Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

Platforms: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Mac

Civilization VII, the latest entry in the long-running empire building sim series, is meant to be the most accessible instalment yet. Good news, surely, for anyone with a hankering for charting the course of human development, but who may have previously been put off by the franchise's reputation for impenetrability.

Bad news: it's not. Accessible, that is. To anyone not already versed in the intricacies of the series, developer Firaxis Games' 4X titan (that's "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate" for those not up on the parlance) remains a wildly unwelcoming experience, drowning newcomers in walls of text and endless inscrutable statistics even as they try to set up their first scrappy encampment.

Civ VII does try to explain itself – "here's your starting city, here's how you expand it”; "here's how you make a scout, here's how you send them to explore the hidden areas of the world map”; or, "here's how you gather resources”. But matters soon reach baffling territory. When Firaxis has had to rely on an exhaustive encyclopaedia to explain the voluminous rulesets and mind-bogglingly complex details governing everything from forging trade pacts to founding religions, it’s fair to say that any claims to accessibility have probably gone out of the window.

What about long-term, invested Civilization fans though, those already invested in and educated in the ways of the world(builder)? Those players will certainly be off to a flying start and the accumulated knowledge of Civilizations past makes for a much easier time here. However, rather than just the same old Civ with a fresh coat of paint, this release represents the biggest shake-up to the game’s formula in its 34 year history, with a number of core changes that mean even experienced Civ-heads can expect a slightly bumpy ride.

Streamlines and improves some of the more arduous aspects of the earlier games.

In some ways, Civ VII streamlines and improves some of the more arduous aspects of the earlier games. Enhancing the facilities or function of a tile no longer requires workers to be assigned to the job – just select the action and wait a few turns for the work to be done. Transport links are now somewhat automated too, connecting settlements by road or rail without you needing to manually build the infrastructure. These smart touches remove much of the drudgery of guiding a culture to its apex so that you can focus your energy on the fun stuff.

The flipside is that these automated systems can make Civ VII feel as though it's holding the player back, not leaving much for them to do for themselves. As you progress, adding ever-more buildings, military units, material resources, and social tools to your strategic arsenal along the way, it feels like the game's AI is doing more and more of the heavy lifting, leaving you to merely click "next turn" and watch as numbers roll – and often not in your favour.

Other alterations are likely to be more controversial to faithful fans, with one of the biggest changes being that the tide of history now hits regular breakers. Games of Civ VII are divided into three Ages – Antiquity, Exploration, Modern – and once you've reached certain cultural thresholds in one, you'll advance to the next. However, you'll lose a huge chunk of progress in doing so – cities revert to towns (themselves a new addition to the series), losing the ability to craft certain facilities and requiring more resources to re-develop, and military units disappear en masse, requiring you to rebuild forces. Strangest of all, while your culture's leader remains in place – pivotal figures from history, from Benjamin Franklin to Machiavelli, Xerxes to José Rizal – you'll have to switch to a new civilization for them to guide when you move to a new era. While this may present a chance to mix things up (changing government type, or swapping your "Legacy Path", the guiding principle you'll have been following up until then) it too often feels like a rug-pull. Plus, it can somewhat lessen the immersion when you end up with say, Harriet Tubman leading China during the Han Dynasty.

Firaxis' production values for Civilization VII are sky high though – this is undoubtedly the best the series has looked, both in terms of overall art design and detail. Zooming from the aerial, big-picture world view down to the bustling streets of a metropolis you've created is a real treat, while the titans of history you'll be crossing paths with are beautifully realised. It's just a shame that the learning curve to get to a point where any of that can really be appreciated is all-too-likely to burn out players – new or lapsed – before they can. Still, predecessor Civilization VI had a similarly rocky launch, yet long-term support saw it become a beloved entry in the series. Hopefully history will be as kind to Civilization VII.