GamesStrategyCivilization 7Civilization 7’s new features: a revamped three-age structure, towns, navigable rivers, and moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesStrategyCivilization 7Civilization 7’s new features: a revamped three-age structure, towns, navigable rivers, and moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Firaxis)
Jump to:Big structural changesNew feature: townsChanges to citiesChanges to unitsNew unit type: CommandersNew feature: InfluenceMisc featuresMultiplayer and launch info
Jump to:Big structural changesNew feature: townsChanges to citiesChanges to unitsNew unit type: CommandersNew feature: InfluenceMisc featuresMultiplayer and launch info
Civilization 5 was controversial for ditching unit stacking, forcing players to space out their armies on a new hexagonal grid. Civilization 6 got heat for altering the art style, and added a new city district system to mixed reviews. Eight years later, Firaxis hasn’t opted to play it safe for Civilization 7: Get ready for some long Reddit threads.
The most fundamental change, and the one I think will be the most controversial, is a revamp of the game structure. Instead of lots of eras—Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, and so on—a game of Civ 7 is divided into just three ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. At the start of each age, you’ll be prompted to pick a new civilization, with options that depend on your current civilization and the choices you’ve made so far. Mongolia might show up in your Exploration age options if you’ve developed powerful cavalry units, for instance.
This also means that Civ 7’s leaders are no longer locked to the civilization they’re known for leading. 2K flew me out to the Firaxis office earlier this month, where I spent three hours building the Roman Empire as Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut.
I explain how that went inmy hands-on preview, but I know that Civ fans will also care about all the little changes and additions in Civ 7, sobelow I’ve listed absolutely every new thing I noticed during my hands-on session in the Antiquity age. I’m told that some features are exclusive to the other two ages, so I wouldn’t have seen them, and even though I’ve tried to be comprehensive, there’s no way I clocked everything that’s new or different. Firaxis may also make tweaks beforeCiv 7 launches on February 11, so consider this a partial and not at all final list of what to expect.
Without further ado, here’s (some of) what’s new in Civilization 7:
Big structural changes
New feature: towns
(Image credit: Firaxis)
Changes to cities
Changes to units
(Image credit: Firaxis)
New unit type: Commanders
New feature: Influence
(Image credit: Firaxis)
Misc features
Multiplayer and launch info
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More about strategy
Alan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has diedCivilization 7 senior historian prays it’ll be a ‘gateway drug’ into textbooks: ‘I teach undergraduates in my other life, and my God, man, they don’t read’
Alan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has died
Alan Emrich, the game designer and writer who coined the term ‘4X,’ has died
Civilization 7 senior historian prays it’ll be a ‘gateway drug’ into textbooks: ‘I teach undergraduates in my other life, and my God, man, they don’t read’
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