Civ6 Reviews Roundup

By | October 27, 2016

Civilization VI has been out for almost a week now and lots of reviews have been published.

At Metacritic, the game’s current meta score is 90 based on 36 reviews, which is “Universal acclaim” rating.

Here are excerpts from some of the reviews:

GameSpot (90/100)
“Civ 6 has a few rough edges, but they’re pushed far into the periphery by spectacular strategic depth and intricate interlocking nuances. Any frustrations I experienced were immediately eclipsed by my desire to continue playing. Just one more turn, every turn, forever.”

IGN (94/100)
“Civilization VI will go down in history as the most fully-featured launch version in the series. Many of those are smartly revamped versions of Civ classics, buy it finds its own identity with great new ideas like spread-out cities, customizeable governments, research boosts, and leader agendas. And even though the AI has some improving to do, it can put up enough of a fight to make world domination a challenge.”

PC Gamer (93/100)
“Sight, sound, and systems harmonize to make Civilization 6 the liveliest, most engrossing, most rewarding, most challenging 4X in any corner of the earth.

Kotaku
“Civilization VI has issues in unexpected places, but only a catastrophe was going to stop this being a real good time. And this is no catastrophe. What we’ve got here is a strategy game that, while preserving most of the series’ longtime fundamentals, has also found new and surprising ways—through an investment in player choice and more hands-on time with your people—to keep things interesting.”

Game Revolution (90/100)
“This is a captivating game, one that consumes your time and gives back more than you put in. It’ll test your ability to make sound decisions, and anticipate the future. While diplomacy and numbers tuning will be required to combat some of the frustration that the game brings, this is yet another outstanding 4X game from Firaxis Games that will undoubtedly become one of the most popular PC titles for the years to come.”

PCWorld (80/100)
“Civilization VI has room to improve (particularly the AI), but this is the most complete a baseline Civ game has felt in ages and a few smart tweaks on the formula distinguish it from its predecessor.”

Destructoid (85/100)
“The old Civ mantra of “one more turn” is stronger than ever. The additions make for a much deeper strategy game and the inclusion of most of the features from previous entries makes for a remarkably well-rounded launch. It will be interesting to see where Civ VI goes, but I have a feeling there won’t be nearly as dramatic a change as Civ V saw.”

Polygon (85/100)
“Civilization 6 is an advance on the previous game, offering more variety, smarter use of assets and a wider palette of potential activities. It remains the best of its kind, always demanding my attention, forever creating new narratives out of stats and maps. But it fails to move the concept of a history simulation beyond the ambitions set 25 years ago. We’ve reached the point where Civ games are as much a simulation of themselves, as they are of the march of human progress.”

Game Informer (95/100)
“These are just a few of the dozens of minor tweaks to what was already an incredibly strong formula. Firaxis’ newest entry in the Civilization series isn’t a game changer, because the game was already great. However, Civilization VI could easily be the pinnacle of the series.”

Time (80/100)
“It is, in most of the ways that matter, the best-looking, most systemically well thought out, and thereby most fun I’ve had with a Civilization since 1996…Except for that one thing.”

Rock, Paper, Shotgun
“It is, quite simply, a thing of wonder, and a late contender for my personal game of the year.”

Civilization VI Macintosh Version Released!

By | October 25, 2016
civ6ma_avail_nowComing hot on the heels of the PC release, Aspyr today announced the release of the Macintosh version of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. Both the Mac and PC versions are available for all those who have purchased the game.
Aspyr also tweeted that Linux users have not forgotten, indicating that the company is investigating a port for that platform.
 You can discuss everything related to the Mac version of the game in our Civ6 – Macintosh forum >>> http://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ6-macintosh.552/

Playing Civ6 This Weekend?

By | October 22, 2016

To all Civ fans who are playing Civ6 this weekend:

Happy Civing! 🙂

Team Liquid Civilization Team Announced

By | October 22, 2016

team_liquid_logo-svgThe professional gaming organization, Team Liquid, has marked the release of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI by announcing a Civilization Team, headed by multiplayer stalwart MrGameTheory.

Team Liquid noted that they were, “proud to announce the creation of our Civilization Team and an initiative to launch Civilization VI into the world of competitive esports,” and stated that, “We’ll be launching a tournament soon, and the revitalization of the Civplayers and Civfanatic communities will be a great start to what will become of the scene.”

In addition, Team Liquid have noted that two additional team members will be announced on October 29, before a ‘series of tournaments’ are hosted starting on November 19 to find more team members.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Released!

By | October 21, 2016

civ6ma_avail_nowSid Meier’s Civilization VI has been released worldwide! Marking the 25th anniversary of the Civ series, the game both builds upon the critically and commercially successful Sid Meier’s Civilization V, and introduces a variety of new features, such as the District system.

CivFanatics houses a number of forums to discuss Civ6:
  • General Discussions – discuss any and all aspects of the game here; let everyone know what you enjoy and what you don’t about the game.
  • Bug Reports – if you run into any bugs while playing the game, post them here. Firaxis staff have in the past perused our Bug Report forums to identify problems that need fixing in the next patch of the game.
  • Ideas & Suggestions – have you thought of a way to improve on Civ6? If so, post your idea in this forum and see what other fanatics think.
  • Strategy & Tips – discuss the best strategies for playing the game with players of all difficulty levels.
  • Creation & Customization – get involved in the modding scene, or find out about new mods for the game. Right now, you can check out the first version of the Anno Domini mod by Rob (R8XFT).
  • Multiplayer – sick of the AI? Play against some humans! Discuss all multiplayer topics here.
  • Stories & Let’s Plays – if you have a game story to share, or an LP to post, do so here.
  • Technical Support – if you run into any technical difficulties with the game, post in this forum to see if others can help you.
  • Macintosh – this is a forum for the discussion of the recently announced Mac version of Civ6.

“Sogno di Volare” Live Performance and Soundtrack Release

By | October 20, 2016

2K and Firaxis Games have released a live performance of “Sogno di Volare” the theme music for Civilization VI, and made the game’s soundtrack available for all to enjoy on YouTube.

Watch Christopher Tin conduct “Sogno di Volare”, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Angel City Chorale, Prima Vocal Ensemble, and Lucis at Cadogan Hall in London, July 19, 2016.

Each of the 19 different civilizations featured in Civilization VI has their own unique music. This score lives as an evolving audio record of your civilization’s progress as players aim to expand their empire and conquer the world in Civilization VI.

You can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube here:

Civilization VI soundtrack will be available for purchase from Friday October 21, on Gumroad, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music and Google Play.

Sogno di Volare” as well as its accompanying track “A New Course” with lyrics are available on YouTube:

Civ6 Release Tomorrow!

By | October 20, 2016

The wait is nearly over! Sid Meier’s Civilization VI will be released tomorrow worldwide, available to play immediately for those who have pre-ordered and pre-loaded the game, and available to purchase, download and play immediately for everyone else.

The release schedule is detailed in the following image:

civilization_vi_steam_unlock_final_hero

2K have also prepared the following handy links to make it easy to find out when the game will unlock for you:

http://2kgam.es/Zone1
http://2kgam.es/Zone2
http://2kgam.es/Zone3

Thus, the local release times for some common locations are as follows:

Auckland – Friday 21 October 2016, 5am
Sydney – Friday 21 October 2016, 3am
Singapore – Friday 21 October 2016, 12am (midnight)
Moscow – Friday 21 October 2016, 2am
Berlin – Friday 21 October 2016, 1am
London – Friday 21 October 2016, 12am (midnight)
New York – Friday 21 October 2016, 12am (midnight)
Chicago – Thursday 20 October 2016, 11pm
Los Angeles – Thursday 20 October 2016, 9pm
Hawaii – Thursday 20 October 2016, 6pm

Civ6 “How to” Video Series

By | October 18, 2016

2K and Firaxis Games have released a six-part “How to” video series to prepare gamers for the launch of Civilization VI on October 21, 2016. Each part is just under 2 minutes long. The topics covered are:

  • How to choose a civilization
  • How to take your first turns
  • How to explore
  • How to deal with barbarians
  • How to make diplomacy work
  • How to get help