Developer: Firaxis, Aspyr
Publisher: 2K games, Aspyr
Platform: PC, Mac OS X, Linux, IOS
Civilization VI: Rise and Fall – Review
Civilization has always been a staple in the 4X turn based strategy scene. Always trying for as much realism they can get out of the genre, while keeping their games as enjoyable as they can. With titles on most of the platforms you can imagine there’s bound to be some qualitatively less interesting titles, but the main series have always stood strong against the test of time. Expansions to their core series have always given players numerous new systems and ways to become the great leader they’ve always envisioned themselves to be. Rise and Fall is an expansion to 2016’s Civ VI and adds a plethora of micromanagement options to your cities, ranging from a new ways to play with the era counter, and assignable governors. Let’s Fall right in!
Story
Civ has always been about discarding history and giving players the chance to make their own empires. Want to see how Shaka Zulu would do in the modern era? Done. Have a fantasy of becoming a Mongol and breaking down the Chinese wall? Be my guest! But that also means that there is little room for a story outside preset scenarios. Those have been tried, of course, though they are never as popular as the free play mode. They DO sneak some small things in here and there however, every civilization and leader has bonuses based on their impact on history.
Graphics
Seeing as to how we’re talking about an expansion to the game and not a complete overhaul, there is very little to say about the graphics that have not already been said. Therefore we’ll be taking a little bit more of a zoomed in look at the new screens you’ll be facing in this expansion. Like the governors screen: There are seven governors in the game, and they each have their own abilities. Some of these abilities are locked behind others, but that is not immediately clear from the main screen, instead, you have to click to view the promotions. This is only another screen that may have been avoided with a different layout to the screen prior because that screen already has hover over tool-tips, it feels like bloat and unnecessary layers of information.
Sound
As with our graphics section, as more of an additive upgrade to the game instead of rework or overhaul, there is not a lot new to talk about on the sound stage. Some of the (relatively) biggest additions in the sound department feature mainly in the new set of Civilization leaders. Because oh yes! Rise and Fall brings nine new leaders to the roster, among which are queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Mongolia’s Genghis Khan, and Chandragupta of Indian fame. As with the older Civs, these all require their own introductions.
Gameplay
Gameplay is the place Civilization and its expansions really get the chance to shine. The mechanics the game has in place all have amazing depth and the ability to really capture players. Rise and Fall is one of those expansions. The new Governors systems remind us somewhat of spies used in the last game in the series, but that’s okay. The new skin keeps it fresh and interesting regardless, with the enjoyment coming mostly from the new ways to improve on your cities. Much like the spies, you assign a governor to a city, where it stays until you reassign it to a different city. When you assign them they will immediately start increasing loyalty by 8 points, but most of them will take a number of turns to set up to give you their other bonuses. Each governor has specific traits that will improve your city in a number of ways, depending on which one you assign. Loyalty pressure in turn, is similar to a system in religion where a city will revolt if it is not kept up high enough, after which it can be taken over by an enemy faction with more loyalty pressure or through military conquest.
The other major new system in this expansion is the Ages and Era scores, which are an expansion on golden ages from previous games. Players now have four options: a heroic age, golden ages, normal ages, and dark ages. Well, we say options, but which age you get is more or less out of your control. You can influence it by being a good leader and listening to your empire’s wants and needs, which will give you points, which will decide what kind of age you go into. The only exception is the heroic age, which can only be triggered when a civilization goes straight from a dark to a golden age. Each time a new age gets triggered through scientific discovery, all the points are tallied up and that decides the age you’re in, giving you respective bonuses depending on what era you’ve achieved.
Conclusion
Something cool that we wanted to mention but would not fit in the review, is that while playing Rise and Falls the keys of our RGB keyboard were forced to the color of the country we were playing as. And this is what Civ is all about; the small things, the systems that are too obscure make a big impact on normal gameplay if you don’t want to deal with them, but extremely powerful if you know how to handle them. Civilization VI: Rise and Fall is all about these systems, small nuisances when ignored but extremely fun to play with when you understand them. And if nitpicking small problems about menus and voice actors is all we can throw at it that’s a great sign that the expansion is a must-buy for everyone who needs a new challenge on their path to world domination. Happy conquering!
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