Civilization 7, the latest in the legendary strategy franchise revealed its gameplay by franchise’s creative director Sid Meier. His clear tone shows reinventing the series’ core mechanics is his way of bringing the franchise to new heights. One wonders if this is his swan song to the beloved history simulator. Regardless, we have plenty of new information to tide us over until the February 2025 release date.
Legendary Ages
The biggest change to the series’ well-known formula involves the changing of ages and civilization identity. In the past, players would choose a particular historical nation (Egypt, Rome, China, etc.) and see their humble beginnings. Starting in ancient times, players would follow that nation from carving stones to launching rockets. Each age would see a soft reset in progress and a chance to pivot your focus. Civilization 7 is revamping this idea in its entirety. The timeline of each game will now be handled in three distinct ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. You will now select a nation to play at the start of each age! This means you can change nations over the game’s course.
This is said to be transformative to the game’s overall balance. In the past, some civilizations would be strong in the early game and weak later on, or vice versa. As each nation could only have so many unique qualities, it was hard to make all of them balanced for the entire game. Now, nations will be distinct for each age. Their unique abilities will be focused entirely around that age, making game balance much easier. Additionally, while you can follow a historical path and evolve a nation on its natural course, you can also see ahistorical options. You may start as Egypt but end up as a nation from a different continent entirely!
Varied Leadership
To augment the changes to the way nation selection works, leader selection has also been altered. In the past, each civilization would have a leader that represented it. In Civilization 7, leadership choice is separate from civilization choice! You can choose to play as one historical character and assign them to a nation of your choice. Then, as the game progresses, they can find themselves in charge of new nations as you make adjustments at each age. We also are seeing new kinds of leaders for the first time. Before, it was standard to only see heads of state as representing each nation. Now, we can have other kinds of historical icons represented like Benjamin Franklin!
This update to how leaders work will dramatically alter the game’s strategy. Each leader will have gameplay implications for the long haul, affecting your choices over the whole campaign. At each age you will select a civilization for them to run, mixing their abilities with the nation’s unique qualities. You can follow history and give them power over the nation they belonged to, or lead elsewhere. The ability to create multiple unique combinations throughout the game’s three ages means that each campaign will be unique. No longer will you be Caesar ruling over Rome for 10000 years. Now, you may have Caesar found Ancient Egypt and transform it into an entirely different nation over time!
Final Thoughts
Civilization 7 is shaping up to be a dramatic transformation for the franchise. Altering how the core mechanics work is a bold strategy that could pay off heavily. Old fans will find they have to completely change how they play the game they have known for decades. New fans will be excited by the visual splendor of the modern art assets being shown off. Even more new gameplay features and reimagined elements will certainly appear in future marketing. One thing remains certain: Civilization 7 will continue to be the premier source for hex-tile-based historical simulators.
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