Hands-on with Civilization VII’s new historical sandbox
8.22.2024
By Laura Kate Dale, Contributor
In the upcoming Civilization VII, leaders can now rule over different civilizations not traditionally or historically associated with their real-life self. It was one of the features I was most interested in trying at Gamescom. For example, when selecting Augustus as my leader, of the four civilizations available in the demo, both Rome and Egypt were marked with a special icon to denote that Augustus ruling over these during the Age of Antiquity would be historically accurate, as both regions were at least part of the Roman Empire. That said, I was not limited from selecting one of the two other region options to pair him with.
While there were obvious statistical benefits to pairing Augustus with Rome—there was a natural synergy there, clear to see—the option to mix and match could offer some interesting strategies that exploit the game in unforeseen ways. It’s the kind of system that feels like it’s there to reward outside-the-box thinking, for players who can spot less-obvious synergies to take advantage of.
One of the other big picture changes present in Civ VII—which I wasn’t able to fully try out myself during my hands-on, but could get a sense of—is the new age transition system, and its impact on specialization.
In Civ VII, players pick a starting civilization, but are no longer tied directly to it through all three ages of a campaign. As each age ends, players will be offered a branching selection of new civilizations to switch to for the next age, while carrying forward bonuses based on their playstyle in the previous segments. Here's an example given during a developer presentation: Players starting in Egypt will be offered the option to play the second age as Songhai based on where they started their civilization, Mongolia if they invested enough resources in collecting horses, and another option based on their leader choice. The actions you choose to take in each age will impact which civilizations are offered, with each having unique stats and bonuses of their own. The narrative justification for this seems to be that you’re switching your focus as a ruler to a new civilization somewhere else in your empire that better aligns with your goals in this new era of history.
Mechanically, this means that age transitions are a natural point where players might change their focus for each victory path, with somewhat of a clean slate to work with. Early on in each age, players will be asked by one of their advisors which legacy path they wish to follow; while you’re not forced into pursuing that choice for the full age, you will be given quests that guide you toward victory and reward progress along the path you claimed. Sticking with a path has clear benefits including carrying forward useful bonuses to your civilization in the next age, but that transition means you’ve got a chance to switch focus without missing out on all the possible bonuses.
When playing Civ VII, it was ultimately the little changes I really appreciated. Scouts can now sacrifice their movement for a turn to double up their visibility radius and see further into the distance. You can now earn an influence stat that you can spend to ensure favor with factions, or outbid others for allegiance. Rulers of nations are authentically voice-acted and brought to life with wonderfully written personalities. The game looks gorgeous and runs really nicely even at this early stage.
The Civilization series has been a standard-bearer in its genre for years, and that looks set to stay the case with Civ VII. There’s a saying about not ruining a good thing, and it’s evidently true here. The team at developer Firaxis Games clearly know how much to tweak to feel fresh, while keeping the foundational elements of the game consistent to ensure that special Civ feel.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will release on the Epic Games Store on February 11, 2025.