BoM/TWS Message Forum

Just to continue with some thoughts on C7, now that I've finished two games.

It definitely has the 1MT going. It's also like every other Civ game (IMO) in that the early game is at least 10x more interesting than the late game.

To me, the biggest change is the addition of Quests. These are tasks which, if you fulfill them, will add attributes to your Leader that give you advantages in later ages. (On reflection, the Ages now feel--from a game design standpoint--like they were added for the sake of the Quests, rather than for any intrinsic interest of their own. Which is a shame.) I like these for the most part, because they give structure to the game--some sort of constant goal so that you're not just faffing about--and because there are a number of Quests to choose from (depending upon which kind of attributes you are shooting for) you are not entirely railroaded into anything. (Also, it's entirely optional to pursue Quests at all.) But they are limited in number, and are hard-coded into the game, so they don't provide as much variety as one might wish.

At least the challenges that come at the end of the ages can vary from game to game. In the first game, the Antiquity Age ended with barbarian uprisings, while in the second game it ended with plagues.

The big "plus" I would note is the one I already have: a strong 1MT vibe to the game, which is a sign that overall it is working. My criticisms so far would be scattershot, and don't reflect any deep problem with the design.

My biggest criticism (s0 far) is one I've seen mentioned in other places, which is that the UI is unintuitive and uninformative. Three things that it dreadfully needs: (1) A city doesn't tell you what you've just built when it asks for updated orders. This is bad because knowing what you just built helps remind you what your strategy for that city is. (2) There really needs to be a Military screen, which shows where your units are and gives you a central place where you can upgrade them. Otherwise you have to scour the map for your units, and open up Army Commanders so you can upgrade units one at a time. It is tedious. (3) There ought to be a screen or an overlay that shows you at a glance what buildings you have in which hexes and what their yields. As it is, you have to hover the cursor over each hex to see what it contains, and you have to open up separate reports in order to see the yields from the buildings that the city contains.

This brings me to another criticism. The game looks gorgeous, but it also so busy that it almost impossible to "read".

Finally, I'll observe that the Civilopedia is as useless as ever. By this point, I'm not even sure why they include one.

But I do like it enough that I've paid $30 for the Deluxe edition so I can get some more leaders and nations.