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Recent reviews by Something12

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39 people found this review helpful
0.0 hrs on record
I don't really know if I should recommend this map pack. Most people seem to consider it too tiny and overly expensive for its size. And it is hard to deny that it is expensive and limited in size.

But I can't really hate it either since those maps are really interesting and fun to play. It is a case of fun vs. money here. One must consider which one he or she values more.

If you need something to pass time before the Rising Tides comes and you have some extra cash left in your steam wallet this map pack might be for you. I only hope that the archipelago maps get updated with the new underwater features that come with Rising Tides.



Posted September 10, 2015.
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4 people found this review helpful
22.7 hrs on record (19.1 hrs at review time)
Beyond Earth is a game that will divide the fans of the series.

If you like Civ V you will propably like Beyond Earth too. If you excepted Alpha Centauri 2 you might be dissappointed.

At its current state the game resembles Civ V when it was first published. It looks neat and is fun to play but lacks a lot of the features of older Civilization games making it easier to learn for new players but somewhat limited for the old fans. While it made some happy many more were enraged and made their anger well known. If you buy this game you will buy a game that will get a lot of downloadable content to complete it in the future. This is what companies do these days.

Despite its flaws Beyond Earth has many good qualities. First of all it is a good strategy game. It will need some high-quality downloadable content to become an excellent game. But it isn't a bad game despite what many say. It needs some time and a bit of forgiveness but I do believe most fans will grow to like it.

The overall sci-fi theme is well realized. The distant planets look both beautiful and genuinely strange. Vast clouds of poisonous miasma, strange floating rocks, towering fungal stalks and deep canyons that radiate heat from the planet's core make it pretty clear we aren't in Kansas anymore. And the planet is alive too. All sorts of alien critters crawl on its surface and offer the player both threats and possibilities. And unlike the barbarians they however act like animals should and attack usually only when provoked. Early game expansion is very different from Civ 5. That is for sure.

The best part of Beyond Earth begins at mid- and late-game. With numerous mini-quests and a tech web that allows you to research to any direction you want your civilization can be quite different every time. The diplomacy and espionage systems are far superior to Civ V and can beused for some very sneaky tricks.The affinity system is still the best part of the game. The three different affinities allow very different futures for humankind. Offering solid bonuses and all kinds of cool units ranging from robot walkers and floating fortresses to your very own kaiju the choice of affinity is one of the most important ones you must make. Not to mention that the differing philosophical choices can drive leaders to war but can also make that one jerk who constanly tries to stab your back your new best friend because you both want to be space hippies and ride giant worms.

Now to the flaws this game has. There are two big ones and some will never forgive it for them. First like I already mentioned this isn't Alpha Centauri 2 no matter how hard we wished that it would have been. Secondly this game needs much more personality. In regular Civ games we know the background. We know who Ceasar was and what the university does and why you need to research the wheel. But just who is Kavitha Thakur and why should I build a panopticon or invent swarm robotics? While Alpha Centauri had voice clips and animations that revealed the richness and depth of its world to us Beyond Earth has all the good stuff hidden in civilopedia and we just get some conceptual images and symbols.

And the leaders are nowhere as good as the ones in SMAC. All who played Alpha Centauri remember Santiago's brutally militaristic survivalism, Morgan's philosophical thoughts about the ethics of greed and that time Zakharov showed us why you shouldn't ask what happens behind the event horizon. But try as they might the leaders in Beyond Earth lack charisma and depth. Even with the alterations different affinities cause they still look and sound a bit boring. And sadly it seems that the animation department ran out of money since while cyborg Barre or Fielding in a toga look really awesome others like Elodie, Hutama and Bolivar change only a tiny bit.

Better script and voice acting with a fully changing wardrobe with more cybernetic limbs, alien mutations and flowing togas combined with a Civ V style background image with statues, robots or pet aliens appearing based on the player's choices would have been expensive and difficult to program yet so much better and far more interesting.

All in all this is a fun game to play especially if you have friends who like sci-fi and Civ to play with. I like it and I wish to recommed this game to other fans of turn-based strategy. This game has its obvious flaws but it also has lots of potential so I would give it the ultimate judgement only after all the obvious dlc is out. Until then if you have patience and you want a solid and fun sci-fi strategy game that isn't Alpha Centauri 2 this is the game you are looking for.

Posted November 19, 2014.
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Showing 1-2 of 2 entries