that it takes the joy out of technological progress. What the hell are half of these technologies... why should I care? Is it just me or was researching gunpowder before any other players in Civ 5 incredibly satisfying? Nothing in BE can come close to that.

    Setting is interesting, but shallow and unremarkable in many ways. There is really no difference between any of the civilizations so replay is hindered. There is little to no lore in this Civ BE universe...

    Bottom line is this game is a missed opportunity and not worth the price. Not enough innovation or experimentation to justify a full new title. It will feel almost exactly the same as Civ 5. Yes I still love the Civilization franchise and I'll be there for the next game. With that said my trust in Sid Meyer as a innovative "Elon Musk" of Strategy video games is shaken.

    Try out Endless Legend if you want a really fresh innovative take on 4 x strategy games. I'm loving it.    … Expand
  23. Sawt00th
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    300+ hrs on Civ 5 and even using the same engine i feel I have been dumped on new planet in space. Very exciting discovering the new resources and units. Think Civ 5 & FTL together. This game incorporates the quest system well into the strategy mix. I greatly enjoy the sense of woven story the narrative quests provide. it allows you to inject life into the early game, where civ has300+ hrs on Civ 5 and even using the same engine i feel I have been dumped on new planet in space. Very exciting discovering the new resources and units. Think Civ 5 & FTL together. This game incorporates the quest system well into the strategy mix. I greatly enjoy the sense of woven story the narrative quests provide. it allows you to inject life into the early game, where civ has sometimes been bland. The Tech Web is still a little confusing, but the mist will settle after a few play throughs. I will admit it has the feel of a re-skin, but there is very little that can be done about it considering the gameplay is within set parameters. Everyone knows this game will be tweaked and patched massively over the coming few months, so don't listein to idiots that complain of broken AI. The game falls within believable science and I think that it is where the game will excel. Not disapointed at all.… Expand
  24. EffigyX
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    Not a BAD game, but not distinct enough from Civ V, and matches up poorly against the added depth and complexity added by the latter game's expansions.

    And unfortunately, Beyond Earth is also no Alpha Centauri, with bland factions and a background narrative that failed to engage me. It has nothing like the sense of SMAC's bitter ideological conflict between extremist factions led by    Not a BAD game, but not distinct enough from Civ V, and matches up poorly against the added depth and complexity added by the latter game's expansions.

    And unfortunately, Beyond Earth is also no Alpha Centauri, with bland factions and a background narrative that failed to engage me. It has nothing like the sense of SMAC's bitter ideological conflict between extremist factions led by mad geniuses.

    Unless you MUST play it, I'd recommend waiting a few years for more content to be added.    … Expand
  25. Perun
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    Its solid TBS as it is, but when you look at it closely, its retextured civ 5
    Races are bland, have no advantages, research is bland, unit upgrades are bland, have no soul, you never feel like you really colonizing alien planet, they done A LOT better job with their game "colonization" than with game about colonizing alien planet, where imagination is limitless
    Dumbed down bland Alpha    Its solid TBS as it is, but when you look at it closely, its retextured civ 5
    Races are bland, have no advantages, research is bland, unit upgrades are bland, have no soul, you never feel like you really colonizing alien planet, they done A LOT better job with their game "colonization" than with game about colonizing alien planet, where imagination is limitless
    Dumbed down bland Alpha Centauri clone made from existing game
    And 50 euro for civ 5 expansion? Are they crazy? Without huge paid marketing advertisment all around gaming sites that game should cost 25-30 euro max
    But hey, dumb person (like myself), will buy this game without checking it

    So game is good, buy it on -50% sale and enjoy civ5 space expansion pack, but definitely not worth 50 euro    … Expand
  26. Varyag
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    I was very much looking forward to this game, seeing as how Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is one of my favorite games of all time. As more of Beyond Earth was revealed however, it seemed that the ideas featured in SMAC are no more than window dressing for another Civ V game. This is more significant than it seems at first glance. SMAC was, mechanically, Civ II. But the story, setting,I was very much looking forward to this game, seeing as how Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is one of my favorite games of all time. As more of Beyond Earth was revealed however, it seemed that the ideas featured in SMAC are no more than window dressing for another Civ V game. This is more significant than it seems at first glance. SMAC was, mechanically, Civ II. But the story, setting, semi-plausible technology, secret projects, quotes, factions and the overall cornucopia of ideas, went so far beyond any Civ game that Alpha Centauri ended up being unique.
    Beyond Earth is superficially the same thing, but look closer and the technologies are more akin to techno babble, the factions are merely the nations of Civ, without character or a recognizable ideology that drove the ones in SMAC, the resources border on epic fantasy (firaxite? floatstone? really?), the victory conditions specific to this game are all variations of Civ's "man in space". There is no back story, the quests are repetitive and fail to feel relevant (more on them later). There is no soul to this game, for the lack of a better term, nothing to set it apart - its Civ V in space in a SMAC costume that's falling apart at the seams and Chairman Yang is not amused.
    Failing to innovate while being bad at imitation is a sin but the real problem is the fundamental issues that Civ V has. The maps are small, curtailing expansion, the research is slow, you're not likely to have more than a few cities at any time unless you take more by conquest, the troops need constant shuffling around the tight maps, city management is trivial, social engineering is non existent (present only in constant buffs that you can buy with culture - there is no give and take) and that leaves a vacuum where the player simply has nothing to do from turn to turn. They tried to fill this void with quests that the game gives you but they're repetitive and there's little motivation to do them. At most they lead to a little blurb about some changes in your civilization and a small permanent bonus.
    Its shallow and plodding, and probably the worst overall game design in the Civ series. The addictive flow of a slow start but rapid expansion, of large scale warfare, of massive civilizations clashing for supremacy - there's none of it here. There was none of it in Civ V, but here things feel even more constrained, smaller scale and meaningless.
    This is the Civ equivalent of Diet Coke with Colonel Santiago on the label. Civ V fans will gobble it up, claiming its the next best thing since pre sliced bread... and for them, it might be. For me, its merely an above average 4x game that will fade from memory in a month or so with none of the genius one has come to expect from the Civ series.    … Expand
  27. derbyherb
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    -To start off, I'm disappointed
    -In case you were wondering, the AI King of Derptopia still overextends himself founding an obscene number of settlements all over the map and then gets self-righteous about what everyone else does near him when he's taking up the whole screen.
    -Diplomacy feels a straight port from Civ 5. -Virtues are social policies given a new name. Many of them are    -To start off, I'm disappointed
    -In case you were wondering, the AI King of Derptopia still overextends himself founding an obscene number of settlements all over the map and then gets self-righteous about what everyone else does near him when he's taking up the whole screen.
    -Diplomacy feels a straight port from Civ 5.
    -Virtues are social policies given a new name. Many of them are taken directly from Civ 5.
    -Don't accept at face value reviews trying to convince you that "aliens are not Civ 5 barbs." They perform the same functional purpose in the game, but require a more complicated foreign policy. So you can't just kill them all. Even though you want to.
    -Miasma... My personal opinion is that it wasn't a good call to cover 50%ish of the maps tiles with what is basically lava. Stand in lava, unit loses HP. Moving units around is a drag because you're constantly healing from and trying to get around miasma. Yes you can evolve science to deal with it or benefit from it.. but it's another annoying obstacle. Can I just turn it off?
    -I played the hell out of Civ 5. Lots of PC gamers did. We know the game inside and out. But like all games it got old after a while... Civ 5 had nothing left to offer. I think 2K took the lazy route developing this game by basically porting Civ 5 into space. Even though it's packaged as a new game it feels like I'm playing Civ 5. So I'm kind of bored of the core gameplay and lack incentive to really get into the game.    … Expand
  28. DarkCornatus118
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    Entirely reskinned version of Civ5. If you played a lot of Civ 5 and got a bit bored of it's simplicity, then probably don't expect much from this one. If you are new to Civ, it's going to be a really good experience. Not a whole lot of pros for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it's a mod to me rather than a new experience.

    Pros: - Tech map is MUCH better, even if    Entirely reskinned version of Civ5. If you played a lot of Civ 5 and got a bit bored of it's simplicity, then probably don't expect much from this one. If you are new to Civ, it's going to be a really good experience. Not a whole lot of pros for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it's a mod to me rather than a new experience.

    Pros:
    - Tech map is MUCH better, even if daunting at first. Probably the only really major thing to change in the game.
    - Races feel more customisable
    - A little bit more diversity in Tech and Virtue (culture) perk trees
    -No Astronomy!!!!!

    Cons:
    - Every feature from Civ 5 exists as a renamed feature in CivBE. I mean everything (except Religion - DLC?)
    - Terrain is extremely drab and bland. You can't make out clearly what things are and it's just plain ugly!
    - Music is not immersive
    - Same bugs from Civ5. The Production queue jumping (when trying to do something else first). The grey texture lag is now black, but the same.
    -The is even LESS diplomacy than before, absolutely nothing to trade as luxury resources are gone.
    - Health (Happiness) MUST be a priority, expanding or not.
    - Can chose a perk to show outline of every island in game.... SUPER OP! Takes the fun out of exploring!    … Expand
  29. hipster
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    Rating it a 6 because it was marketed as a full game, but is clearly a reskinned version of the base game with the exception of the tech tree, starting materials, and a slightly reorganized civics tree.

    Tactically, the game plays the same but I think the strategies are very different. Instead of several big decisions made over the game, you make very many small decisions that add up and    Rating it a 6 because it was marketed as a full game, but is clearly a reskinned version of the base game with the exception of the tech tree, starting materials, and a slightly reorganized civics tree.

    Tactically, the game plays the same but I think the strategies are very different. Instead of several big decisions made over the game, you make very many small decisions that add up and can really provide synergy depending on your playstyle. This means that there are probably millions of combinations--every building seems to have two functional options, which might seem insignificant at first, but remember that in Civ 5, some civs had ONE unique building and others didn't even have one, here every building is potentially unique.

    Not worth the $37 (yes, it's already on sale), so I'd wait to buy it. This really feels like it should have been an expansion to Civ5.    … Expand
  30. MagpieX
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    There are a few times when you believe that a new game is going to be that successor to your favourite game of the past indeed. Then after it is released you are happy to see your anticipations and expectations being justified. This is not one of those times however and Civilization:Beyond Earth is not going to pick up where Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) left off nor does it try toThere are a few times when you believe that a new game is going to be that successor to your favourite game of the past indeed. Then after it is released you are happy to see your anticipations and expectations being justified. This is not one of those times however and Civilization:Beyond Earth is not going to pick up where Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC) left off nor does it try to provide the same feel and diversion from its roots as SMAC did with Civilization 2 and make a different game based on its Civilization 5 engine.
    Whilst you can see that positive enhancements on the technical side have been made the core of the gameplay feels very similar to if not a step backward from Civilization 5. This is especially true on UI side which lacks key aspects people being used to such as strategic view, or its hidden and generally not very ergonomic. Ignoring that one aspect however for now there is a feeling that they could have done more and did not even try. Beneath the futuristic outlook lies a very vanilla game which essentially is more stable and robust than Civilization 5 was at its release but it is very conservative in approach. It tries to please many appetites but leaves one hungry still. The initial customization of the game is nice but it is ultimately not played out well throughout the game. The factions seem more or less be just dressed up buffbots accompanied by leaders whith a charisma of a city administration official. There are no unique units, truly unique faction aspects, and leaders don't even get to speak their own speeches once a tech has been researched which sets aside an aspect of SMAC where pieces of ideologies and technologies resulting from these were incorporated into the young society of the planet. This ultimately turns your leaders into more or less the same kind of person differentiated only through miniscule differences in diplomacy - let's not even mention it because it has little redemption value to how factions are handled.
    The technology model including affinities feel like a solid change but there is still a feeling they could have done more with it. In general when it comes to gameplay then if you are familiar with Civilization 5 you will quickly become accustomed to the game however on the other hand people hoping for a new game with new rules will be very disappointed. This is especially not helping to dismiss claims of being a Civilization 5 mod - in fact you are more inclined to agree with people claiming so and thus reinforcing them. It is obvious that Firaxis' developers seem to put too much emphasis on streamlining and don't seem to trust gamers enough anymore to allow expanding their formula a little more and make it a little bit more complex and foremostly: a bit more different which was the key difference between Civilization 2 and SMAC. It's probably a good start for a game series spinoff if it's going to get iterated on and shaped into its own distinctive game such as Civilization 5 got however it's not a good entry to a scene which has been bating its breath for a true SMAC spiritual successor which really may be based on over-expectations but then it is more often than not that expectations have to be put high in order to drive innovations. Being forced to constantly lower the bars cannot be healthy for the industry in long term and neither for Firaxis reputation either. Come on, guys, you can do it! Trust us more, we can handle a complex game with a lot of new features, we are big boys and girls, really. A lot of us have been playing since the original Civilization game! As such I am forced to say that whilst it's a decent game per se it is not one to be recommend at this current stage for the advertised price. There is a lot of potential there we still can't see it yet.    … Expand
Page:

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 »