A Fantastic Addition…That Needs Some Additions

First of all, congrats to Aspyr for creating a beautiful addition to the Civ world. The new sea terrain is gorgeous, deep and shallow waters teeming with life and resources are beautifully done. (Aditionally, the submersible explorer unit for excavating is a nice touch!). This expansion offers a ton of new developments: political capital, artifact research, a trade revamp, and floating cities just to name a few, but there are still some issues that need addressing.

The Great:
- New graphics! They are good enough that I’m tempted to upgrade my system just for this game.
- The diplomatic traits. These new powerful political traits are game changing, and further negate the urge to behave badly with other worldly powers. Some may need some revisiting however, the +12 science/culture per trade at the top tier of the political trait is a HUGE boost.
- Trade vessel tweak - no more incessant renewing of your trades! The auto-renew option was sorely needed.
- Artifacts - some expeditions from an alien nest, old settlement, alien fossil, or downed craft result in the discovery of artifacts, which can be used toward big gains and discoveries.

The Good:
- More! - Civilizations, units, wonders. All good, but I want more.
- Floating cities - ‘nuff said.
- Political opinion screen - There’s a new little popup screen that that informs you when another Civ is happy or unhappy about something. It’s really nice to know exactly WHY you are making friends or enemies beyond warmaking and virtue sharing.
- New virtue upgrade system is good, however slightly clunky still

The Bad:
- The endgame. - It’s still in need of some serious addressing. The other civs contact you relentlessly for trade opportunities but seem oblivious to your victory status. As the turns are winding down toward a victory condition there should be a global crescendo of some sort. Leaders should be trying to sabotage the project, or declare war. At the very least there should be some discussion about the massive global event that will soon occur. This goes both ways, if another Civ is nearing a victory, your advisors should be freaking out! which brings me too…
- No advisors! - Sure, there are little icons on the tech tree and building/unit list list with recommendations, but I miss the advisors from past Civ series.
- The participation award - upon a victory (or defeat) there’s sorely little reward: a trite cutscene with narration and no real replay. The beatuiful cinematic scene that opens the game should have a set of equally impressive counterparts that culminate it. It is a serious letdown after hours of gameplay.

So all in all, the game is quite good. It is. It would just be so much better if the player were a bit more immersed in the experience.

DDRGuitar about Civilization: Beyond Earth