I have been with Civilization games since the dawn of the 21st century. I remember playing a spin-off game in the series, Call to Power 2, quite a bit and I believe some Civilization 3 as well. After that I recall a bit of Civilization 4. So, when I saw the critically acclaimed 2016 effort from Firaxis Games, Civilization 6, on the Nintendo Switch for $20, it was an easy choice. I knew I could quickly sink time into it, as I have. This game is a master class not just in Civilization games, but strategy games themselves. Building your empire from the stone ages is as fun as ever. It can be enjoyed by the casual connoisseur or the hardcore gamer alike.
Civilization 6 can be rough for beginners. Starting a game opens a can of worms. From the get-go, the menu where you layout your game. There are so many options, and the more you play the more you will be able to hone these exactly to what you want out of your experience. I prefer to turn off barbarians because they are such a nuisance. Some settings change the game quite a bit, such as map size and style. Then once you get into the game, I ended up resetting a lot because I would get very undesirable spawn locations or early game progression was bad.
Then, before you know it, you’ve got a game on your hands. Hours disappear as you carry your empire towards the stars. Or, glorious military domination, or whatever victory condition you choose to pursue. There are different ways to win, and you should know how you’re going to win well before you get there. I’ve played several games the ones that neared, or reached, completion were about ten hours. Sometimes, you lose because a cascade of things, but often times I found I lost over little things I had to deal with that I wasn’t ready for. With between 40-50 hours, I am confident I can secure a victory if I apply what I have learned in past games.
This game is not easy. It is incredibly complex and deep. Your foes will not make the kinds of mistakes you will early on, even at easy difficulty. They will not bow down to you, by any means, and their demands can be a lot sometimes. I have had fun experimenting with different ways to win and slowly honing how to secure each type of victory. Settling cities is important for most victories I have explored.
Civilization 6 is graphically pleasing. The visual style tells you what is happening well, and looks good doing it. I love how everything changes as your civilization advances. The animation of great wonders being constructed, like the Eiffel Tower, are so cool and you get to rewind them and watch them over easily. I’m not sure how accurate they are, but they look neat. There is just an eye for detail in this game that makes it special.
Another thing that makes this game special is the audio. The sound design is communicative, gratifying and just all around wonderful. And the music is extraordinary. It is so evocative and compelling it makes your experience transcendental. As good of a game as this is to turn down the volume and listen to a podcast, a record or something, you won’t want to because of how good the music already is in Civilization 6.
Multiplayer is there, although I haven’t had the opportunity to explore it yet. You need committed players for a game which will go multiple sessions. Solo games for me have been around ten hours. The potential for fun with friends is fantastic, whether you forge an alliance, send spies to steal their Great Works, nuke their capital or however you decide to play. I am so convinced by the capacity to enjoy this game with others, I bought the Civilization “New Dawn” board game from the local game shop, and have been begging friends and family to learn how to play it with me. The board game is much more fast-paced from what I understand, easily doable in one sitting.
One aspect I have not forayed into as strong yet, is military action. All the military action I have committed up to this point has been minimal to focus on other things, and has been either directed at barbarian threats or posturing/building defense. So far, on easy difficulty this has been alright, although like I said I did start turning off barbarians because they are SUCH a torment. Unlike old games, you can’t stack units on top a city and endlessly garrison it. This means you cannot drag your enemies into a battle of attrition for your city the old way, now it is more sophisticated. You build construction projects on hexes adjacent to your city centers, and can improve tiles within your grasp with builders building farms, mines, etc. Enemies can pillage these, and siege you this way. Tech is important to military might because it gives you things like gunpowder, rifling and nukes, to name a few.
This game is really fantastic. Find it anywhere you can, pay the price for admission. You will be able to spend hundreds of hours in this game if you like strategy games. You can do no better in the genre. The gameplay is addictive in how fun and gratifying it can be. The visuals keep the eye entertained and are competent. The music is out-of-this-world, with a wide selection of tracks. The worst thing about this game is the difficulty, and that isn’t even a bad thing. The intense difficulty gives this game depth. It also makes it so much more rewarding the more you do things right. Difficulty is not a downside in this game. And as I mentioned, there are so many options in the menu to start a game, you can really tip the odds if you are just playing to learn and want don’t care about a purist experience. Civilization 6 is a welcome addition to my library, I expect to spend over a hundred hours with it, easily.
Credit: Civilization 6. Screenshots by me.
HereticDerek 