Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

 PC
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1084 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 343 out of 1084
  2. Mixed: 374 out of 1084
  3. Negative: 367 out of 1084
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  1. Zapiii
    Jul 31, 2023
    0
    The black sheep of the franchise, and for good reason. It tries to do something new, and fails, spectacularly.
  2. 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
  3. Quinma
    Oct 29, 2014
    3
    Disappointing.

    I expected a lot more than civ 5 on an alien world with half the functionality.

    On my 3rd game i beat the game on the hardest difficulty with a domination victory mostly because the combat AI is terrible.
  4. 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
  5. CakeSpork
    Oct 30, 2014
    0
    The only sensation you will have while playing this game is boredom and extreme disappointment in Firaxis. Perhaps these feelings will show a hint of regret for just having spent 50 euros on a product that should not even be offered on Kickstarter as an Alfa preview to early adopters. It will prepare you for the real world, and the feeling you get when you're home after a long week of workThe only sensation you will have while playing this game is boredom and extreme disappointment in Firaxis. Perhaps these feelings will show a hint of regret for just having spent 50 euros on a product that should not even be offered on Kickstarter as an Alfa preview to early adopters. It will prepare you for the real world, and the feeling you get when you're home after a long week of work to find everything overhauled and a broken window, your TV gone and a mess to clear.

    Don't buy this clickfest of nondecisions. Event though it will probably be amazing in a year after 5 DLC's, I would still advise against spending money on supporting the company that decreased it's standard so much that it let this get past initial QA.    … Expand
  6. 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 $50) and that's only if I was in a good mood.    … Expand
  7. Baud
    Oct 28, 2014
    3
    Its just CIV5 with an Alien Theme. Same mechanics, same stupid AI, same useless diplomacy system... god even units and resources where the same. It felt like a CIV5 DLC.
  8. flemieux
    Nov 12, 2014
    0
    A 50$ mod and an ugly one at that. I am a Civ fan. Played Civ 2 on my 486 for days.... Loved Civ 4 for ages, have learned to enjoy civ 5 since.

    But BE dissapoints on so many levels.... I have finished the game several times in several several ways. I gave it a go, gave it a chance, hoping my initial impression was wrong, that it wasn't just an oversimplified Civ 5 with ugly graphics.    A 50$ mod and an ugly one at that. I am a Civ fan. Played Civ 2 on my 486 for days.... Loved Civ 4 for ages, have learned to enjoy civ 5 since.

    But BE dissapoints on so many levels....

    I have finished the game several times in several several ways. I gave it a go, gave it a chance, hoping my initial impression was wrong, that it wasn't just an oversimplified Civ 5 with ugly graphics.

    It is.

    It is now shelved and will remain shelved.    … Expand
  9. Corinthian
    Oct 28, 2014
    5
    AI is still dumb as a brick. So no improvement from Civ V in this part. As of now (november 2014) Beyond Earth looks like a big DLC, not a standalone game.
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. Agilio333
    Nov 21, 2014
    3
    8/10 according the the " professional critics". Clearly they are neither professional (paid off shills who refuse to rate bad games bellow 8/10) and certainly aren't critical of anything.

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

    Beyond Earth is an over hyped, under developed game. Maybe if the franchise spent more money in actually developing the game, instead of paying off "professional critics" and marketing the game, they would actually have something. this game looks like it is pre-alpha. Nothing you do is of any consequence, the colors of the terrain looks like a rough draft. Nothing in this game has any strategy to it. It's a mere re-skin of the original, but with many of the features and polishing removed, never to be re-added. Oh wait, maybe you can buy the "rest" of the game as an expansion for $100. This is scam-ware, and the company is paying off it's gamer gate reviewers because nobody would actually buy this game if they played it beyond 8 hours.    … Expand
  13. vandana
    Nov 7, 2014
    4
    I should start this review by saying that I love Civilization and I have played all games in the series since Civilization II. Although the vanilla version of Civilization V was rough, I loved that release as well - one unit per hex combat, new graphics and leaders full of character were refreshing enough to bear with the game until the expansions made it truly great (especially Gods &I should start this review by saying that I love Civilization and I have played all games in the series since Civilization II. Although the vanilla version of Civilization V was rough, I loved that release as well - one unit per hex combat, new graphics and leaders full of character were refreshing enough to bear with the game until the expansions made it truly great (especially Gods & Kings). I believe Beyond Earth is somewhere at the stage where Civilization V was at the release gameplay-wise (much to be improved, but can be easily achievable with expansions and patches). At the core design level however, affinities (affinity decides the way you play the game - it is a philosophy deciding your path of progress and victory) have been separated from leaders and that is something that took all character from the game away. The leaders and writing are generic and dull, lacking any emotional connection known from previous games. Moreover, I believe this core flaw cannot be fixed unless many more affinities were introduced and linked to leaders somehow which I simply cannot see happening at all. The result is a bland game, with potential for growth mechanically, but lacking character and because of design decisions simply not capable of getting anywhere near the legendary status of Alpha Centauri, of which the game is supposed to be a the spiritual successor. I hope I am wrong and the designers will find a way of making this game alive but right now it is a pretty space game, with marvelous music, unpolished gameplay that will be fixed in expansions and zero character. Not worth £30 and not a must play. I'll wait for the expansions and I regret not buying it on sale. I guess most people buying this game wanted another Alpha Centauri and this is not it and probably never will. Even comparing to Civ5 with expansions, already cheaper bundle, this game simply cannot stand its own and such comparison is inevitable when the engine is basically the same and the game plays like a glorified mod.… Expand
  14. Parragu
    Nov 7, 2014
    4
    Lets be frank here Civilization:BE was really a disappointing game. Basically a expensive re-skin of civilization 5 there is no new content. In the beginning it's awesome to see new units, new civs and worlds. But after a few hours of game play, the game becomes uninteresting. Following the same plot every game, along with same quests. This game had the potential to be an awesome game butLets be frank here Civilization:BE was really a disappointing game. Basically a expensive re-skin of civilization 5 there is no new content. In the beginning it's awesome to see new units, new civs and worlds. But after a few hours of game play, the game becomes uninteresting. Following the same plot every game, along with same quests. This game had the potential to be an awesome game but 2k and Firaxsis kinda screwed it up. I feel like this game we a major let down for a Civ player like myself and I would not recommend it to huge Civ fans.… Expand
  15. PaladinF1
    Nov 2, 2014
    3
    After first game on mid difficulty it was pretty nice - new techs, quests, etc. Probably I was going to rate game 6/10. At the end of game and in 2nd game on high difficulty I found that AI is completely not working like it have to - automatic workers are bugged, alien scripts are bugged, and also enemy fractions are bugged too - they don't even move units to your borders after declaringAfter first game on mid difficulty it was pretty nice - new techs, quests, etc. Probably I was going to rate game 6/10. At the end of game and in 2nd game on high difficulty I found that AI is completely not working like it have to - automatic workers are bugged, alien scripts are bugged, and also enemy fractions are bugged too - they don't even move units to your borders after declaring war! Also they are not declaring you war when you are winning, most of very important features missing. I can't imagine how they suppose to make game on civ5 engine that have in fact worse AI than civ5 itself! Bad interface - even miracle projects are not highligthed in research tree. That's just crazy, game is simply unfinished at all. 3/10 only cause game is partially done. No replayability… Expand
  16. WalkinWoundd
    Oct 28, 2014
    1
    I had high hopes for this game having played and loved all the other Civ games.

    If this was a new release from an unknown company franchise then it would have scored a 3 but they score a one because they took everything that was great about Civ 5 and got rid of it leaving an empty shell of a game. I hated it from the first hour of playing but I wanted to be fair before writing a    I had high hopes for this game having played and loved all the other Civ games.

    If this was a new release from an unknown company franchise then it would have scored a 3 but they score a one because they took everything that was great about Civ 5 and got rid of it leaving an empty shell of a game.

    I hated it from the first hour of playing but I wanted to be fair before writing a review so I played it for a few more days. I can now say confidently that I hate almost everything about this game and having spent £30 on it will never play it again. Here are a few of the worst changes:
    - Other civilisations are now completly lacking in personality and, because they are not based on real historical figures, they all merge in to one homogenous, bland AI during the game
    - The new technology web is horrible... just so horrible. I didn't like it at first because it was complex and confusing. Now that I understand it I hate it even more because it is so illogical and unnecessarily complex.
    - The alien lifeforms are just minor background noise. You learn very quickly to just leave them alone and they will leave you alone. So one of the main features of the game becomes a minor irritation instead.

    There are many other things that I hate about this game but I can't be bothered to write them down. Don't buy this game and whichever work experience person was responsible for it should find another industry.    … Expand
  17. 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
  18. DocDAT
    Oct 29, 2014
    3
    Massively disappointing, overpriced and bug-ridden.

    This game basically amounts to a less than fully functional and not very interesting DLC for Civ5 at the price of a full game. One playthrough is all I'm willing to give it. One of the more aggravating "features" is trade caravans that have to constantly be restarted without an auto-renew option. If you win, there are not cut-scenes or    Massively disappointing, overpriced and bug-ridden.

    This game basically amounts to a less than fully functional and not very interesting DLC for Civ5 at the price of a full game. One playthrough is all I'm willing to give it. One of the more aggravating "features" is trade caravans that have to constantly be restarted without an auto-renew option. If you win, there are not cut-scenes or celebrations. There are no end stats. If you lose, there is no explanation. No info about which NPC won or how.

    It's also mindblowing how badly it's working at release. Even betas usually have a game that can start and is compatible with 1080p. With a fairly standard 1080p 120hz monitor it won't even start properly, but you have to ALT-Tab back and forth to get the main menu showing. Then you can select 1280x1024 as the highest resolution?! Really? Yes, you can get it to work in 1080p by running it windowed, but that's nothing more than a short term bandaid. It's now been out nearly a week and there still hasn't been a single patch out...    … Expand
  19. Timmah
    Nov 7, 2014
    0
    I have spent 1000's of hours on each and every Civilization since the first one, well until you guys took 5 bloody years and decided to charge $50.00 on a game that could have been sold as a mod to Civ 5 for a few dollars. I really hope lots of people were fired over this game. Why in the world would Cid Meier put his name on this steaming pile of monkey Crap!

    Take Civ V, strip away 80%    I have spent 1000's of hours on each and every Civilization since the first one, well until you guys took 5 bloody years and decided to charge $50.00 on a game that could have been sold as a mod to Civ 5 for a few dollars. I really hope lots of people were fired over this game. Why in the world would Cid Meier put his name on this steaming pile of monkey Crap!

    Take Civ V, strip away 80% of the content, slap a coat of Sci-Fi paint on it and ship it out the door.

    Very disappointing. Beyond Earth should have been sold as a Civ V mod for a fraction of the price. This game has slightly more content and replayability than the Steampunk DLC released for Civ V.

    There are only 8 civs to choose from, but that doesn't matter because they are effectively identical anyway.

    There are only about 8-10 units in the game, and it's the same 8-10 units regardless of which civ you choose.

    The landscape is crowded with features and resources that have very little purpose. You can comfortably set your Workers on auto and ignore them.

    All 5 Victory Paths are Science driven, making everything else largely irrelevant. Even the Domination Victory depends heavily on the Science resource in order to unlock the automatic upgrades for the 2 or 3 units you will need to win.

    Trade is crucial to success, but very tedious and not fun at all to manage. Every turn, I would get 1 or 2 messages from Trade units asking me to confirm that I still want it to keep doing what I told it to do the last 20 times it asked.

    Diplomacy is irrelevant. All other Civs can be safely ignored unless you feel like conquering them. Other leaders will frequently harass you with pointless offers or empty threats, though, and that gets annoying fast.

    Exploration is largely pointless and unrewarding. The whole world is one homogenous smear of resources. Clear out your own little plot of land and don't bother going anywhere else.

    Seriously, I want my money back on this one    … Expand
  20. Awesumo
    Oct 26, 2014
    4
    Beyond Earth just feels a bit hollow. Take civilization and strip out the history -or take Alpha centuari and strip out the unique civilizations. What you are left with feels like a rather soulless game.
    The planet - effectively an extra opponent/ally in AC feels like nothing but large numbers of barbarians that have their aggression turned right down. Another disappointment.
    There    Beyond Earth just feels a bit hollow. Take civilization and strip out the history -or take Alpha centuari and strip out the unique civilizations. What you are left with feels like a rather soulless game.
    The planet - effectively an extra opponent/ally in AC feels like nothing but large numbers of barbarians that have their aggression turned right down. Another disappointment.
    There just isn't enough here, it looks nice but plays like a half finished mod.
    One last thing - the Diplomacy is ridiculous and the AI openly cheats.    … Expand
  21. Trainor
    Oct 25, 2014
    4
    The AI in this game needs serious work. Linking your in game Ideology to a Strategic Resource makes the AI impossible to maintain any kind of alliance with. AIs of opposing ideologies hate you for your belief even if they are the other side of the world and AIs of the same belief covet the Strategic Resource linked to your shared beliefs with a Dark and Terrible Lust. Other aspects of theThe AI in this game needs serious work. Linking your in game Ideology to a Strategic Resource makes the AI impossible to maintain any kind of alliance with. AIs of opposing ideologies hate you for your belief even if they are the other side of the world and AIs of the same belief covet the Strategic Resource linked to your shared beliefs with a Dark and Terrible Lust. Other aspects of the game are good but this is making the game extremely frustrating to play, the AI needs to be fixed for me to recommend it.… 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. kacperf10
    Oct 26, 2014
    4
    While I hate this game, I certainly can see people enjoying it. If you've liked playing Civ V on lower ( by lower I mean lower than 6) difficulties, if you aren't look for challenge, but for simple empire building&wars winning game-CBE is for you. For me AI is completely ruining gaming experience. I'm sick of catching up on tech with completely over-buffed AI and on the end demolishingWhile I hate this game, I certainly can see people enjoying it. If you've liked playing Civ V on lower ( by lower I mean lower than 6) difficulties, if you aren't look for challenge, but for simple empire building&wars winning game-CBE is for you. For me AI is completely ruining gaming experience. I'm sick of catching up on tech with completely over-buffed AI and on the end demolishing there endless armies using couple of ranged units and city to defend.… Expand
  24. ducksaws
    Nov 2, 2014
    5
    There's so little interaction between you and the computer players, it's boring.

    There's no culture interaction between civs. All you have are a few culture buildings that are a counter towards a perk tree, similar to Civ 5, but there are only 4 trees and they're all accessible from the beginning. Doesn't feel like progression. So no tourism, no culture victory. no great people either.    There's so little interaction between you and the computer players, it's boring.

    There's no culture interaction between civs. All you have are a few culture buildings that are a counter towards a perk tree, similar to Civ 5, but there are only 4 trees and they're all accessible from the beginning. Doesn't feel like progression. So no tourism, no culture victory. no great people either.

    No religion. No influencing your opponents through borders or trade or missionaries. I didn't expect every feature to cross over into the new game, but since there's not really any culture either, I expected there to be SOMETHING to pressure your opponents with besides military strength.

    No luxury resources. But there's still happiness (only it's called health). If your health is negative, all you can do is build more buildings or try get culture perks. Luxury resources were really fun in Civ 5. They were a great thing to expand towards or trade for because happiness was so important. And having extra luxury resources to trade was like 75% of the trading that happened.

    No city states. There are stations, which are basically a tile you can trade with. They don't provide any resources. You don't have influence with them. They don't go to war. They don't have units or territory. All they really do is take up space you probably wanted to settle on.

    Did I expect every good feature from Civ 5 to make it to this game? No. Did I expect there to be any interaction between Civilizations besides declaring war on them when you get bored? Yes.

    Because the lack of culture, religion, or world congress means that they had to come up with new victory conditions. The new victory conditions are terrible. They basically include researching a certain thing, building a wonder, and then waiting a certain number of turns until the wonder wins the game for you.

    This is a huge difference between the other conditions in Civ 5. In a culture victory you constantly try to boost your culture not because it's a winning condition but because having lots of culture gets you lots of perks and having cultural influence over other civs is strategically useful. In a diplomacy victory getting more votes means that you have a better chance at getting your way with international policy. A science victory comes with having the best and most technology.

    Here the winning conditions are so aimless. You can go on playing the game for hours with no idea what the winning conditions are and not doing anything towards them because they're so far removed from the core gameplay mechanics. You might as well be playing the game against a timer rather than other civs who are competing to have a stronger culture or diplomatic presence than you.    … Expand
  25. RaiKoi
    Oct 29, 2014
    1
    What a disappointment. I was expecting a new game, with new gameplay elements. Instead it has become a horrible example of all that is wrong in the gaming industry. Leeching as much cash with as little work as possible. 0/10 would recommend.
  26. Eysteinh
    Nov 4, 2014
    5
    I wish BE was a good civ5 mod. Sadly the MP code of the game is terrible broken in vanilla release. Out of synchs happen very frequently and in over 150 hours of games I have only finished a single MP game without any serious out of synch problems causing disconnects or even worse when rehosting causing one or several players to have lost technologies or buildings built during theyreI wish BE was a good civ5 mod. Sadly the MP code of the game is terrible broken in vanilla release. Out of synchs happen very frequently and in over 150 hours of games I have only finished a single MP game without any serious out of synch problems causing disconnects or even worse when rehosting causing one or several players to have lost technologies or buildings built during theyre turns. In its core gameplay civ BE has some interesting elements, but sadly it is a step back from civ5 mp and even that is a step back from civ4 MP. I wish Firaxis would start to take the MP community serious again. I have bought and played every civ game since civ1 on amiga and I am now for the first time in my life seriously considering not buying the next civ game as enough is enough.… Expand
  27. 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
  28. kumailnaqvi
    Oct 29, 2014
    1
    Not at all worth it! I never would have thought I would ever say this for a Sid Meiers game but as painful it is to say, its true. This game is just Civ 5 repackaged and skinned, but sadly it's also lost almost all of the charm that Civ 5 had. My biggest disappointment is the banal factions and leaders. Leaders have absolutely no personality. Another issue is the horrible quotes, unlikeNot at all worth it! I never would have thought I would ever say this for a Sid Meiers game but as painful it is to say, its true. This game is just Civ 5 repackaged and skinned, but sadly it's also lost almost all of the charm that Civ 5 had. My biggest disappointment is the banal factions and leaders. Leaders have absolutely no personality. Another issue is the horrible quotes, unlike the charming and fascinating Civ 5 quotes these ones are made up and spoken out in a boring and ultimately angering voice. The wonders are extremely disappointing as there is no awe when built, they give a terrible quote and a lame blueprint picture of them. This is not a game, but merely an add-on to Civ 5, it's worth no more than 5$. Wait for a sale and then pick it up.… Expand
  29. MegaOrca
    Oct 29, 2014
    3
    Disappointing...

    Very simple and at the same time confusing game.
    A lot of work for nothing.
    It has got that Civ feeling but in the end you feel like you have been ripped-off...
  30. Ayreos
    Oct 25, 2014
    5
    The opening cinematic was amazing. The game itself wasn't. Why? Because it is a camouflaged older game, Civilization V. A game the developers seems convinced was successful. And maybe it was, but not with the historical Civ fandom. With this iteration the Civ series has finally shed all pretense to reveal the publisher's true motivation: to copy and profit on Starcraft's popularity. Civ'sThe opening cinematic was amazing. The game itself wasn't. Why? Because it is a camouflaged older game, Civilization V. A game the developers seems convinced was successful. And maybe it was, but not with the historical Civ fandom. With this iteration the Civ series has finally shed all pretense to reveal the publisher's true motivation: to copy and profit on Starcraft's popularity. Civ's old and appassionate fandom was clearly too tight for their income aspirations, yet not tight enough to spare them from slapping the beloved "Civilization" trademark on a Starcraft 2 clone.
    That said, the problems i find with this game are the same i found with Civ5. And they all stem from limitation. There is a new quest system. But these quests cannot be actively pursued and are limited in number and type. There is Civ5's innovative hexagon movement style. However the map is full of miasma (obstacles) and ranged units from the very beginning, making positioning either irrelevant or downright frustrating.
    Map size can be chosen up to "massive", however most unit movement is tailored for the ridiculously small, Starcraft-like maps, which ends up distorting gameplay, as technology and productions goes at one speed, while the units at another. This happens even in slower progression settings.
    Research, virtues and affinity systems of progress are all interesting and apparently versatile, but they end up constraining each other, destroying all emergent gameplay in the process and forcing the player in a narrow corridor of choices. That's because achieving a victory type is not up to strategy, but picking the pre-determined corridor.
    These limitations show how the developer attempted to create a fast, competitive, and perfectly balanced multiplayer experience, by disregarding the singleplayer greatness that made the franchise so popular and beloved in the first place. The result is that instead of a wide breadth intersecting and unforeseen choices and strategies, players are constrained into becoming akin the poor AI they have to combat. Limited in movement, unit stacking, AI depth, progress types and immediate choices, this game punishes what it should by nature reward: experimentation, creativity and ambition. I guess it's back to Civ2 and AC for me. Once again this industry has taught me that my habit of trying games before purchasing them or, god forbid, pre-purchasing them, is the only way to avoid supporting such rotten practices as game-cloning and rehashing. I applaud the developers for having no qualms in receiving paychecks for such behaviors. I wouldn't be able to come to terms with knowing i trick my fans for a wage.    … Expand
  31. hoochieminh
    Oct 28, 2014
    4
    I am sorely disappointed in this game, it does not deserve Sid's name on it. This game is not as deep as Civ 5, even without the DLC. This is more of a turn masher than a strategic anything -- the path to victory is simple, the AI atrocious, combat basically meaningless. It's not a bad game, but boredom is achieved rather early. Skip it.
  32. Vel
    Oct 28, 2014
    4
    This game is pretty bad. It's not terrible, but it's pretty bad. The easiest way to describe it is to imagine that they took Civ 5, re-skinned it with different graphics, got rid of some of the more enjoyable aspects (Like picking different civilizations with different bonuses at different ages), and emphasized some of the more annoying aspects of the game (ever get annoyed by randomThis game is pretty bad. It's not terrible, but it's pretty bad. The easiest way to describe it is to imagine that they took Civ 5, re-skinned it with different graphics, got rid of some of the more enjoyable aspects (Like picking different civilizations with different bonuses at different ages), and emphasized some of the more annoying aspects of the game (ever get annoyed by random barbarians? Well say hello to an occasional SUPER barbarian). The game doesn't feel like you are really playing or advancing towards anything, it just feels like you are making a never-ending series of random decisions that have no real effect on the game. Not to mention the fact that the new "health" system (which replaced the happiness system) is not well balanced, if you conquer even one or two enemy cities you will probably have a negative effect on your civilization for the foreseeable future. Honestly, just avoid this game and go back and play more Civ 5 (at least until the price drops below $20).… Expand
  33. Deathmarch
    Oct 31, 2014
    4
    BORING! the AI is passive and makes illogical decisions ie: declaring war for no reason then offering all their goods and credits 10 turns later.
    Nothing in this game can be discerned "at a glance".
    Tech web is a confusing mess. Glance at the "tech web" and point out a wonder with in 30secs you cant without playing the game for a few hours and alot of reading. The map is muted and dull    BORING! the AI is passive and makes illogical decisions ie: declaring war for no reason then offering all their goods and credits 10 turns later.
    Nothing in this game can be discerned "at a glance".
    Tech web is a confusing mess. Glance at the "tech web" and point out a wonder with in 30secs you cant without playing the game for a few hours and alot of reading.
    The map is muted and dull , you cant tell a desert tile from a plains tile. you can barely tell which tiles have miasma. You'd expect wild contrast in terrain its Fantasy alien worlds there are no rules, you can have yellow oceans and purple deserts!
    combat might be better if Ai get improved but once you build elite units the ai has no chance.
    Missing immersion, ui is dull and lifeless no original artwork like Civ5, the leader scenes they just float on your screen no background to give you a sense of there culture; like Montezuma in his temple.
    If its was another developer I would say its a ok game around 70% buts its Civ Game and with it come higher standards and I feel like I paid full price for a indie game. hopefully they are working hard on improvments and not paid dlcs!!    … Expand
  34. Gamling
    Oct 30, 2014
    4
    Aplha Centauri was a piece of art, this game is unbalanced and there is a mayor lack of story compared. The affinty systems feels interesting but is unfortunately mostly driven by the big wheel of technology which is a mess. There are to many buildings do the same things and no graphics to describe them giving any feeling what you are building. The wonders just feel like a couple of stats.Aplha Centauri was a piece of art, this game is unbalanced and there is a mayor lack of story compared. The affinty systems feels interesting but is unfortunately mostly driven by the big wheel of technology which is a mess. There are to many buildings do the same things and no graphics to describe them giving any feeling what you are building. The wonders just feel like a couple of stats.

    The trade lanes are ridiculously good and you can build 3 per city which have to be reset each 30 turns. So if you have lots of cities you are not doing much else late game.

    In Alpha Centauri it felt like you had the power to change the map and the nature of the new planet here the tile improvements dosnt affect each other at all.

    The jump in strength between the different units are so huge you can´t do anything with your units if they get behind. The alien is somehow boring and easy to handle.

    The one thing that is better than in Civ V is the spying system which is a great improvement which I hope they bring to the main game.    … Expand
  35. Vayra
    Jan 20, 2015
    3
    C:BE is a difficult game to review negatively when played only for a short period of time. At first glance, you are offered a new Civilization game with a completely overhauled tech tree, new units, new surroundings and a new setting. It holds promise until you have finished a couple of games and realize the truth behind this Civilization V reskin.

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

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

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

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

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

    My two cents: avoid like the plague, maybe revisit after it has been expanded and properly fleshed out. C:BE is a shameless copy of tried and tested concepts with a price tag of a whole new game, which it is clearly not. There are dozens of 4X games that do literally every single thing a lót better.    … Expand
  36. 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
  37. Gethrow
    Nov 1, 2014
    2
    Very frustrating for the game to work one day, and without anything changing to my computer, not work the next. When it does load however, it is a very disappointing game lacking any sense of connection with the player.
  38. dhegelund
    Nov 26, 2014
    0
    I feel tricked into buying an unfinished game. I love Civilization games. This game, however, feels like they didn't even try. It doesn't feel finished... at all.

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

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

    Don't even think about it. Do not buy this game. Not yet, anyway. Maybe after they release some expansions. What a waste of hard earned money, tie and expectancy.    … Expand
  39. Jack_TheRipper
    Jan 25, 2015
    0
    This game is nothing but a watered down pos re-skin of civ5 with a plethora of bugs almost no new content over civ5 but some content from civ5 striped out or dumb ed down and at a price of $49.99 its a insult to any gamer please do yourself a favor and pass on this game that will not even be respectable until it gets its 2 mandatory firaxis expansions priced at $29.99 and a few dozen minorThis game is nothing but a watered down pos re-skin of civ5 with a plethora of bugs almost no new content over civ5 but some content from civ5 striped out or dumb ed down and at a price of $49.99 its a insult to any gamer please do yourself a favor and pass on this game that will not even be respectable until it gets its 2 mandatory firaxis expansions priced at $29.99 and a few dozen minor dlcs priced at about $5-$15 a piece just to make it worth taking a look at. But at that point you have to spend nearly $100 usd to make this game good; now ask yourself this should you have to pay that much for a OK game. NO! so send a message to firaxis and pass on this gold painted turd… Expand
  40. Joker85
    Oct 25, 2014
    2
    This is a poorly made mod. Every bit of life, soul, or polish that made BNW a relatively fun experience was completely left out.

    The UI is god awful. No scaling. Drab, boring colors. Rome 2 total war UI with space blue instead of black. AI is non existent. The planet terrains are hideous and uninviting. 95% of the mechanics under the hood are literally copy/pasted from Civ5.    This is a poorly made mod. Every bit of life, soul, or polish that made BNW a relatively fun experience was completely left out.

    The UI is god awful. No scaling. Drab, boring colors. Rome 2 total war UI with space blue instead of black.

    AI is non existent.

    The planet terrains are hideous and uninviting.

    95% of the mechanics under the hood are literally copy/pasted from Civ5.

    Tons of features that actually worked in Civ5 were left out for some reason.

    This game is basically an unfinished mod. If the creator of this mod released and stated he needed another 10-12 months before it got into a release state, I'd believe him. But for a company trying to charge for this?

    Unacceptable.    … Expand
  41. iceiceice
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    Better stick with civ 5. this is just a reskin of civ 5. No major improvements. More like a civ 5 mod with a more horrible ai,ui, trade system,units etc. They messed up everything. Theres no sense in playing these unless you really like scifi or hitting next turn button.
  42. 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
  43. Agliolo
    Oct 25, 2014
    1
    Beyond Disappointment.
    I cannot believe how lazy game company have gotten in the last few years, and this game is a perfect demonstration of such. By saying it is a re-skin of Civ 5 would lead you to believe it is at least as good looking as Civ 5, it is NOT. The graphics are cheep and the only thing that looks half decent is the Civilization Leaders. Multiplayer bugs still exists, and    Beyond Disappointment.
    I cannot believe how lazy game company have gotten in the last few years, and this game is a perfect demonstration of such. By saying it is a re-skin of Civ 5 would lead you to believe it is at least as good looking as Civ 5, it is NOT. The graphics are cheep and the only thing that looks half decent is the Civilization Leaders. Multiplayer bugs still exists, and parts of the game have been removed such as strategic mode. The UI has been flipped around and some of the basic information (such as trade routes) are just MIA. A used unit is nearly impossible to see on the map as they go to a 90% transparency. This game look like it is in early Alpha stage in comparison to Civ 5. None of the menus are as well designed, the tech web is ugly and hard to browse. Generally this game needs to go right back to the developers as incomplete. My review would be slightly higher if this was a $10 DLC pack as it should have been. I realize this sounds like a rant, so try it out for yourself, it is literally this bad. 2K and Firaxis should be ashamed to put their name and Sid Meier's on this title.    … Expand
  44. Shatosen
    Nov 19, 2014
    2
    Beyond Earth lacks many of the features that made Vanilla Civ 5 so good - luxury resources, natural wonders, and other features. As a whole, it is a lesser game when compared to its predecessor.
  45. skarr
    Nov 1, 2014
    2
    The ideas/features introduced in this game are quite new and interesting. Affinity is a nice addition that really impacts the gameplay in all its aspects. However, compared to the Franchise, a lot of elements seem to have been stripped bare. Overall, the game seems to have been rushed for release with fewer mechanics, features that it ought to have had. It just feels more like a patch/modThe ideas/features introduced in this game are quite new and interesting. Affinity is a nice addition that really impacts the gameplay in all its aspects. However, compared to the Franchise, a lot of elements seem to have been stripped bare. Overall, the game seems to have been rushed for release with fewer mechanics, features that it ought to have had. It just feels more like a patch/mod of civ than a full blown game of its own. Finally, the difficulty is a joke, you will beat Apollo on your first run. For the hardcore fans/collectors of Civ-like games, this is of course a must have and it will give you some new strategic decisions and new aspects to take into account while playing this game, for the rest, I am not sure if this title is worth getting.… Expand
  46. 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
  47. SoakerCity
    Oct 31, 2014
    4
    Very disappointing. Alpha Centauri was one of the best games ever made. It seems as though this one was dumbed down, leached of mature content and graphics (these are too cartoony), and light on the serious depth of the spiritual predecessor.

    Also, the lack of an Anglo, Japanese, Scandinavian, German, Canadian, and other cultures make this a big miss. I was going to buy it but its a    Very disappointing. Alpha Centauri was one of the best games ever made. It seems as though this one was dumbed down, leached of mature content and graphics (these are too cartoony), and light on the serious depth of the spiritual predecessor.

    Also, the lack of an Anglo, Japanese, Scandinavian, German, Canadian, and other cultures make this a big miss. I was going to buy it but its a pass, and I will stick with the amazing Endless Legend, the current king of TBS games.    … Expand
  48. DarkCenturion
    Oct 31, 2014
    5
    Overall, very disappointed in this game. I have been waiting for Firaxis Games to bring out a sequel to SMAC for years. I pray this is not it. Take Civilization V and put it in space, you have Beyond Earth,. Its in a different party dress, but it is the same game more or less. For shame Firaxis!
  49. 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
  50. 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
  51. 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
  52. 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
  53. CalmDown
    Nov 8, 2014
    0
    what a disaster.. I normally don't make reviews and just created an account to write this one.. This game had so much potential to be good. First off we have NO fullscreen for 144hz monitors.. a good amount of gamers run 144hz monitors that's just madness. The game has no innovation, shows no shine, has nothing new but different atmosphere. The game overall is just a mess, and its a shamewhat a disaster.. I normally don't make reviews and just created an account to write this one.. This game had so much potential to be good. First off we have NO fullscreen for 144hz monitors.. a good amount of gamers run 144hz monitors that's just madness. The game has no innovation, shows no shine, has nothing new but different atmosphere. The game overall is just a mess, and its a shame because it could of been SO good. I guess money means more then releasing good content now adays..… Expand
  54. 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!
  55. morswin
    Oct 25, 2014
    0
    First 30£ on steam it costs now is right now way too much for an EXPANSION or MOD to civ V.
    Second, there is inherently something broken about the one unit per hexagon grid approach. Sure it worked for strategy games such as Panzer General, but all the AI had to do there was to defend, and player would generally only one way attack across 100 hexes or wider maps, with units that could    First 30£ on steam it costs now is right now way too much for an EXPANSION or MOD to civ V.
    Second, there is inherently something broken about the one unit per hexagon grid approach. Sure it worked for strategy games such as Panzer General, but all the AI had to do there was to defend, and player would generally only one way attack across 100 hexes or wider maps, with units that could move 5+ hexes on average. In Civ V and unfortunately Beyond Earth, the combat, and even building improvements with workers, is squashed into small bits of land few hexes in size, with units that usually cant move more than one hex at a time. It is just a mess, difficult for the player to control, and AI is just unable to wage war efficiently.
    The developers should allow for unit stacking, just like civ 4 did, just make sure some negative buffs would apply, or collateral damage for attacks against stacked units.
    Thirdly, there are also over 10 buildings that do only +1-3 science,+1-3 health or +1-3 culture alone, and later in the game you can upgrade them with +1 science, health or culture. Add no city automation, and you end up building hundreds of these manually...
    But there are no buildings with large % bonuses, so each new construction is a little step forward, nothing comparable to civ 4 where obtaining factories could double your production in a few turns, or obtaining education, building universities and oxford could even triple science outcome if combined with a revolution.

    Nice graphics, and tech tree, but that is not enough.    … Expand
  56. Sazrak
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    Just terrible, the game is nearly unplayable in a literal sense. Any online play takes several tries to get off the ground because the game crashes constantly in multiplayer, although it is admittedly better in LAN play than over the internet. It tends to be a toss-up whether or not the racial faction bonuses will work at any given time. The mechanics are unimaginative, with a completelyJust terrible, the game is nearly unplayable in a literal sense. Any online play takes several tries to get off the ground because the game crashes constantly in multiplayer, although it is admittedly better in LAN play than over the internet. It tends to be a toss-up whether or not the racial faction bonuses will work at any given time. The mechanics are unimaginative, with a completely uninspired tech-tree that lets you decide exactly the way you wish your civilization to be the same as everyone else's because the techs are scattered all over the place and full of requirements from other techs placed far away on the tree. In effect, it's pretty much the exact same deal as with civilization 5's normal tree, except less intuitive so it takes a while to get a grasp on how to structure a basic build.

    Barbarians, one of the most annoying and random features of civilization 5, has been given a steroid treatment so that the game can rocket into the dull trope of all alien worlds somehow inexplicably playing host to naturally bullet-resistant life-forms. Rather than being an interesting event and object of interaction with the world, the aliens pour out of nests, meaning that depending on your location they will either be an insignificant nuisance that you don't really need to take a stance on or absolutely obliterate any chance of staying competitive with anyone who was placed elsewhere on the map. Their aggression is mostly tied into the nests - if you are surrounded by them then too bad, if not then you might not even need to escort your workers and colonists to new locations. This is unmitigated by the techs for dealing with them, due to their being placed on high tiers and randomly around the tech bubble.

    You're not alone in dealing with the alien threat, however. Every now and then an unafiliated outpost will land somewhere in your expansion circle, forcing you to go to war with them or 35 turns before they go away. Sometimes two outposts disagree about which one of them is going to ruin your day, and make you decide - never give you the option to tell them both to screw off. This happens at random times throughout the game, and you have no control over it. These are the exact two random events that will happen - outposts taking your spot, and aliens taking your spot.

    This game is lazy at best, more of a late beta than a full release. If you preordered, but are intending to play with friends who did not, you can't use the bonus map types - which is pretty stupid, but the blow is softened by the fact that the new map types are basically small variations on the old ones. In their botched attempt to basically recreate Alpha Centauri, Firaxis has managed to leave out most of the interesting parts of this predecessor - the tech tree is bad, there is no lore to speak of, even the quotes are terrible - and mashed it with the worst parts of Civilization 5's engine. Just awful.    … Expand
  57. KSL
    Oct 25, 2014
    1
    Unbelievably disappointed because I loved CIV V and all the previous ones before it so had high expectation for beyond earth, I have to say this is most boring, poorly developed CIV ever played! Really tried hard to get into it (over 16 hours) and it was no fun at all! Dull and unimaginative graphics, units and aliens. The game concept is good and should deserve a whole new systemUnbelievably disappointed because I loved CIV V and all the previous ones before it so had high expectation for beyond earth, I have to say this is most boring, poorly developed CIV ever played! Really tried hard to get into it (over 16 hours) and it was no fun at all! Dull and unimaginative graphics, units and aliens. The game concept is good and should deserve a whole new system developed from ground up and not taking bits and pieces from CIV V and forcefully binding new elements together as it feels like a rip-off version of civ v but space themed which made it lack its own character and soul.… Expand
  58. owen445x
    Apr 6, 2015
    3
    Regret buying this.

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

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

    I played a few games and literally have no desire to continue what so ever.
  59. 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
  60. 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
  61. 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
  62. ecoagg11
    Oct 25, 2014
    6
    Nice visuals and such, but core mechanic is no different. UI is much clunkier and harder to manage than previous titles, and being able to gleam any information from the screen is much more difficult. No single player campaigns any more, and the few advancements are just poorly executed versions of Endless Space/Legend series
  63. Atr0s
    Jan 22, 2015
    3
    Completely disappointing. Even though it's marketed as a completely different game, it's just a Civilization V with different wrapping. Yes, the UI is less intrusive and the game slightly more complex in some areas but there are too many downsides to it. For example, there are fewer choices of civs and all of them can pretty much follow the same paths, with their unique trait being a minorCompletely disappointing. Even though it's marketed as a completely different game, it's just a Civilization V with different wrapping. Yes, the UI is less intrusive and the game slightly more complex in some areas but there are too many downsides to it. For example, there are fewer choices of civs and all of them can pretty much follow the same paths, with their unique trait being a minor advantage at best and being the only way to distinguish themselves (they have access to the same units, no matter the path taken). They at least took note of previous criticism and actually introduced more customization as "random" event choices ("random" as they're mostly tied to your colonies' buildings and research) but failed to be creative in several other areas, for instance most of victory conditions (besides Domination) consist of researching a technology and building its associated Wonder.
    This could be a Civilization V mod if there were any grand modders like in the past (as of Civilization IV). We've got to thank the developers for that, for making such crap they basically shoved this part of the community through the back door. If you had experience with previous titles (when Civilization was still a good reference), you should stay away from this release.    … Expand
  64. Critical_Fun
    Jun 10, 2015
    3
    I tried liking this. I tried for 68 hours. I don't get this game. What is the point? It's Civ V with different units and tech trees and terrain. And they are not improvements. The alien beasts require a maxed out tech tree and large army to defeat. Not sure why they did this. I ended up going back to Civ V and not looking back. I should not have spent the money on this. The worstI tried liking this. I tried for 68 hours. I don't get this game. What is the point? It's Civ V with different units and tech trees and terrain. And they are not improvements. The alien beasts require a maxed out tech tree and large army to defeat. Not sure why they did this. I ended up going back to Civ V and not looking back. I should not have spent the money on this. The worst thing about it, is that this was time wasted that they could've been working on Civ 6. Everything in this game, Civ V does a lot better.… Expand
  65. 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
  66. AlphaAtom
    Nov 9, 2014
    1
    Unfortunately, this game is pretty bad. This game isnt cooler than CIV5, but its very expensive. 1299 Rubles is very expensive for this game. And it isnt interesting and isnt beautiful.

    Gameplay is 3/10 - very stupid gameplay and thats all. and tech tree and techs at all is pathetic. Graphic is 2/10 - ugly graphics, thats all. all others is the same as in CIV5 but this game is    Unfortunately, this game is pretty bad. This game isnt cooler than CIV5, but its very expensive. 1299 Rubles is very expensive for this game. And it isnt interesting and isnt beautiful.

    Gameplay is 3/10 - very stupid gameplay and thats all. and tech tree and techs at all is pathetic.

    Graphic is 2/10 - ugly graphics, thats all.

    all others is the same as in CIV5 but this game is most expensive and very expensive and its too much.

    my rate is 1/10 becouse this game isnt good for this price. 30 $ its too much for a such bad game. CIV5 is better and cheeper. Play CIV5 and dont buy this game!    … Expand
  67. cococou
    Oct 25, 2014
    2
    Not a bad game, but is not worth the $90 price tag for Australian buyers. get it when its below $30. NOT WORTH $90 for a ADDON pack for CIV 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  68. Kriss_A
    Nov 7, 2014
    0
    Little more than a mod, being sold for full price. Absolutely disgusting and immoral. I don't understand how anyone can get behind this and support practices like this.
  69. CivforBrains
    Oct 24, 2014
    1
    Another thoroughly bad iteration of the franchise. Horrendous UI and AI, horrific diplomacy and uninteresting barbarians. Firaxis needs to bin this turkey and work on a 64 bit Civ VI that restores glory to this once "do-no-wrong" franchise. About the only good thing I can say about it is that orbital layers are cool (something I have wished for since Civ II Fantastic Worlds) and I supposeAnother thoroughly bad iteration of the franchise. Horrendous UI and AI, horrific diplomacy and uninteresting barbarians. Firaxis needs to bin this turkey and work on a 64 bit Civ VI that restores glory to this once "do-no-wrong" franchise. About the only good thing I can say about it is that orbital layers are cool (something I have wished for since Civ II Fantastic Worlds) and I suppose that they had a demo so I didn't pay $60 for Civilization 5 with a pasted on Sci-Fi theme.… Expand
  70. AngryRoach
    Oct 24, 2014
    5
    I'm very dissapointed by the game, it plays like Civilization 5, but without the huge tech tree and advancing through the ages. Tech tree in this game is awfully small, and the UI looks ugly. Aliens are cool yes, but after a while they just feel like reskinned barbarians. Factions are boring, and there is only total 8 of them, and the number of players in game is also limited compared toI'm very dissapointed by the game, it plays like Civilization 5, but without the huge tech tree and advancing through the ages. Tech tree in this game is awfully small, and the UI looks ugly. Aliens are cool yes, but after a while they just feel like reskinned barbarians. Factions are boring, and there is only total 8 of them, and the number of players in game is also limited compared to CIV 5. Beyond earth just feels really lifeless compared to CIV 5. If you really do want to buy this game, I would wait until price drop.

    Also, there are almost next to no units in-game, and all faction units look basically the same.    … Expand
  71. idea
    Oct 29, 2014
    7
    This game is a decent successor to the series, it doesn't introduce anything incredibly exciting and has lost some of the charm of it's predecessors. Sadly there is an incredible disparity between what the 'professional' critics thought of the game, and the gamer's themselves. at the time of writing this 87% of the critic reviews are 'positive' while only 36 of the user reviews areThis game is a decent successor to the series, it doesn't introduce anything incredibly exciting and has lost some of the charm of it's predecessors. Sadly there is an incredible disparity between what the 'professional' critics thought of the game, and the gamer's themselves. at the time of writing this 87% of the critic reviews are 'positive' while only 36 of the user reviews are positive. Metacritic may want to investigate the cause of this disparity because it is causing my friends and myself to lose faith in this site for critical reviews, instead turning to guys like angry joe and the escapist who are often more honest and accurate.… Expand
  72. yaeger
    Nov 22, 2014
    0
    This is the most disappointing game from a very reputable company. Unfortunately, the game is just a re-skin of Civilization 5. It is amazing to look at, the graphics are what you would expect from a new Civilization game. However, the game runs just like Civ 5 for the most part. The technology web was not as i thought it was going to be. In Civ 5 you had a tech tree that would progressThis is the most disappointing game from a very reputable company. Unfortunately, the game is just a re-skin of Civilization 5. It is amazing to look at, the graphics are what you would expect from a new Civilization game. However, the game runs just like Civ 5 for the most part. The technology web was not as i thought it was going to be. In Civ 5 you had a tech tree that would progress you through time with different inventions and technologies. In Beyond Earth you have a Tech Web which at first is a little hard to understand, and then just turns into a mess while you are trying to stick to a certain affinity. I would not recommend this game to anyone.… Expand
  73. FellowTraveler
    Oct 30, 2014
    3
    For a game all about the future, Beyond Earth seems like a huge step into the past. This game is mediocre as a standalone, and disastrous as an entry into the Civilization series.

    I wanted to look this. I wanted to like this so very badly. I've been anxiously awaiting the next Civilization game for years! Civ 5 is one of my favorite games of all time. I was a little hesitant when I    For a game all about the future, Beyond Earth seems like a huge step into the past. This game is mediocre as a standalone, and disastrous as an entry into the Civilization series.

    I wanted to look this. I wanted to like this so very badly. I've been anxiously awaiting the next Civilization game for years! Civ 5 is one of my favorite games of all time. I was a little hesitant when I learned that it was a Sci-Fi game, as those don't tend to be my cup of tea. But then again, neither are historical strategy games - Civilization has won me over before, so I held at hope.
    And then I played this. I was bored, frustrated, and underwhelmed in minutes. But I stuck with it. I sunk hours into the game, waiting to get invested. To just... Have fun. But I never did. Every turn felt like a forced chore. The writing is absolutely atrocious. The tech quotes (those that were quotes from famous historical figures in previous games) will make you cringe they are so bad. The different factions are bland, flat, and really no different from one another. The writers merely chose a race, found every racial stereotype available for that race, and made them into a faction. Seriously, the first words from the hyper-advanced Asian faction was something along the lines of "We honor your ancestors". That works in a historical game. In a game about the future? It is laughable.
    The alien races are ugly as sin, and not in a good way. The barbarians were always obnoxious in Civilization V, but I understood their point. They weren't a huge part of the game. Aliens are EVERYWHERE in this game, and combating them just isn't fun. I don't know why, exactly, since the combat hasn't changed an inkling from Civ5 and I still love that game. But it just isn't fun.
    The tech web is a nightmare as well, since we're now dealing with future tech and future tech alone. In past games, you could get a general idea of what you were researching by the title of that research. Now you have to blindly grasp and try and figure out what a Cryo-this or Quantum-that is and how it is going to affect end game.
    Quests are a mindless time filler. They seem like a decent addition in the beginning, but they recycle quests so often that you'll have seen them all and done them all three or four times by the end of the first game.
    The AI in the Civ games has never been particularly... Well, intelligent. Somehow, it seems this game took a step backwards. The other factions seem to have no discernible personality and are unpredictable in a bad way - They'll declare war on you for no reason, almost immediately after landing. Seriously, that was my first interaction with some of them on multiple occasions. And don't get me started on their **** Remember the "Don't settle near us" complaints from the last game? Well, if you settle a city ANYWHERE on this planet, expect to hear from one or two of them, even if they are on the complete opposite side of the world. Same goes for excavating artifacts. The complaints never stop, so you'll never stop getting obnoxious still-frame popups, because they've done away with animating the actors.
    And finally, the miasma. I don't understand it. I really don't. What is the point? It is obnoxious and that's about it. It damages you when you're standing in it, and the planet is covered in it until you evolve techs to deal with it. Maybe it is supposed to be immersive, but I just find it terribly annoying.

    I uninstalled in the day after I tried it.    … Expand
  74. ReYnevan
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    Greatest DLC for Civilization V ever:) and...highest prize ever for DLC;) THIS IS NOT A NEW GAME:) Civilization V was for me greatest game ever so i expect new, fine game NOT DLC:) Beyond Earth is fine, playing well, but is too short for me. Disappointment for now. Almost 40 Euro for dlc is a joke:)
  75. MaxFootroom
    Oct 31, 2014
    0
    So we made an interstellar journey and find a new world and what does this game have in store for us? The same old petty squabbling among humans that necessitated a journey to the stars in the first place. Are we really expected to believe that the colonists of a new world have nothing better to do than fight amongst themselves? I expected to have to deal with aggressive aliens, notSo we made an interstellar journey and find a new world and what does this game have in store for us? The same old petty squabbling among humans that necessitated a journey to the stars in the first place. Are we really expected to believe that the colonists of a new world have nothing better to do than fight amongst themselves? I expected to have to deal with aggressive aliens, not more stupid humans.… Expand
  76. Sergiohs
    Nov 4, 2014
    4
    The game is worse than previous civs... It should had been sold as one expansion/mod theres almost no new mechanics. Also there is a huge resolution / full screen bug which is preventing alot of people from playing the game correctly (me included).
  77. ariefbud
    Oct 28, 2014
    0
    I'm very dissapointed with this game. Firaxis stop using inexperienced lead designers. I miss time when Brian Reynolds, Soren Johnson still with Firaxis. They makes great games back then.
  78. gyrate
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    The leaders in this game will recite the exact same lines as Civ V and this will carry on with their reactions to you building near them and so on. Unlike SMAC you can not build cities on the water. For some reason this was just too difficult for them even though modders figured it out. I can only guess it's for later DLC. People will argue that it's not supposed to be a predecessor to itThe leaders in this game will recite the exact same lines as Civ V and this will carry on with their reactions to you building near them and so on. Unlike SMAC you can not build cities on the water. For some reason this was just too difficult for them even though modders figured it out. I can only guess it's for later DLC. People will argue that it's not supposed to be a predecessor to it and it's certainly not. I wish that it was but those that want to side with that camp can take comfort that this is really just a new skin for Civ V. Jump with joy and get the DLC wave of love that makes you warm and cozy. If they make it so you can build cities on the water and give these faction leaders actual personalities let me know. Until then if you own Civ V the only reason to buy this is if you wanted a darker skin in a sci fi setting. As I feel it is half of what I desired and Firaxis continues to hate on the old school fans that made them what they are I give this a zero. Have fun milking all of your fan boys they deserve it.… Expand
  79. 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
  80. madskull505
    Oct 25, 2014
    1
    WTF, way too much futuristic that my brain couldn't able to comprehend what is going on. Total waste of time, nothing to learn and nothing is that much fun compared to CIV V or IV, Turn Based Strategy is DEAD.
  81. 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
  82. asfj
    Oct 24, 2014
    3
    As a player from Civ5, I feel bored sorry because there is almost nothing new for mechanism. The game is like an official Mod upon Civ5 with a Sci-fi skin, considering the earth is still that earth just decorated with some bizarre and dark green stuff, and upgrade trees are changed by Sci-fi tokens but structures are almost the same.

    Personally, the most disappointed thing is that as a    As a player from Civ5, I feel bored sorry because there is almost nothing new for mechanism. The game is like an official Mod upon Civ5 with a Sci-fi skin, considering the earth is still that earth just decorated with some bizarre and dark green stuff, and upgrade trees are changed by Sci-fi tokens but structures are almost the same.

    Personally, the most disappointed thing is that as a space Sci-fi, there is not hierarchy of space and land to switch and interact between, as I said you are just on Weird Earth rather than Beyond Earth.
    I confess I am a bit superficial, but not upgrading graphics is also not a wise decision.

    Still a very detailed game. But I feel it lack of innovation and like a slow paced Starcraft 2. In this fast paced society, I doubt majority could be patient to play it, not to mention old players who have been familiar/bored with Civ5.
    I wish the dev could be more creative be beyond the franchise.    … Expand
  83. terminxman
    Nov 3, 2014
    5
    This game is nowhere near what we were promised. The Aliens really have no effect other than annoyance. You can choose to coexist with them, or just kill them. Either way you really get no benefits from coexisting with them. There is no endgame with the aliens, they are simply there to kill or leave alone. You can either get "Purity, Supremacy, or Harmony" points, which allow you toThis game is nowhere near what we were promised. The Aliens really have no effect other than annoyance. You can choose to coexist with them, or just kill them. Either way you really get no benefits from coexisting with them. There is no endgame with the aliens, they are simply there to kill or leave alone. You can either get "Purity, Supremacy, or Harmony" points, which allow you to upgrade to different units depending on how many point of it you have. Other than that there are some very minor effects from it.

    We were promised "unit customization" which was a complete lie (Although there will probably be a **** DLC for it). There is no customization, other than the fact that you can upgrade to different units (with very minor differences) depending on what your affinity is (to purity, supremacy, harmony). You can't even so much as change the color of your units. You literally start with a Soldier for example, which you can upgrade to a marine. Then there are three different "options." They aren't really options because if your affinity is towards Purity, then you can only select the next unit in the tree. The tree of units basically looks like this:

    Soldier
    ^
    Marine
    ^ ^ ^
    | | |
    | | |
    | | |

    The interface is almost exactly the same as civ 5, and all of the gameplay is exactly the same. There are no other planets to explore, the randomly generated planets basically consist of three different types (hot, mild, cold). The appearance is always exactly the same except the terrain will range from blueish to reddish depending on the temperature.

    A big point they made when presenting the game initially was that "OH, THERE ARE MULTIPLE LAYERS TO THE WORLD, YOU CAN GO TO OTHER PLANETS AND **** In reality all this meant was that you could launch satellites which have some benefits. That's about it.

    I almost forgot about the different "Sponsors," which are basically Beyond Earth's version of your Ruler in past civs. Except there are only 5 or 6. It really doesn't matter, and you won't give a **** once you make it further in the game. They consist of: Some French, African, Russian (typical sterotypical communist looking leader), Brazil, etc. Pretty much the most basic, unimaginative leaders that a teenager could come up with. Also, why are there still Africans, South Americans, etc in the year what? 2600? I thought Earth was destroyed or something, why are there still different countries and races? Wouldn't we all just be brownish people with no nationality since nations are no more?

    And the horrible tech web. Yes, to further "improve" the tech upgrade tree, they just made it a massive web of techs with 3 techs in each tree. Also, it's hundreds of years into the future and I'm having to research **** technology to make a **** boat? Or Aircraft with a range of like 3 tiles? What the **** How did we get to this planet in the first place? It takes halfway through a game to even start getting to futuristic tech. The more I write on this review, the more I remember about how disappointing this game is.

    There is really no upgrade to diplomacy. It's still very basic and unless you are playing multiplayer with friends, then there is pretty much no interaction or indication of how the AI feels about you. Other than "Friendly, neutral, hostile." There isn't an obvious way to improve your relations manually. It just happens abstractly until you can form a "cooperation agreement."

    Basically, this isn't a bad game. If you have never played Civ 5, then it is a good game. If you have played Civ 5 and expected a new game with a bunch of new features, and some Alpha Centauri elements, then you will be extremely dissapointed. I'm not sure why all of the major gaming publications are harping it as the second coming of Alpha Centauri, because it isn't even close.

    At least Paradox is still making serious strategy games, because the Civ series is pretty much dead to me.    … Expand
  84. tomasdee
    Oct 29, 2014
    5
    I really looked fwd to playing this game and shelled out the premium to do so on release day (i normally avoid that now days). Not sure what i was expecting but in the end Beyond Earth feels the same as Civ 5, its just one big endless grind..... It feels like whether you win or lose comes down to luck - whether you get a good start point, whether the other civs are aggressive to you orI really looked fwd to playing this game and shelled out the premium to do so on release day (i normally avoid that now days). Not sure what i was expecting but in the end Beyond Earth feels the same as Civ 5, its just one big endless grind..... It feels like whether you win or lose comes down to luck - whether you get a good start point, whether the other civs are aggressive to you or not, whether the aliens hate you or ignore you. For me, i think beyond earth will suffer the same fate as Civ 5 - 'are you sure you wish to uninstall this program?' 'yes'.… Expand
  85. 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
  86. RKIRKLEY
    Oct 29, 2014
    0
    I have never been more disappointed in a civilization game, not only does this game feel like the same civ game we have been playing for years it feels like we have regressed backwards. The classic animation and stories we had are gone. Instead it feels as though we are playing a game with great graphics and text gui. It lacks any innovation from previous years and removes most of theI have never been more disappointed in a civilization game, not only does this game feel like the same civ game we have been playing for years it feels like we have regressed backwards. The classic animation and stories we had are gone. Instead it feels as though we are playing a game with great graphics and text gui. It lacks any innovation from previous years and removes most of the prior civs good parts. If you are an avid civ fan skip this one wait till they inevitably put in the dlcs and make us pay double the original cost for it to be any good.

    Now for my specific problems I have with the game. The intro is amazing it posits this situation in which earth is used up and we are abandoning it, however when you get to earth 2.0 (all of the planet options are just like earth, with miasma being radioactivity and aliens barbarians) there is no story, you just begin. As you begin expect immediatly to have a rival civ land right next to your city leading to inevitable conflict as this game has an extremely easy system to anger other civs. Which brings us to combat, there are 6 units, and you dont even have access to them when you begin the game. In a world in which you just presumably completed civ 5 why do we only have a basic soldier to start and a combat rover, no lasers no new tech nothing cool. This stays the same for most of the game till late game but these units really just dont do anything different they are the same 6 units just upgraded with slightly different looks and these upgrades do not make sense. You research an affinity say harmony by discovering alien genes and suddenly you can upgrade your combat rover to combat armor, now im sorry but what technology did i gain that lets me do that? NOTHING. This infuriating lack of technology to combat upgrades continues into the branching tech which allows you to research nanotech before you have basic biology and can see oil. HOW DID WE GET HERE FROM EARTH WITHOUT OIL? Then there is the unit usage when traveling miasma is deadly early game and there is no way to remove it watch as multiple explorers die if you put them on auto explore. Seriously never auto anything in this game it will replace good improvements destroy roads as soon as you begin losing electricity etc. In combat same problem as always no stacking units, but this is a bigger problem in this game since three units of the six are meaningless in close range combat.
    Finally replaying this game is not fun, it feels the same because it is the same, not only does this feel like a worse civ 2 with improved graphics, but there are the same ais every game and they are the same stratagies too. Each planet feels the same as well since the technology works out to functionally make oceans meaningless and the resources are completely unnecessary all game long, they provide bonus things but you can win without ever improving a resource. I imagine there will be a mjor dlc to fix all of this that will cost us an arm and a leg but id rather get a refund now, would not recommend.    … Expand
  87. NeroNafalus
    Oct 31, 2014
    0
    This game would probably get a better review from me, if ya know A. it'd worked from launch, or B. firaxis/2k had released a statement mentioning that they'd messed up pretty bad the day after they released it, steada waiting a week to do it.
  88. Mikimax
    Nov 2, 2014
    6
    I'm pretty disappointing with this game. This is basically a CIV 5 total conversion mod with optimized engine and nice graphics. The strongest area of the game is in the beginning when you are fighting for survival against aliens. Game feels unfinished and shallow. Huge opportunity wasted.
  89. Canisrah
    Jan 17, 2015
    2
    This game is little more than a mod for Civ 5 - and not a very good mod at that. I don't know how they managed it, but Beyond Earth takes an interesting premise and the engine from Civ V and takes away all traces of personality, atmosphere and...fun. It's a soulless game which seems to be more about learning the game systems to win without ever engaging the player in the sorts of emergentThis game is little more than a mod for Civ 5 - and not a very good mod at that. I don't know how they managed it, but Beyond Earth takes an interesting premise and the engine from Civ V and takes away all traces of personality, atmosphere and...fun. It's a soulless game which seems to be more about learning the game systems to win without ever engaging the player in the sorts of emergent game play and stories for which Civ V and it's predecessors are famous. That addictive 'one-more-turn' mentality that Civ V promotes is simply absent in Beyond Earth and it's more of a chore to keep playing than a pleasure.

    Disappointing.    … Expand
  90. Mike_M
    Dec 3, 2014
    2
    Too many game design flaws mar what could be a great single-player strategy game:
    Dumb AI opponents. Alliances are basically meaningless.
    Dumb AI workers.
    Different planets with the same aliens over and over.
    Even on the lowest difficultly levels, the game handicaps success.
    The franchise has taken a wrong turn since the first expansion for Civ5
  91. 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
  92. MrM2014
    Nov 10, 2014
    4
    The core game itself is adequate. It is not anywhere near as complete as Civ V, but is enjoyable enough. The new tech tree does feel genuinely innovative and the alien world very much comes to life. The affinity system also feels fresh and new.

    However, other than this it's really CIv V with a different coat of paint and some things are worse. Trade Routes are a complete nightmare to    The core game itself is adequate. It is not anywhere near as complete as Civ V, but is enjoyable enough. The new tech tree does feel genuinely innovative and the alien world very much comes to life. The affinity system also feels fresh and new.

    However, other than this it's really CIv V with a different coat of paint and some things are worse. Trade Routes are a complete nightmare to micro-manage, and the diplomacy feels very limited.

    Now with all that alone, I would consider giving this a 7. It gets a 4 because this game was released unfinished with insufficient QA. There is a widespread problem preventing users playing full screen when their monitor reports more than 48 resolution/refresh rate combinations available. This is a very simple bug which can be resolved with a Registry Edit, yet after two weeks Firaxis have failed to produce a patch or even any ETC. Secondly, another widely reported bug is a failure to start - I suffer this with AMD Mantle mode despite the supported hardware configuration. As a result I have had to game in a window so far in the standard DX11 mode.

    There's some promise here, but don't buy until the game is on discount and a patch is released. Following this I will not be purchasing any Firaxis game on release again.    … Expand
  93. Keengerm
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    An unplayable alpha. So many bugs and broken systems that it aborts directly after launch. My personal favorite is the broken "end turn" button. Why did Firaxis do this, and why is Sid's name on it?
  94. Streba
    Oct 26, 2014
    0
    Total waste of money and time. I guess i won't touch this game again after the first play-through. You have to do a lot of meaningless manual work that starts to annoy you after approx. 50 turns. Why do i have to reassign every trade route every 10 turns? Why is there no automation? Why do i get a proposal for open borders every turn from turn 200 on, after i already approved it 10 times?Total waste of money and time. I guess i won't touch this game again after the first play-through. You have to do a lot of meaningless manual work that starts to annoy you after approx. 50 turns. Why do i have to reassign every trade route every 10 turns? Why is there no automation? Why do i get a proposal for open borders every turn from turn 200 on, after i already approved it 10 times? The alien swarm ai and leader ai is totally stupid. Why do my workers remove miasma, when i am on the highest harmony level an get bony from it? Sorry...this game is at this state fundamentally broken :(… Expand
  95. 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
  96. 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.
  97. Canonvillage
    Nov 2, 2014
    0
    Das Spiel an sich ist ein purer Abklatsch von Civ 5. Man hat an jeder Ecke das Gefühl, dass man vom Entwickler über den Tisch gezogen wird, die alte Grafikengine des Vorgängers wurde 1:1 mitsamt all ihren Bugs übernommen. Offenbar wurde auch an vielen anderen Stellen einfach Quellcode kopiert: Es sind viele Bugs aus Civ V Vanilla enthalten, die bereits mit GK gefixt waren. Peinlich.
  98. croc
    Nov 9, 2014
    0
    can't score higher than 0 because game is broken, 2k is happy to take our money (yet again), charge it as it was full new game (it is nothing more but civ5 mod, bad one on top of that) and once they got our money they think it is ok to treat us like dirt, major bug preventing people to run at full screen unless you run low resolution gone unfixed for 2 weeks now, any other even sloppycan't score higher than 0 because game is broken, 2k is happy to take our money (yet again), charge it as it was full new game (it is nothing more but civ5 mod, bad one on top of that) and once they got our money they think it is ok to treat us like dirt, major bug preventing people to run at full screen unless you run low resolution gone unfixed for 2 weeks now, any other even sloppy company would have it patched asap but they think its ok to take money for faulty product and act as nothing is wrong.… Expand
  99. Lord_Rapo
    Dec 14, 2014
    3
    I have started with Civilization 1. In my opinion, the game got with every release better.
    Sid Meier achieved the peak with Civ4 - Conquest.
    All Civ's after where not anymore the game liked so. Civilization:
    Beyond Earth is definitely the last Civ i bought.
    The game develops in a direction that I do not like anymore.
  100. 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
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 78 Critic Reviews

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