Civilization 7 Changes Up The Series Strategic Loop, And I Love It - Gamescom 2024

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There is one game I attribute to getting me into strategy games as a whole: Sid Meier’s Civilization. Specifically, I loved playing Civilization 5. It felt rewarding and engaging, and while it would take a long time, it truly made me want to keep taking one more turn before I would take a break, so I didn’t play for 7 hours straight with my friend, who is also named Noah. So, when I say I jumped out of my seat and celebrated the announcement of Civilization 7, I am not exaggerating. To make things better, I had the opportunity to try the game at Gamescom, and it only made me more excited and energized to see how the game would play out. This makes me happy since Civilization 6 didn't hit the right spots for me, but the new title feels like it will.

The core gameplay hasn’t changed all that much, but in this entry, they are adding multiple layers of strategy that will make you rethink how you play the game. You will still be moving units and building/expanding cities on a hexagon grid, getting resources, and growing your economy while evolving your civilization, but how you do it has changed.

Instead of playing as just one civilization, you will play as three in each match. Civilization 7 is now sectioned into three ages, and with a new age comes a new civilization. In the beginning, you will choose a leader and civilization separately, each with its own bonuses and strengths. Then, after a certain amount of turns, you will have to choose another civilization with different bonuses. The ones you can choose from are determined based on your leader and what you have done in the game so far. So, let’s say you choose Ben Franklin as your leader. When you choose your next civilization, you could choose between one based on the leader you chose or another based on the resources that you gathered during the last age. This can completely change your strategy moving forward and give a chance to those who have fallen so far behind to make a comeback.

During each age, you will also choose one of four different resources to focus on, as you will have sort of a guide or mission given to be successful in your endeavor. For instance, if you choose a cultural focus, you will get missions to build wonders and expand your culture. There are also random events that can happen that can not only affect players but change the world for the better or worse. The game takes a different, more realistic approach to building out your civilization in a more realized and alive world, and I couldn’t be happier. On top of that, while some paths are more positive to take, others are much more negative and darker.

Civilization 7 still has city-states and minor civilizations scattered throughout the world, and the way you interact with them has changed a bit. As you play, you will gain influence points. You will use those to enact certain actions with these city-states to either make them like you or dislike you, set up trade routes, and more.

Then, we have some changes to how the military works. You can still move units around, but instead of each individual combat unit getting EXP and leveling up, you have commanders that get all the experience and level up. Any perks that the commander gets, all the units associated with them get as well. You can also group all the units onto the commander and just move them instead of moving each unit individually. Especially with late-game wars, this will be extremely helpful.

Other than that, it feels just like Civilization but with updated visuals and more refined mechanics. Everything looked and sounded like the games they made before, it really felt so familiar, yet everything had clearly been retouched, and I loved it. I may be biased, since I am a big fan of the series already, but this is a Day 1 purchase for me easily.

Sid Meier's Civilization 7 can be pre-purchased on Steam for $69.99. Not only does it have a Linux version for the game, but it will also be shipping with controller support! While specs haven't been released yet, I am hopeful and optimistic that this will run on Steam Deck.

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