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. Kraks
    Oct 27, 2014
    5
    I've played well over 1500 turns at this point and still haven't had what I would call a "fun" game. The UI is pretty miserable when compared to Civ 5. The tech tree, for instance, doesn't really *pop* out anything except the affinities. You get to search and hover over everything to figure out where the wonders are.

    And on the topic of wonders...why don't many of them build anything    I've played well over 1500 turns at this point and still haven't had what I would call a "fun" game. The UI is pretty miserable when compared to Civ 5. The tech tree, for instance, doesn't really *pop* out anything except the affinities. You get to search and hover over everything to figure out where the wonders are.

    And on the topic of wonders...why don't many of them build anything at all? The feel very uninspiring and not very wonderful at all. I built 3 or 4 last game and not a single one of them had a building on the landscape.

    The aliens are annoying. You go from barbarians that can be turned off or at their worst can be defeated in a 100 turns or so to aliens that are never ending, respawn nests, and harass your units ceaselessly. Or, you can build your tech tree to focus on being friendly and adapting to them. Who cares though? That isn't really very interesting, and again, the lack of anything physical from this (other than alien units) is very bland.

    As for the AI, it is downright annoying. Diplomacy is one thing. Being spammed by the competition every single turn with the exact same boring audio and requests is awful. It doesn't take very long for their voices (especially the Asian lady) to grind on your ears like nails on a chalkboard.

    Speaking of annoying, the trading is just awful. Every 20 - 30 turns you have to reassign your traders. They should adjust this to only needing interaction if they are attacked, the city is attacked/under siege, or if something changes with your relations with the other faction. If you have 10 - 20 trade convoys or vessels running, you can easily expect to spend 50% of your interactions in the game just managing them.

    Oh, another UI problem....the victory types aren't explained. You can hover over most things in the setup of the game and get some information, but the victory types just say Domination (ok, duh), Contact, Promised Land, Emancipation and Transcendence. I had to look them up to figure out what some of them were.

    The game **could** be fun, but it really is just a slightly different take on past Civ games with less of a physical presence in the world. Most of the things you do augment what you've already built, not build anything new. It is very common to have the territory and your units looking bland and similar at turn 1 and turn 200.

    As it currently stands, I would not recommend this game. Civilization 5 was so well done, has so many mods, and the expansions are actually most of what this game contains. There is no reason to upgrade, and it is arguable that this is not an upgrade at all.    … Expand
  2. nebulousfury
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    Overall this is a quality game with hours upon hours of game play which will suck you in for quite a while. However there is a certain "empty" feeling in the game at times. What they have added I think should certainly be kept for future games... however what they have taken away should probably be added back. This game has more potential than Civ 5 - however it falls slightly short ofOverall this is a quality game with hours upon hours of game play which will suck you in for quite a while. However there is a certain "empty" feeling in the game at times. What they have added I think should certainly be kept for future games... however what they have taken away should probably be added back. This game has more potential than Civ 5 - however it falls slightly short of Civ 5 in a few aspects.… Expand
  3. TomSEA
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    Enough here to keep you engaged for 3 or 4 run-throughs, but after that - it amounts to a re-skinned Civ 5. Aside from the space theme, the similarities are obvious. The voice-overs for the various leaders are very lack-luster and the tech-tree can be overwhelming at the beginning. The graphics don't seem to be as refined or crisp as Civ 5. The monsters don't seem to be worth the timeEnough here to keep you engaged for 3 or 4 run-throughs, but after that - it amounts to a re-skinned Civ 5. Aside from the space theme, the similarities are obvious. The voice-overs for the various leaders are very lack-luster and the tech-tree can be overwhelming at the beginning. The graphics don't seem to be as refined or crisp as Civ 5. The monsters don't seem to be worth the time or reward to fight. Easier just to avoid them.

    Having said that, it's still a decent Civilization game - it's not awful, just what we've seen before. The average Civ fan will get dozens of hours out of it. I'd wait until it hits the $20 (or lower) mark before buying as there's not enough there to differentiate it from Civ 5..    … Expand
  4. navlasop
    Oct 27, 2014
    5
    Okay, finished the game three times now.

    TL;DR It's okay, but it's lacking...polish and soul. If you got cash around, sure buy it. If not you can wait for a sale in a couple of months, no sweat. Long version: The game and the mechanics are solid. The quests are a nice addition, as well as the way you can customize your buildings. tech and "race". As for the aliens they're scary    Okay, finished the game three times now.

    TL;DR It's okay, but it's lacking...polish and soul. If you got cash around, sure buy it. If not you can wait for a sale in a couple of months, no sweat.

    Long version:
    The game and the mechanics are solid.
    The quests are a nice addition, as well as the way you can customize your buildings. tech and "race".
    As for the aliens they're scary first game or two, then you just leave em alone. Wish they could have done it better.

    Tech tree will be confusing first couple games until you learn it.
    Combat is decent enough.

    Max map size seems to be way smaller then huge maps in CIV 5. Tough you can forget about more then 4 cities unless you go all in biowell.

    Diplomacy...feels like it's just tacked on. None of the other races/AI players feel like they have a personality.

    Finished the game through harmony and purity...all you get is a grey popup saying some stuff, then two seconds later, the same but with some colors and voice.
    Come on! At least give us a small in game cinematic for a win... First time i won i was like...was that it??? And there's no statistics on your victory screen as in previous CIV games, just quit to menu or "one more turn". Very un epic.    … Expand
  5. redbeerd
    Oct 27, 2014
    4
    This mod for Civilization 5 might have been entitled: Civilization: Space Caravan Management before it was given to a group of energetic marketing people to hype up before release. It features the following astounding features:

    - Complete sci-fi reskins for all your favorite civilization units and concepts. Meet the warrior… in a spacesuit! Start the game by building a “monument”,    This mod for Civilization 5 might have been entitled: Civilization: Space Caravan Management before it was given to a group of energetic marketing people to hype up before release. It features the following astounding features:

    - Complete sci-fi reskins for all your favorite civilization units and concepts. Meet the warrior… in a spacesuit! Start the game by building a “monument”, a.k.a. “old earth relic”, and monitor your empire’s happiness… err… “health”. It’s all the concepts from 4000 BC you love, taken straight into the 23rd century!

    - Take your suspension of disbelief to new heights as colonists from earth land on a new planet and have no map of the surface, even after launching satellites. Watch in amazement as the borders of your space colony expand due to cultural influence, probably as the hostile insectoid aliens start wearing blue jeans and listening to pop music. Conduct sci-fi trade by caravan!

    - Which brings us to the best feature: spend 50% (literally: half) of your game time managing space caravans, of which there will be dozens and which have to be manually re-assigned every couple of turns! Yay! 3 caravans per city! EPIC FUN on large maps.

    - Watch real f_AI_l brought out of the AI, which will not attack you once during a full game at the hardest difficulty setting, but which will proceed to launch waves of suicide air strikes against an alien worm sitting in a harmless spot and doing nothing.

    - If you should divert from caravan management to anything else, like achieving victory conditions, you will be punished! Feel victory turn to ash in your mouth as, after 50+ turns of building wonders to communicate with the ancient alien race you get a popup saying “Congrats! You’ve communicated with the ancient alien race! Game over.”

    Seriously?    … Expand
  6. chakane048
    Oct 27, 2014
    0
    The quality of this game is a direct insult to Sid Meier. Beyond Exasperation. I might give this game a 1/10 score if they didn't slap my face by updating Civ5 today.
  7. horepung
    Oct 27, 2014
    2
    After playing Civ 5 and now playing Civ: BE I can only say that this was a huuuuge let down. What a disappointment!

    1: The A.I. is dumber than ever in this game. It's not even fun to play this when the different factions played by the A.I. have like no personality at all. They're all the same in every way. Spamming you with the same **** meaningless praises and requests over and over    After playing Civ 5 and now playing Civ: BE I can only say that this was a huuuuge let down. What a disappointment!

    1: The A.I. is dumber than ever in this game. It's not even fun to play this when the different factions played by the A.I. have like no personality at all. They're all the same in every way. Spamming you with the same **** meaningless praises and requests over and over again.
    2: The UI is lack luster to say the least. Confusing and strange placements.
    3: After playing like 2 games some of the design choice you encounter are so **** aweful that I don't even believe the game designers even played their own game. Like the constant renewals of the trade routes and the workers that simply cannot be automated when researching the teraforming tech, they will ruin you with building stuff that drain all of your energy.
    4: There's no strategic depth at all. The game is bland in every corner and it seems like you could just pick every affinity, virtue and tech at random and it would mean nothing for the outcome of the game.

    Summed up, if you wonder if you want to buy this or Civ 5, go for Civ 5. This is basically Civ 5 only stripped to the bare minimum. This game should be no where near a 50$ price tag. If you really want to try it, try the demo or wait for a steam winter sale or something. I regret buying this game.    … Expand
  8. TheVJ
    Oct 27, 2014
    5
    I'm giving this a 5/10 for now because it just does too many things wrong. Actually, the only positive change is the tech web - that is interesting and works well. But everything else is such a mess, from the civs barely being any different (tiny bonuses are all the variation you'll get), to leaders having no personalities to there being no victory/loss screen and many other issues, thisI'm giving this a 5/10 for now because it just does too many things wrong. Actually, the only positive change is the tech web - that is interesting and works well. But everything else is such a mess, from the civs barely being any different (tiny bonuses are all the variation you'll get), to leaders having no personalities to there being no victory/loss screen and many other issues, this game is just not good right now and I'd strongly suggest playing a modded Civ V with both DLCs over this for now.… Expand
  9. 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
  10. brobro34343
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    In its current state Civilization: Beyond Earth is a good game, but has some current glaring problems that keeps it from being a great one. Just like its predecessors, Beyond Earth keeps you busy, however some development decisions are quite head scratching. The tech tree feels new. The music is great and the unit designs are new and engaging. The UI has a very clean look, but this lookIn its current state Civilization: Beyond Earth is a good game, but has some current glaring problems that keeps it from being a great one. Just like its predecessors, Beyond Earth keeps you busy, however some development decisions are quite head scratching. The tech tree feels new. The music is great and the unit designs are new and engaging. The UI has a very clean look, but this look isn't as eye catching as Civ 5, this is especially true for the Tech tree.. The mini map is placed in an odd place and is quite small, making it feel useless. The hazardous gas Miasma is hard to see on the map and resources don't pop out. The biggest gripe is the lack of personality of the leaders. Each leader seems unexpressive or irrational. I went through my entire first play through having all leaders neutral expect for one who was friendly. This friendly leader had the most negative things against me. Many of the things said by leaders are copied and pasted from Civ 5 or aren't voiced. Also luxury resources have been taken out so trade between leaders suffers, leaving you with little interaction. You have no idea how other civilization are doing because the demographics have been removed and the military advisor isn't there to compare military might. Beyond Earth understandably doesn't have City States, so they use Stations instead. These stations can not be allies so trade routes are your only option.Spying has been improved, meaning they can now perfume more tasks within cities. Your spies seem to fail higher tasks too often. My Special Agent failed two Level 5 task and two level 4's consecutively. Aliens are new but seem to act hostile at random moments, creating a level of mistrust. They have little benefit so wiping them out seem the best thing to do even when playing as Harmony. The MOST questionable thing by far is the fact the game just ends when you win or lose. There are no charts no map just a picture. You can look at the final chart in the main menu but you still have no way in knowing how you lost. Hopefully this all will be fixed with updates but until then it's nothing special.… Expand
  11. Raziel92
    Oct 27, 2014
    4
    >> I'd just like to say that this isn't a review from an angry Alpha Centauri fan - I never played that game so I'm not comparing Beyond Earth against it.
  12. JugoZille
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    I love Civilization. I also like Beyond Earth. However, I had more fun with the other Civilization games or Alpha Centauri.

    The gameplay is very close to Civ5, but the SciFi setting is too generic and not used to full extent. I dont really know what to do with the aliens. I tried to be on "harmony" with them, but they kept on destroying my workers and traders, so I eventually had to    I love Civilization. I also like Beyond Earth. However, I had more fun with the other Civilization games or Alpha Centauri.

    The gameplay is very close to Civ5, but the SciFi setting is too generic and not used to full extent. I dont really know what to do with the aliens. I tried to be on "harmony" with them, but they kept on destroying my workers and traders, so I eventually had to kill them.

    It seems for me that the difficulty was lowered, too. Usually I have a tough time when playing Civ games on medium difficulty, but in beyond earth I never had any trouble, I dont even build military units.

    I will continue on playing, but I am not as exicted as with other Civ games.    … Expand
  13. Ferigad
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    It´s a good game with flaws, that´s why i can´t give it more then a 6 in my opinion. The singelplayer mode is interesting, but still feels a bit unfinished. It has balance issues and the multiplayer experience is spoiled. Any game with more then 4 users will end in a close to guarantee crash/disconnect of some or all players in the first 50 rounds.

    The look of the game is like civ 5,    It´s a good game with flaws, that´s why i can´t give it more then a 6 in my opinion. The singelplayer mode is interesting, but still feels a bit unfinished. It has balance issues and the multiplayer experience is spoiled. Any game with more then 4 users will end in a close to guarantee crash/disconnect of some or all players in the first 50 rounds.

    The look of the game is like civ 5, only with alien planets this time. Many colors, but no real difference between the different tile sets of the planets. Some of the text segments seems to be 1:1 copy from civ 5. That leads to the assumption that at least some parts , like the diplomatic system, was simple copy past over. Even with a moderate or high difficult scale, the AI won´t react very clever or creative, so the singleplayer experience will run dry at some point. Still you get 50-100 game hours out of it, but after that you have done it all and seen it all.

    So in the end, whats left? It´s a good game. And it has still flaws that compromises the game play experience. If i had to put my finger on it, i would say it is a game in mid/late beta. Singleplayer is deffinitly release ready, even if it´s shallow, but multiplayer is still beta. The issues with mutliplayer goes from crashing/disconnects to not calculated bonuses from the start screen, gui freezes and some other minor issues. Games with more then 4 Persons are not possible, and even with a max. of 4 ppl it will sooner or later lead to a crash or disconnect of an player.

    At other circumstances i would give it a 7-8 (more like a 8 because i am a civ fan, but honestly, it would maybe a 78 or 77 because in the end it´s not a new game, it´s civ 5 with a new look, far less content and slightly different systems), but the game is composed out of multiplayer and singleplayer.    … Expand
  14. dannieeddie2008
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    First time playing Civilization: Beyond Earth I thought this looks amazing and suc as different game to Civilization V. I got into the game and everything was the same the way the game played is the same, the look of the game is the same, they have also taken out quotes from Civilization V and put it into Civilization: Beyond Earth. The game in it self is a different game, and I love howFirst time playing Civilization: Beyond Earth I thought this looks amazing and suc as different game to Civilization V. I got into the game and everything was the same the way the game played is the same, the look of the game is the same, they have also taken out quotes from Civilization V and put it into Civilization: Beyond Earth. The game in it self is a different game, and I love how you choose your own Civilization to play as. I like the new tech tree and how the aliens are a lot more harder to attack.… Expand
  15. MaxFource
    Oct 27, 2014
    1
    Spiritual successor to SMAC? NOT...EVEN...CLOSE!!

    -No Unit Workshop -No Terraforming -No Social Engineering -No Secret Projects that actually excite you to pursue them SMAC, a 15-year old game, is kicking C:BE's ass up and down the field when it comes to creativity, excitement and intrigue of gameplay. One more turn, just one more turn? NOT!! C:BE is nothing more than a    Spiritual successor to SMAC? NOT...EVEN...CLOSE!!

    -No Unit Workshop
    -No Terraforming
    -No Social Engineering
    -No Secret Projects that actually excite you to pursue them

    SMAC, a 15-year old game, is kicking C:BE's ass up and down the field when it comes to creativity, excitement and intrigue of gameplay. One more turn, just one more turn? NOT!! C:BE is nothing more than a super-skinned mod that Firaxis threw together at the last minute and decided to rest on their laurels
    with the success of Civ V; and then to make it sting like the dickens they had the audacity to put out their hand and say, "That'll be $50, please." Once this game moves to the $5 bin, it MAY be worth it.
    Better yet, play Civ IV:BTS with the cool Planetfall mod if you want a nice sci-fi civ experience.

    Was Sid Meier even an active member of the design team when this was being created? Because it doesn't seem like it. I mean...he did make the design team at least play SMAC for a weekend before coming together to start making this game, right? I would hope so, but that doesn't seem to be the case; not from what I'm seeing with C:BE - so devoid and bereft of creativity and nuance.

    Ever since 2K Games became the publisher for Firaxis, the Civilization title's pull on gamers has been dwindling. Once 2K got involved in the franchise, it's been nothing but a money-grab and wallet-milking enterprise. You want new stuff? DLC..."gimme your money". You want expansions? Here's some stuff we
    deliberately left out of the game at the beginning..."gimme your money" if you want it back. In case no one has really noticed, with 2K, they purposefully publish games with missing content so that they have a reason to release DLC or expansion packs just to charge you again and again; all the while making you
    believe that they've come up with new and exciting content material to add to the game. They did that when they went from Civ IV to Civ V, and they are doing it again with Civ V to C:BE. Civ V:BNW was well-polished and brimming full of content and gamplay, but what does 2K/Firaxis do? They purposefully strip out all of the advancements and richness of BNW and give us a barren, lifeless C:BE, just so they have some place to go in the future and ultimately charge us more money for things that should've been in the game from the get-go. Hello...2K/Firaxis...you're burning through loyal customers by doing this, and they're not coming back. There are TONS of indie gaming studios that are turning out great, engaging games for far less and they reward you for buying their game by offering free add-ons and free DLC. You should try that, Firaxis.

    Buh-bye 2K and Firaxis, Buh-bye!

    I do NOT recommend this game to SMAC enthusiasts.    … Expand
  16. dyspeptic
    Oct 27, 2014
    8
    Last Played: Oct 2014

    PROS: + Espionage is completely reworked + Better units accessed through an "affinity" rather than tech system + Ranged units remain important throughout the game + Visual style is quite nice + Tech web allows you to ignore certain techs CONS: - Diplo is still weak, featuring only the inclusion of "favors" for when the AI demands something for nothing - Only one    Last Played: Oct 2014

    PROS: + Espionage is completely reworked + Better units accessed through an "affinity" rather than tech system + Ranged units remain important throughout the game + Visual style is quite nice + Tech web allows you to ignore certain techs

    CONS: - Diplo is still weak, featuring only the inclusion of "favors" for when the AI demands something for nothing - Only one navy and one air unit? Come on! - Only the might and growth virtue/policies seem worthwhile

    Review: I admire the risks taken with this game, and I see a lot of things that I like, as well as things that need refining, and things that should have changed, but didn't. Espionage is much better than before, having been completely reworked into a system where agents cannot access missions above the total "action limit" in the city, which increases as successful missions occur, decreasing when your enemy places an agent in the same city. Another positive change is the way higher-tier units are accessed-through the non-essential "leaves" which grant "affinity" points in the tech web. You could achieve some goals without ever levelling your unit types. Annoyingly, however, the good promotions of the past are ditched in favor of a flat 10% bonus every time the unit levels--the good promotions are now embodied by a choice which affects all units of that type on level up. One thing that was greatly improved, however was the continuing significance of ranged units (which no one built past crossbows unless they had the "improved range" perk). This is critical in SMBE because there are fewer unit types and only three factions--you need all the unit diversification you can get. EDIT: There are also unique affinity units which are unlocked at higher affinities (7+) though they are pretty much all land units.

    Other changes include the nice visual style (even the harshest critics acknowledge it looks different) and the ability to totally ignore techs in the web--I think it would be difficult to finish with every tech like one could before.

    There are some serious issues, however. The AI still regularly demands trade deals (even when they have poor relations and will reject the deal they suggested) and offers only "favors" (although I guess offering anything in return is a new feature). Furthermore, the "warmonger" feature is broken--I destroyed one outpost (not a city) and for the rest of the game I was a warmonger to every other player, leading to several 100+ turn cold wars. Speaking of annoying enemy factions, Franco-Iberia seems a bit broken, as they tend to interrupt every turn with a hate message. Wonders are accessed through tech, so it isn't clear why this should be, but it is.

    Further weaknesses include the further diminished air and navy (if I see these in an expansion I am going to be extremely mad--this better have been an accidental oversight and not a money-maker); and the unbalanced virtues (only might and growth get points when I play, health is poorly addressed by other trees).

    Basically, there are good and bad things about the game. I like it overall and I will keep playing it (hence the positive score), but Firaxis needs to patch up some holes (including missing/absurdly long unit animations and unit image superposition in the "specialize unit view" window) if they want more than just fans to like the game.    … Expand
  17. Szlomka
    Oct 27, 2014
    0
    You saw the nice launch cinematics? Well then, You still have a Chance to walk away with profit! Since that's probably as much pleasure as You can walk away with, once You buy the game You will have thrown money in the furnace.

    The whole game is a re-skinned civ 5 with some additional focus on barbarians. Sadly, the interaction with these barbarians - aliens does not create the feeling    You saw the nice launch cinematics? Well then, You still have a Chance to walk away with profit! Since that's probably as much pleasure as You can walk away with, once You buy the game You will have thrown money in the furnace.

    The whole game is a re-skinned civ 5 with some additional focus on barbarians. Sadly, the interaction with these barbarians - aliens does not create the feeling of being in a galaxy far far away, instead You receive familiar burdens from civ 5 that must be overcome and annoyingly irrational opponents... judging by whose behavior they probably should be alien themselves as logic and sensibility don't figure prominently in their stratagems.

    The whole thing makes me completely lose any sense of immersion. The glitches and bugs from civ 5 are still there, however I don't have the stamina to bear through a large world campaign to confirm the return of the onset of sluggishness post around turn 150 or so - which used to be attributed to memory leaks in civ 5 - that's how bad it is. Tried multiplayer twice - game crashed for one of us at turn 47 and 65 the second time around. The solo campaign felt obscurely lifeless with no sense of accomplishment.

    The graphics are fine. The glitches I guess could be lived with (knowing that they never do get fixed), but the simple offering of a change of colours and names on a previous title doesn't merit this price nor this publicity.

    So in summary...; Dear Sid, please when You release Beyond Earth II ( and I have no doubts You will - as there always will be people who blindly pre-order or buy on impulse based on 50+ super positive "professional" reviews) take the time to take a page from Your own book. Marry civ 1-4 with Master of Orion 1-2 and snap on a mini tactical component that Master of Magic had. Stop the dumbing down and promoting mundane clicks in place of rewarding planning ahead and tactical flavour.    … Expand
  18. Discreter
    Oct 27, 2014
    2
    I don't normally write reviews but after playing this disappointment and seeing the high scores from "professional" critics I felt I had to.

    Being a CIV and Sid Meiers's veteran and growing up with these games, I agree with the Negative scores for this game. CIV 5 when it original came out wasn't the greatest game, only with DLC and mods did it start having potential. Maybe the    I don't normally write reviews but after playing this disappointment and seeing the high scores from "professional" critics I felt I had to.

    Being a CIV and Sid Meiers's veteran and growing up with these games, I agree with the Negative scores for this game.

    CIV 5 when it original came out wasn't the greatest game, only with DLC and mods did it start having potential.

    Maybe the previous hit's were just too good and everything that comes out now just can't compare.

    The innovation of creating games in people garages and not in studios has meant a loss in creativity.

    When I buy the next release I'm not looking for (necessary) the best graphics, but great game-play and something new to enjoy.

    This game is ok, but not great and the innovations are the technology web, 3 playing styles, questing and varying ways to win.

    The Bad:
    No improvement on diplomacy has even been made worse
    I'm landing from outer-space the map should be revealed and I should choose where to land. They need to come up with a fog of war or the landscape changing over time option.    … Expand
  19. War_Horse
    Oct 27, 2014
    3
    Probably one of the most underwhelming entries in a big name franchise since Dragon Age II, though not nearly as fun or interesting. Some say or think this is just Civ V in the future and on a different planet. No, not really. This is quite different than Civ V. It plays like a Civ game, but certainly doesn't FEEL like a Civ game. First off; you don't really pick a civ/figurehead/crest orProbably one of the most underwhelming entries in a big name franchise since Dragon Age II, though not nearly as fun or interesting. Some say or think this is just Civ V in the future and on a different planet. No, not really. This is quite different than Civ V. It plays like a Civ game, but certainly doesn't FEEL like a Civ game. First off; you don't really pick a civ/figurehead/crest or anything to sort of identify or rally behind. You pick like a general perk represnted by a little generic symbol and then you proceed to pick three more little perks. One effects like your focus on something, like culture, growth, etc. Another one is like an early game bonus, like reveal coastlines, or have a wider area to choose from when you drop your city, then you pretty much just get a second start up perk, like start with a tech or building.

    So it feels like they tried to add more customization, but none if it is that good or interesting and you lose a lot the style and personality or whatever. you feel more like some faceless organization trying to settle on a **** planet than a ruler trying to bring prominence to a civilization through domination, high culture, massive expansions or whatever you feel like. As a result a lot of us(me and about 7 other friends I played with) had no real goals or aspirations to do much of anything other than find some crashed satellites and **** None of us cared what we did or what happened

    "I'm losing, how am I losing?"
    "I'm winning, how am I winning?"
    "Do I care?"
    "No, but get the **** away from my resource pod."

    Oh yeah, there's quests now. Not like the city-state quests. But quests that get you little perks. Like, kinda cool concept, but no one gives a ****.

    Oh and let me tell you... about the super awesome planet EVERY match takes place on. Okay, there's a bunch of aliens that can kick your ass. You won't be able to scratch a siege worm until near mid or late game. On the plus side, they're not always hostile. Like I had a swarm of aliens outside my area who didn't give a **** about me. Thing is that some of them do care. But really the thing that really sucks is the ****ing miasma every-****ing-where. This **** damages any and all your units if you end a turn on a space with it... and this **** is ****ing everywhere. You can be blocked off by nothing but miasma and alien swarms, or in my case once, city-states settling too close to me. because now you approve who comes near you for different bonuses. kinda cool... except they can prevent you from expanding in areas. One time I couldn't go south at all and my north was aliens and my west was a huge canyon that I couldn't cross.

    Tech has a sort of cool new approach to it, but at the same time, is a lot more tedious to actually get what you want or need. Instead of a bracket, it's more like a web that branches out in several directions. Each direction has another several techs that each open up about two other sort of sub techs with more stuff. Honestly... it's just the tech bracket if someone shattered it on the ground and all the pieces were strewn about into little categories. The principle's the freaking same, as it should be, but why make it like this?

    Really, it doesn't feel like Civ at all and I actually wonder why they try to pass it as a Civ game other than to use brand recognition. You're not building a country/empire or anything. You're some faceless bland organization with no detailed history or national pride associated with it, try to start a colony on a new **** ass planet that wants nothing but for you to not progress anywhere or actually accomplish anything. Which is really kind of fine by you since there's no incentive to try and build up anything. There's no history to make, there's no territory really worth taking, the map doesn't even make making yourself a giant colored blob much of a thing. There's no real incentive other than to further progress some generic sci-fi tech for a weird generic symbol thing and a bland ass person(I guess, you hardly see them anyway) that represents you. Just nothing distinguishes you and there isn't much to do to change that and to shape a world with your ideologies and stuff.

    Overall, it introduces some 'interesting' spins on some systems as well as a few completely new ideas. But overall the entire package it's delivered in is bland and uninspiring. The biggest challenge of this game aside keeping your units alive in the toxic environment is mustering the initiative to want to even do anything to keep playing.    … Expand
  20. AddictivKaos
    Oct 27, 2014
    4
    Started playing it with music on and it was atmospheric and I had hope it would be a good game, but as the game went on I was playing without the music and the core game play is just stale and boring. I had hoped they'd improved Civ5 or at least made a different game, but it is just an overhyped and overpriced mod. Anyone paying full price (or the Australia tax) - get a refund!
  21. Brabizon
    Oct 27, 2014
    3
    A long time fan of the series, from the original up to Civ 5 BNW, and SMAC in between, I was expecting something special in line with the former games. After almost 12 hours of gameplay it's evident BE falls short in a number of areas:
    - Bland, uninspiring, murky graphics where it is difficult to discern resources and land types.
    - Boring civ factions without distinctive attributes and    A long time fan of the series, from the original up to Civ 5 BNW, and SMAC in between, I was expecting something special in line with the former games. After almost 12 hours of gameplay it's evident BE falls short in a number of areas:
    - Bland, uninspiring, murky graphics where it is difficult to discern resources and land types.
    - Boring civ factions without distinctive attributes and personality, and only 8 of them.
    - Pathetic AI (aliens and competing factions) far too passive and weak
    - The Tech Web and the UI in general is cluttered and could use colour coding for better understanding
    - Game lore/sci-fi concepts lack imagination. 600 years into the future and I would expect few of the national/ethnic divisions on earth to resemble those of today. Also mankind has achieved interstellar travel yet can't engage in plantary terraforming, still uses bulldozers to clear trees and requires formative research in genetics, physics and engineering. Wouldn't this knowledge have been with the colonists on arrival?

    The worst thing for me though is that the game in general is lacking in soul, and feels empty and mechanical compared to it's predecessors. I will persist for a little while yet, but can't imagine it will even come close to the far superior Civ 5 BNW which is a well-rounded and engaging Civ experience.    … Expand
  22. Adolphobia
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    if you have ever played Alpha Centauri stay away from this CIV5 expansion...

    this is the first time i write a review, because i feel ripped off and disappointed, once again the publishers manipulated our love for a classic game, when i saw the "made with staff from the original Alpha Centauri" i instantly pulled out my credit card and bought this full price, i guess by "staff" they    if you have ever played Alpha Centauri stay away from this CIV5 expansion...

    this is the first time i write a review, because i feel ripped off and disappointed, once again the publishers manipulated our love for a classic game, when i saw the "made with staff from the original Alpha Centauri" i instantly pulled out my credit card and bought this full price, i guess by "staff" they meant the people that moped the floors in Firaxis back in the day...

    i can't believe that 15 years later, nothing has improved, the design was better, the writing, better and darker, the whole atmosphere, music, sound effects, graphics, AI, i could go on and on... did anyone that played the old Alpha Centauri had anything to do with this? i'm sick of this guys ruthlessly making money out of the loyal fan base, instead of giving us the games we want, watered down adult themes, no videos after completing wonders, combat has been simplified to a point its not even tactical...

    welcome to the age of glorified Rock, paper and scissors.

    i guess i'll have to wait another 15 years for the DLC of the DLC 60$ reboot of Alpha Centauri.

    oh and NONE of the problems from civilization V have been fixed.

    Great job Firaxis, you just alienated and infuriated all the loyal gamers that grew up playing your games, i'll never buy another game from this ruffians, **** you SId...    … Expand
  23. Setari
    Oct 26, 2014
    4
    This gets a 5/10 from me, because it is legitimately borked. The beginner difficulty has enemies attacking you, and the game does not do a good job of explaining what's new in the game.

    I guess I expected too much from Sid Meier in the way of a tutorial, showing what's new from Civ5. It took me forever to figure out how to get the Covert Ops units, much less these tanks and aerial units    This gets a 5/10 from me, because it is legitimately borked. The beginner difficulty has enemies attacking you, and the game does not do a good job of explaining what's new in the game.

    I guess I expected too much from Sid Meier in the way of a tutorial, showing what's new from Civ5. It took me forever to figure out how to get the Covert Ops units, much less these tanks and aerial units that the AI are using that I can't even figure out how to get, since I've searched all over the tech tree.

    Actually upon further review I am lowering this to 4/10.    … Expand
  24. JackPaladin
    Oct 26, 2014
    5
    I am reviewing this game on it's own merits, and not comparing it to SMAC.

    It has a couple new twist and additions to Civ 5 engine, but it in no way justifies the outrageous price. I would think $29 would have been a far better price. It has the feel of an unfinished and unpolished beta. With bugs and missing features that seem impossible to have just been "unnoticed" before    I am reviewing this game on it's own merits, and not comparing it to SMAC.

    It has a couple new twist and additions to Civ 5 engine, but it in no way justifies the outrageous price. I would think $29 would have been a far better price.

    It has the feel of an unfinished and unpolished beta. With bugs and missing features that seem impossible to have just been "unnoticed" before release.

    I would highly suggest you wait till a couple more patches, at the very least, before buying. And even better, waiting until the price is dropped by a least half before buying also even after patching/updates.    … Expand
  25. Vagiclean
    Oct 26, 2014
    3
    Games I left not all that well, expectations were grandiose in connection with idea, and execution was poor. Concerning a gameplay, the branch of researches with sad badges simply kills, sad units look as a toy for children from 5 to 10 years, diplomacy didn't change in any way. Game needed to be let out as addon to Сivilization 5.
  26. GwionBach
    Oct 26, 2014
    3
    There are a handful of things I can sincerely praise about this game - the affinity system, the game setup screen, and the revamped tech tree.

    90% of the time, though, you're dealing with a horrifically broken and lazily-designed Civ V clone that's so achingly transparent in its crass and slapdash assembly that you wonder how a company like Firaxis could release such an insult to their    There are a handful of things I can sincerely praise about this game - the affinity system, the game setup screen, and the revamped tech tree.

    90% of the time, though, you're dealing with a horrifically broken and lazily-designed Civ V clone that's so achingly transparent in its crass and slapdash assembly that you wonder how a company like Firaxis could release such an insult to their own customers. Everywhere you look, you see a place where they:
    -Took an existing feature from Civ 5,
    -Hurriedly slapped a hopelessly generic name on it,
    -Added some lousy and nonsensical fiction on top of it,
    -Either kept the underlying game mechanics the same, or actually made them worse.

    Here and there, you see a few individual token efforts to really think about "hey, what would it be like to colonize an alien planet?" The affinity system, the game setup screen, and the miasma all fall into this category, and they all more or less work. If Firaxis had applied this kind of thinking to the entire game, we would have had something that felt fresh -- but alas, it's like tossing a bucket of sand on a dead dog and calling it a sand castle. There's too much of the old ugliness sticking out underneath that needed to be scraped away completely.    … Expand
  27. 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
  28. 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
  29. Ansatsu83
    Oct 26, 2014
    7
    Game is pretty darn good. There are some really nice features, such as multiple different types of upgrades based on which affinity you are going. The world is nice, the aliens feel more intimidating than barbarians from other civ games. I like the affinity system (harmony, purity, or supremacy), which can give you major variations on how you play. Major complaints are the weapon/unitGame is pretty darn good. There are some really nice features, such as multiple different types of upgrades based on which affinity you are going. The world is nice, the aliens feel more intimidating than barbarians from other civ games. I like the affinity system (harmony, purity, or supremacy), which can give you major variations on how you play. Major complaints are the weapon/unit scaling based on the upgrades you achieve. There is too much of a noticeable upgrade in their damage. I cant create my own nation despite being sci-fi, have to use one of the small amount of premade nations. Most of the benefits of the premade nations are only viable for the first 100 turns of the game, after that they are pointless as research and buildings will give enough benefits to cover everyone they have (speaking of Brasilia and Polystrailia). It also seems that while you can evolve units, there is a significantly less units, overall, since you are forced to choose one affinity evolution, per unit type. There are only 3 or 4 specific units, to each affinity and the rest are evolved from base units. Total base units are 6 to 8, which means you are essentially limited in units you can produce. The ui for the technology trees is really odd, as well. Took me about 5 minutes to figure it out. The problem is the sub trees, which most techs have at least 2 sub trees. Problem is, it doesn't properly clarify the sub tree aspect in the tutorial. The whole city defense system is set up in a weird way, too. You can attack it with only a couple of high tier units, but using low tier is pointless as they will die quickly. This means you cant easily take over nations earlier in the game, unlike civ1-5. Just these little issues that end up causing me to rate it lower than I wish I could. Still a great game, though!… Expand
  30. FlamingGamer
    Oct 26, 2014
    5
    Disappointed is a light word here, disgusted is more appropriate. Here's a perfect example of spending more on marketing than on the game itself. Really, I mean, this is just lazy, flat, cardboard and embarrassing. More work went into some mods for Civ 5 than went into this game. Speaking of which, that's what this should have been, a mod. It makes me sick that I've waited so long forDisappointed is a light word here, disgusted is more appropriate. Here's a perfect example of spending more on marketing than on the game itself. Really, I mean, this is just lazy, flat, cardboard and embarrassing. More work went into some mods for Civ 5 than went into this game. Speaking of which, that's what this should have been, a mod. It makes me sick that I've waited so long for this and now I just want to go back to playing Endless Legend.

    That being said (or ranted), it's Civilization. After 600+ hours on Civ 5 it's probably safe to assume I'll be giving Civ BE multiple chances to redeem itself with updates, patches, DLC, and of course microtransactions. I feel screwed though, ripped off. This won't be forgotten 2K, you gave us a $60 mod for Civ 5 and hyped the hell out of it. That's just insulting.    … 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 »