CIV BEYOND EARTH 2 SERIES

CIV BEYOND EARTH 2 SERIES

WeвЂ™ll know for sure when the game launches (get it?) in October.The Civilization series has repeatedly roped me in for disappearances that span hours and even days, and the newest instalment, Civilization: Beyond Earth continues that storied tradition. But at the end of the day it also looks like a great 4X game in its own right. ItвЂ™s a dozen different, reductive things. Bottom lineД«eyond Earth is Civilization V in space. I donвЂ™t know how Favors scale over the centuries-can I use that early Favor to ask for a high-end technology later?-but itвЂ™s probably my favorite addition to Beyond Earth so far. That Favor then becomes a form of currency, used for my own diplomacy dealings later. I had a corporation ask me for 100 Energy (used to outright buy buildings and units) in return for a Favor, which I accepted. You can now do a rival corporation a solid early in the game, and then call that favor in later. It isВ a Civ game, after all.Д«eyond Earth revamps this with Favors. And then you ignore diplomacy for a while because thereвЂ™s not much worth trading for.Дiplomacy still plays a huge part in Civilization: Beyond Earth. You all greet each other, some make temporary alliances, and some even make agreements to open borders. Early on in a Civilization game diplomacy always seems really stilted. The feature IвЂ™m most intrigued by, however, is Favors. But they added somewhat to the allure of those starting moments-a small group of colonists on a foreign planet, trying to stay alive and avoid becoming Roanoke 2.0. The other Advanced maps do the same, with options to start on Eta Vulpeculae B for instance, or Mu Arae F, which is described as вЂњTidally locked in orbit around a weak star, the south is blistering desert where the sun never sets while the north is perpetually in frozen darkness.вЂќ Did these strange seedings make for enormous changes in the game? Not as far as I could tell. Still, itвЂ™s an interesting science fiction-y way for Beyond Earth to cross over with real science. There are hypotheses, but nothing solid yet. Now, in real life we donвЂ™t know what Kepler 186f is like. For instance, I played on a map labeled Kepler 186f-вЂќOne of the oldest known Earth-like planets, a faint image of the seas and continents of this world inspired the Seeding.вЂќ However I was much more interested in the вЂњAdvancedвЂќ map options, which are (as far as I can tell) preset. By the 100th turn my two trade convoys were raking in 15 Science and 14 Energy-compared to the 4 Science and 6 Energy coming from my city itself. This allows you to build your trade hub and trade convoys, and the rewards you get are massive. At the beginning of the game you can choose to start off with the Pioneering technology, or you can research it early on. And clearly the latter of those two options is better. We could either expand the effects of our fence to a three square radius (compared to the original two) or we could attach it to all of our trade convoys so theyвЂ™d stop being harassed by mobs. After building an Ultrasonic Fence, my scientists eventually returned to tell me theyвЂ™d made a breakthrough in space-fence-technology. YouвЂ™ll also see technologies evolve over the course of the game, though the results are only surprising on the first playthrough. You can still totally blow up giant kraken aliens with fighter jets if you want, though. While theyвЂ™ll sometimes come after you if threatened, you can also (and itвЂ™s recommended) leave them alone early in the game and eventually research peaceful tactics like the Ultrasonic Fence, which keeps aliens out of your city entirely. IвЂ™ve had the aliens walk right into my city and yet refrain from attacking-a situation IвЂ™m sure made many of my virtual citizens need a fresh set of pants. For instance, those alien mobs arenвЂ™t necessarily hostile.

Civ beyond earth 2