Sid Meier’s Civilization VII finds itself in an interesting place. Many fans felt that Civilization VI, while flawed in some aspects, perfectly encapsulated the demanding 4X strategy experience quite well. Developer Firaxis Games, instead of doubling down on what worked and simply giving us a rehash, decided to further refine and slim down its sequel in order to make it appealing to a broader audience that otherwise wouldn’t give the series a second glance. For some fans, this might seem like a step back, but for those willing to keep an open mind to the changes, there’s a lot to unpack here that works.



The first notable thing Civilization VII does is give players an astonishing amount of customisation options before you can even get a campaign rolling. You can tweak the difficulty of the game and even the speed, making it ideal for taking on an exciting game in one sitting. Firaxis Games was no doubt influenced by the Nintendo Switch, which Civilization VII also launched on. Not only has the UI been tweaked to accommodate the Switch’s portability – making text larger and more readable while keeping certain actions, resources and leaders easily defined by colour codes on the map – but so has the general flow of gameplay. If you want, you can stick to the game’s default options or higher difficulty settings for a more authentic, longer and time-consuming Civilization experience. However, if you’re like me and appreciate quick bursts of fun in an afternoon, you’ll probably appreciate the options.



I reviewed the game on Xbox Series S so I can’t speak too much on the Nintendo Switch version, but it’s crystal clear with Civilization VII that Nintendo’s handheld somewhat influenced the game’s faster-paced gameplay and streamlined mechanics. Ages, for example, are now broken up into three distinct types: Antiquity Age, Exploration Age and Modern Age. Unlike past games where entire campaigns rolled over into different ages, making for a pretty lengthy time investment, you can start and complete ages in isolation as progress doesn’t necessarily carry over to new ages anymore.

It’s crystal clear with Civilization VII that Nintendo’s handheld somewhat influenced the game’s faster-paced gameplay and streamlined mechanics.

Leaders have also seen a bit of a change in Civilization VII. You’re no longer restricted to the type of leader you want based on the civilization you want to tackle, but rather, any leader can be freely picked and plopped into any civilization of any era. This makes for so many interesting combinations that can sometimes border on comedic such as Confucius leading the Roman Empire or Machiavelli stirring up trouble in ancient Egypt. There are a lot of leaders to choose from but it’s definitely missing a few key figures from past games that I hope make an appearance as DLC down the line.



If you know the Civilization games by now, you know the drill. You start off taking baby steps by establishing colonies, towns and farms, slowly building your resources depending on your preferences. Sending out scouts can unlock more of the map and subsequently unveil new civilizations, kingdoms and leaders, which of course, want to make friends or enemies with you. Civilization VII introduces the new influence system, a type of currency that you can spend when initiating dialogue interactions with other leaders and executing major decisions.

Some leaders, for example, will want to host a cultural festival. You can choose to reap the benefits and keep the peace, which will cost you influence, or stay neutral on the matter, which doesn’t cost influence but you don’t get as many rewards out of it. Leaders will also admire you a bit less as a result, meaning they may not offer you total aid in future conflicts. Influence is fairly limited and these dialogue exchanges ensure that you can never horde points because it will ultimately be less beneficial for you. However, they’re one of the game’s best features and arguably one of the most refreshing systems introduced in the series yet.



Many of the past game’s systems have been streamlined to some degree, but surprisingly, it’s not detrimental to the experience, in my opinion. I’ve seen discussions about Civilization VII toning down or scaling back on its complexity – something that veteran players really admire – but in trying to reach a wider audience, certain concessions had to be made. Firaxis Games finds a pretty good middle-ground to all of this, simplifying some of its more convoluted aspects while keeping the spirit of the franchise alive and just as addictive as ever.

Civilization VII introduces the new influence system, a type of currency that you can spend when initiating dialogue interactions with other leaders and executing major decisions.

If single-player doesn’t do it for you, Civilization VII also has multiplayer to enjoy with others online. I went into some detail on the game’s multiplayer that you can read more about right here, but to keep things short, it has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, Firaxis Games will have to spend a bit more time applying patches and fixes as plenty of bugs can create infuriating moments, such as entire games mysteriously resetting after a turn or the game freezing up on dialogue exchanges.



There are a few more grievances that hold Civilization VII back from reaching greater heights. As much as you try to play the diplomatic route, investing in culture, science or economics, military power will almost always be the deciding factor in victory. This hasn’t changed at all throughout the Civilization series, to be fair, as having a strong military force and a capable general can almost guarantee domination if you just bully anyone who stands in your way. The other resources do help run your day-to-day duties and management, but ultimately, the bigger army always seems to hold the winning hand.

As much as you try to play the diplomatic route, investing in culture, science or economics, military power will almost always be the deciding factor in victory.

This is made a bit frustrating at the fact that you can see these developments coming from a mile away. If you’re trying to establish a culture-centric civilization that prides itself on religion and cultural preservation, seeing a neighbouring kingdom slowly building its military forces means exactly what you think it means: prepare for war. Sure, having a leader like Machiavelli who can charm (weasel?) his way out of escalating conflict is always an option, but in situations where that’s not an option, your only course of action is inevitable war before spending several turns trying to broker peace. Thus, starting a game where your focus is to build your military power seems like the most optimal route to brute force-expand your territory and civilization.



There’s also the issue of performance and UI. While there’s an effort to make Civilization VII’s UI a little more digestible and less cluttered, it’s still not the greatest experience on consoles, especially moving between different on-screen prompts (where a mouse would be able to execute these tasks smoothly and quickly, it takes a while to move your cursor around with thumb stick controls). On Xbox Series S which this review is based on, performance can be a mixed bag, from jittery frame rates to the screen freezing up for a few seconds after ending a turn. But from a presentation standpoint, it looks great and the various character models are wonderful.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII might not be the best game in the franchise, but thanks to some streamlined mechanics, a range of customisation options to tailor your ideal game, and a wide selection of great leaders in the base game, Firaxis Games lays a pretty food foundation for future content and DLC to build upon. Furthermore, it hasn’t really lost its identity. It’s still wildly addictive, time-consuming and rewarding in equal measures. Post-launch updates are still needed to sand down the rough edges but overall, Civilization VII will probably provide hours upon hours of endless fun.

*Xbox Review code provided by 2K Games