Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

[Drakron]

Appears so, kinda weird since SMAC did had Diplomatic Victory with the election ... no idea why they didnt added some kind of "Colony Assembly" were things got voted to provide minor bonus or penalties, its already in Civ V anyway and nothing I seen seems to be using that system, even their quest system seems more a branch off the City States quests.

The only interesting thing on SMBE is affinities and how you handle them, if you go say Purity and just get a shitload of Biomass everywhere you are pretty much fucked if you dont switch, sure you can trade the stuff but that just empowers them with more Harmony stuff as you end up entirely dependent of trading for Floatstone and they might just decide to "cut the middleman".

On the other hand on the streams the AI seems to be pants on retarded on expanding because they will drop a city of resources that will now be gone, they also seem to love going wide and spam cities, even on stupid locations (like 2 title islands with no resources in range), another downgrade seems the AI cannot even work with outposts and will try to destroy them the moment another faction creates a trade route to them, even Civ V knew better and they only attacked them if they were at war, had a quest of the Civ was simply that kind of Civ.

 

[Dickie]

Watching some playthroughs, I agree that it's insane the way the AI murders stations. It seems like the only way to protect one is to completely surround it with your units. In that case, you'll be awarded by getting to watch the AI bombard the station every turn with ranged units, hoping to one day slip a melee unit in there.

It's also kind of lame how the list of other factions you bring up doesn't show how much gold or which resources each faction has. You gotta click each one, apparently. With no luxury resources, there are only six resources to trade, so they could have easily slipped in the icons for the resources with numbers next to them. I just find it super annoying when games make it hard to see all the information you want at any given moment. I guess they don't want to blow people's minds by showing too much information on one screen.

 

[Infinitron]

Eurogamer review: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-10-23-sid-meiers-civilization-beyond-earth-review

Inevitably, it's not really a game about space and aliens, even though it effortlessly got me googling Bracewell probes and the Great Attractor. Like the best SF, Beyond Earth is about humanity - more so, perhaps, than Civ itself is. Here comes Earth, eh? So filled with contradictory certainties and lofty dogma, so ready to forget its principles when greed takes over. The wider mechanics, meanwhile - with that web, those quests, all those new choices - are emphatically concerned with distracting you from your dogma and even your self-interest, with distracting you from one strategy by offering so many others.

Beyond Earth isn't concerned with your plan so much as it's concerned with the intersection of that plan with a dozen other complications. Seeing this feels valuable. It's possibly why we spent so long in the middle ages, why 2014, a year that sounds like science fiction, is still mired in Ebola and austerity, and why nobody you're friends with lives on Pluto - but it's also why we aren't all Nazis.

Civilization has always had something to say about this stuff (and civilisation has always had something to say about this stuff) but Beyond Earth goes further than ever, suggesting that even if we do eventually live on Pluto, the distractions will have joined us there, and will probably have multiplied. When we get into space, the real danger - and the real wonder - will be the fact that we have brought ourselves along.

8 / 10

 

[Morgoth]

Reviews coming in:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-10-23-sid-meiers-civilization-beyond-earth-review
http://www.destructoid.com/review-sid-meier-s-civilization-beyond-earth-282814.phtml
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/10/23/civilization-beyond-earth-review-buy-in-alpha-centauri/
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/c...to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-siege-worm.aspx

 

[Morgoth]

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/sid-m.../civilization_beyond_earth,50903,3079429.html

82/100

(they gave Civ5 + addons 90/100)

German review, but they're rather critical. Too many missed chances and too unpolished. They like Civ 5 more despite it's similarities and recommend waiting for the inevitable expansion(s) and fixes for a more complete experience.

 

[bonescraper]

I'm sure you're gonna like this.

 

[Keshik]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...-Sid-Meier-s-Civilization-Beyond-Earth-Review

Escapist thinks it's okay, nothing special

 

[Thane Solus]

so 2 more addons, to be a decent, maybe a good game. Exactly what i thought when i heard about this game...

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Decided to unlock it early with a VPN. Played some, definitely seems faster paced than Civ 5 thus far. You can get rolling in no time at all. Ladychick narrator is sure as hell no Soul Hunter or Leonard Nimoy. Ended up in a relatively awkward starting location with small amounts of all the affinity resources so I'm going purity anyway because what the hell.

Giving a marginally better first impression than Civ 5 does simply because it's faster and more combat focused. If the AI continues to be awful (Admittedly I'm playing on normal or one step up since I don't know what the fuck I'm doing) it'll most likely crumble because of that combat focus, but if it's a bit less retarded then things seem ok. Will take a lot more playing around to get a better feeling for it.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

I love whole Civilization series and i don't care abour any reviews, like for other games too.
Already bought preorder and will be playing in about 30 minutes. There are three good strategy series which i can buy blind today:
Civilization + Spin offs from Sid Meier , Europa Universalis and Paradox own titles [like Crusader Kings,Victoria, HOI ] nad Total War series [ still waiting for TW Warhammer Fantasy Batte ] .
Sure they always have large portion of flaws at release - but in the end they are always getting polished by their devs, have great modding community [from some time each serie have full Steam workshop support] and community as a whole [each of them: be it TW with TWcenter, Paradox games wih Paradox Plaza, and Civilization with Civfanatics or great Apolyton].
And each of these games are good at something another, Paradox games are nice and very detailed strategy simulators with good history background, Civilizations are more tabletop like but still deep enough strategy games , and Total War series have best tactical battles from different eras around with nice but simple strategy addon[not counting some mods for Medieval II ] and greatest graphics for any strategy game.
Personally i love them all but spend most time at Civ or Eu/Hoi/Ck.
I welcome Beyond Earth with open arms becouse space 4X games like MoO2 , Endless Space, Space Empires etc. never interested me so much, becouse of their overall simplicity and almost every 4X game looks the same.

 

[AngryEddy]

So how does the game compare to SMAC?

 

[Thane Solus]

I love whole Civilization series and i don't care abour any reviews, like for other games too.
Already bought preorder and will be playing in about 30 minutes. There are three good strategy series which i can buy blind today:
Civilization + Spin offs from Sid Meier , Europa Universalis and Paradox own titles [like Crusader Kings,Victoria, HOI ] nad Total War series [ still waiting for TW Warhammer Fantasy Batte ] .
Sure they always have large portion of flaws at release - but in the end they are always getting polished by their devs, have great modding community [from some time each serie have full Steam workshop support] and community as a whole [each of them: be it TW with TWcenter, Paradox games wih Paradox Plaza, and Civilization with Civfanatics or great Apolyton].
And each of these games are good at something another, Paradox games are nice and very detailed strategy simulators with good history background, Civilizations are more tabletop like but still deep enough strategy games , and Total War series have best tactical battles from different eras around with nice but simple strategy addon[not counting some mods for Medieval II ] and greatest graphics for any strategy game.
Personally i love them all but spend most time at Civ or Eu/Hoi/Ck.
I welcome Beyond Earth with open arms becouse space 4X games like MoO2 , Endless Space, Space Empires etc. never interested me so much, becouse of their overall simplicity and almost every 4X game looks the same.

Really "dudebro"? You had to put MoO2, one of the best 4x ever made along with that piece of garbage Endless Space?

What was the point of your post anyway? You are hunting for a special codex tag? The red one?

 

[DreadMessiah]

Deserves a red tag it does. Civ nor TW are more complex than some of the mentioned space games. Stop trying to make yourself look better by shitting on games you happen to not like compared to others with bullshit. Also just because some games are complex by amount of things does not make them complex in trying to figure them out.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Space America has given Space France a good dicking, stolen units/money/tech from everyone else, and is generally being the best. Now I'm shooting Shai Hulud who can't fight back because of fences. Also India wanted about half of my total science per turn in exchange for a handy while no one was looking. India please you're embarrassing yourself.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Thane & Dread , you are really too excited about my point of view, sorry if that touch you- i was not calling MoO2 shit .
But back on topic.
I had some hours with C:BE behind me now and i must say its a great game. Looks similar to Civilization [common it even has the same Civ:something name so back off; ] , but it is extremely
playable and can suck You into long hours of gaming. Like i expected from game firmed by Meier's name. Graphics are really nice, music is just fantastic - one of the best soundtracks for
sci-fi games . But it has awesome mechanics too, we have ability to upgrade units in 3 main ways - depends if we go for one of 3 kinds of our main attitude towards new planet and our competitors
[harmony, purity and supremacy] - each of upgrades makes unit looks different and each have two different main bonuses which you can choose.
But its only the top, we have great web of technologies and research and ideas here, completely unlinear to discover. Those who preordered have pack of extra cool planets to play on too, all of them are randomly generated but you can set [in advanced settings just like in Civ5] some of their base stats. Game is fully integrated with Steam workshop and it's just designed to be enhanced in the future by the official Dlcs and fanmade mods. What is real great
that playing this game is very interesting from the very start, we have much more options to choose before even start to playing with given "nation" thn in Civ 5 with all addons. Game is much deeper in terms of way to play than Civ5, but we sholudn't compare these both titles becouse they are about something different. And both of them are extremly fun to play.
And this game is just incredible fun to play on multiplayer too- a lot more interesting than Civ5 in that kind of play, we have completely unlinear way of developing our colony [nation], much more interesting warfare and economy/strategy options. I feel this game will beat Civ5 in terms of popularity, but both of them are great.
Beyond earth is just completely different game from Civ5, do not trust reviews or opinions that it is just mod for Civ5 with slighlty altered civs and interface. This game at first feels like much simpler version of Civ5 but hell no! It is way more advanced in almost every term, and when we recieve few expansions it will become one of best strategies ever.
So if you are not sure yet, trust me, you can invest your money into that title it is just classy and great work from people who knows how to make damn good games!
Excellent - from 1 hour of planned playing i spend almost 6 , through whole night and not even walk form comp once.
I would call it next Alpha Centauri .

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Man, I don't know what I did, but did I ever piss off the aliens in turn 3. 60 turns in and I've only just contained their onslaught, clearing the 5(!) nests that were within 6 tiles of my starting colony.

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Dude, are you so autistic that you didn't notice that fanboyism generally isn't looked kindly upon here? Throw a dash or two of cynicism in there if you hope to survive!

 

[RK47]

$50 Reskin

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Man, I don't know what I did, but did I ever piss off the aliens in turn 3. 60 turns in and I've only just contained their onslaught, clearing the 5(!) nests that were within 6 tiles of my starting colony.

The nests are what piss them off. It seems like anything within 2 tiles of a nest is marked as a priority target and they go nuts even if they're friendly/green. Since you started in a clump of aliums that's most likely why.

Not sure if affinity bonuses (Like purity 1, aliums won't attack tiles with explorers) override nest aggro or not, but it'd be a moot point anyway given your starting situation.

Edit: Looks like affinity bonuses DO take precedence. Just set up an excavation next to a hive swarming with bugs and they left 'em alone.

 

[Cyberarmy]

$50 Reskin

Its $80 here

Spoiler

 

[Zarniwoop]

Even MOAR combat focused than Civ 5: The Combatty Fightgame, which basically cut down all other features of the series and only improved the fighting bits?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Finished my first game of it. As I feared the end game gets super dragassy. Normal problem in civ but it's still really goddamn annoying. Endless Legend is better.

 

[LusciousPear]

Thanks for confirming my opinion re: Endless Legend.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

Installing now

Spoiler

SMAC ofc

 

[Kem0sabe]

I think it's suffering from endless space syndrome. It supposedly ticks all the right boxes but ends up being soulless boring derivative crap that's a bore to play after a few turns.