Sid Meier's Civilization game review
Test: Civilization VI: A solid adaptation on PS4 and Xbox OneYears after its arrival on PC and only a year after its landing on Switch, Civilization VI is betting on exporting to home consoles via PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. An always daring choice for a genre that is still very attached to its original medium and therefore deemed difficult to adapt. Did the famous 4X do it brilliantly?
Before going further, it should be noted that we will not dwell unduly on the mechanisms of Civilization 6 which result from a long tweaking perfected over the years, and which has always asked you to lead your empire to the modern age through no less than 6,000 years of history. The way to achieve this has not fundamentally changed: it will be necessary to extend your civilization to the maximum thanks to various cities distributed on a map divided into hexagons. The contributions of the PS4 and One versions are detailed in the insert below then in our conclusion, while the rest of the test resumes in broad outline that of the original version released on PC.
What are the PS4 and Xbox One versions worth?
Like the Switch version, these PS4 and Xbox One editions have the rich idea of not losing a few mechanicals of the PC edition while being ported. You will find all the depth of gameplay of the original title, including the size of the maps that it is possible to skim against 11 civilizations. A great technical feat, although the title still suffers from slowdowns and longer loads at the end of the game, especially if you opt for a “huge” card. Nothing that prevents it from being playable, however.
On the multiplayer side, the title incorporates both online functionality and local play, another good news. However, the two major extensions (Rise & Fall and Gathering Storm), despite their age, were not directly added to the basic version of the game, which is a very unfortunate choice because you will have to pay 39.99 Additional € if you wish to take advantage of it. These are strictly identical in terms of additions - game mechanics, civilizations ... - to their big sisters on PC
Like the Switch version from which they reproduce the model, the menus and submenus of the interface benefit from a magnifying effect which facilitates their reading even at a good distance from the television, but which can suddenly result in some overlapping of tabs with a element of the field: it is the price to pay for a title also visually charged because of the wealth of options offered.
On the other hand, the transition from the keyboard-mouse combo to the controllers has been successful, in particular thanks to a judicious use of shortcuts through the triggers. The whole remains less practical on certain points, such as when it comes to dissociating the selection cursor and the camera, or to consult the information of a city when a unit occupies this one. But the title still finds a way around these few problems, which should reassure those who are worried that Civilization VI will try the experiment on home consoles.
FRESH WIND ON THE FRANCHISE
If we were to start talking about the less significant new features, we will first note the adoption by Firaxis of a new graphic charter for Civilization 6. Today, the game offers a design much more cartoon than before and this aesthetic shift applies as much to the different leaders, terribly expressive, as to your cities and the events that compose them. If it is obvious that this more uninhibited approach to artistic direction will make some growl, the cohesion of all the visuals makes the game very pleasant to watch.
Another adjustment, which should also make some teeth cringe: the disappearance of the diplomatic victory in favor of a religious victory. The lack would probably have been less noticed if religion had brought something really new to Civlization V, but the whole works overall in the same way as before. To gain the victory, it will be “simply” necessary to rally the other cities to your parish. For this, in addition to founding a religion, you will have to generate faith points via via various buildings and units, authorizing the exercise of religious pressure on the surrounding cities. Even if through this religion takes on a rather unusual dimension for a Civ, the abandonment of the diplomatic victory is frankly regrettable, and the specter of a DLC intended for this victory alone already seems to loom on the horizon. the future will prove us right or wrong. So actually, reading the previous few paragraphs, you might be tempted to underestimate the renewal potential of Civilization 6 and that would be a mistake, so many changes and other adjustments come to make this new opus the most full of the saga on the day of its release, and probably the richest, too.
NEIGHBORHOODS: THE EXCELLENT IDEA OF CIV 6
The first major change in the management of your empire lies in your cities themselves. Exit the cities in which it was possible to pile up an incalculable sum of buildings. To optimize the expansion of your empire, you will now have to devote yourself to much more micro-management than in the past. This new approach is made possible by the introduction of districts, each responding to a different specialty. For example, establishing a campus will earn you science points while a theater seat will promote access to culture. If each district can accommodate one or more other buildings relating to its activity, it will be necessary to keep in mind that the construction of a district will systematically involve the destruction of the resources associated with their host hex. Thus, if you have had the misfortune to act as before by building farms in abundance, you will be forced to sacrifice one or even several in order to continue your colonization.
In addition to the obvious pleasure, let's face it, to see the different cities literally grow before your eyes and spread over the hexagons adjacent to your capital, it is also the overall management of your empire that is affected by the districts. Indeed, each district has additional bonuses depending on its positioning in relation to the resources and buildings of the adjacent spaces. For example, a campus will benefit from a science bonus if it is located near a tropical forest, while some of your residential areas will be subject to considerations of attractiveness, a residence located near a factory generating logically less home than that located near a wonder. It will therefore be necessary to think of everything, resources, land bonuses to finally make sure to specialize each of your cities and avoid building everything, everywhere. Note that for their part, the wonders also respond to geographic constraints and can only be built on particular hexagons. In short, never managing your city has never been so involving for the player, especially since other changes are shaking up the habits of veterans of Civilization.
ACTIVITY, HOUSING, FOOD: THE VICTORY Udders
The concept of general happiness has been revamped and now your cities, in order to prosper, will certainly have to produce enough food, but will also have to offer accommodation for each of its citizens as well as an adequate dose of activities to entertain all its small population. It is there again that the good management of your space will determine the prosperity of the various cities under your government. Finally, note that the workers, who were always tempted to switch to automatic mode so that they could accomplish the thankless tasks, were replaced by builders, with a much narrower field of action. Indeed, the latter can only perform 3 actions before simply disappearing. In this way, Firaxis offers the player the desire (certainly a bit repetitive over the long term) to never neglect the good development of the different cities so as to be able, if necessary, to produce builders to carry out the appropriate developments. Again, the feeling of being active most of the time and not just relentlessly pressing the "next lap" button is omnipresent. In short, by the only reshaping of city management, Civilization 6 gives the player new grips on his empire and places him more than ever at the center of all decisions.
SCIENCE AND DOGME
Civilization VI: A solid adaptation for PS4 and Xbox One
But the management of cities is not everything and it is also, in any self-respecting civilization, to develop its scientific and cultural advance in order to stay ahead of the competition. Again, if the scientific tree remains broadly the same as before even if it has been a little relaxed by allowing you to neglect a good part of certain branches to focus only on some at the start of the game, it is essentially the dogma tree which brings a lot of reactivity to the player during his session. Conditioned by your generation of culture, this tree will allow you to unlock a very generous amount of military, economic and diplomatic doctrines but also different forms of government. The latter offer different approaches and some of them, for example, will not be able to accommodate the promulgation of military doctrines.
The doctrines will bring you, depending on their specialty, different bonuses increasing for example your production of units, culture, science or faith. The same goes for your government, which can be changed (almost) regularly. With the exception of an interface that will become very confusing once the tree of dogmas is completed, the various doctrines allow the player to react very quickly depending on the political context of his game. It will indeed be fashionable to opt for democracy as peace, and for a fascist regime in time of war in order to take advantage of its military bonus. Each government does not have the same number of doctrines to be assigned by specialty (economic, diplomatic ...), it will be necessary to juggle regularly and promote the most appropriate policies according to your objectives and the behavior of your opponents.
The progression in the two trees is also not frozen and does not depend solely on your production of culture and science. Indeed, each new discovery can be optimized according to your actions in the field. For example, accomplishing a feat with a specific unit will speed up the discovery of a new unit, while having 3 factories in your empire will help you gain access to the doctrines relating to Labor Force. In addition, the two trees are constructed so that their branches have certain interdependencies, forcing the player to really get involved in a long-term strategy to best optimize his game. More anecdotal but rather well thought out, the Eureka system always offers you, depending on your actions, partially 50% of the science / culture necessary to discover a technological or dogmatic level. The triggering of these bonuses is rather well thought out because it is conditioned again by your actions in game. For example, when you access a coast, the Eureka relating to the discovery of navigation will be triggered. In short, the progression in the trees of Civ 6 is done in a really active way on the part of the player, who will no longer necessarily have to focus on one resource rather than another, but well think upstream of his actions and his axes of progress.
A BETTER WORKED DIPLOMACY BUT ALWAYS NOT CONVINCING
On the diplomatic side, however, Civilization is still struggling to fully convince. If on the other hand, the relationships that you will have with the various city-states are rather well thought out and their remuneration as a fairly balanced bonus, the behavior of the opposing empires sometimes leaves something to be desired. Certainly, the introduction of the "intentions" of each leader makes the historical objectives of each a little more readable for the player, and you will know in advance which civilization will take a dim view of your military weakness and which will observe you with kindness according to your technological advances. Unfortunately, the behavior of some settlers is not always in line with their main features and sometimes turns out to be stupidly versatile, some declaring war on you one day to go back the next round without the least troops being deployed.
Certainly, trade and the various agreements that you can make will be necessary for the good health of your empire: too little activity in a city can be well compensated thanks to the import of luxury resources in exchange for a few pieces by tour for example ... but overall, the whole lack of precision and consistency to fully gain membership. In the register of grievances, we could also mention cultural victory, which, without being necessarily complicated to achieve, would benefit from being a bit clarified, without forgetting the somewhat too timid adjustments made to the military aspect. Finally, we may regret the passage sometimes a bit quick from one era to another or, as we mentioned above, interface and optimization problems making the end of the games painful for the less robust bikes.
But to dwell on that would be to neglect the many charms of Civilization 6 which is undoubtedly the most complete opus in the series on the day of its release. It is obviously impossible to be exhaustive and to evoke all the details which modify more subtly the experience of the regulars of Civilization. Be aware however that if you are tackling a Civ 'for the first time, you will need a few parts before assimilating the mysteries of the license in general and of this episode in particular. Veterans meanwhile, should not be too jostled in their habits but should inevitably be seduced by this new approach to the franchise which, more than 25 years after its first episode, has never seemed so young.
The notes
+ Positive points
Interface size perfectly suited to TV screens
Well thought out handling for the controllers
Same depth, same mechanics as on PC
The possibility of playing with both extensions ...
Negative points
... which are sold separately
Slowdowns at the end of the game
Some overlapping texts
After a generally successful passage on Switch, Civilization VI also succeeds its arrival on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In addition to an interface close to that already adopted for the Nintendo console and here perfectly cropped for TV screens, we find a grip certainly less obvious than on PC, but perfectly cut for the controllers and quick to grasp. All in an uncompromising port of the Civilization experience, including all the mechanics of the base game as well as multiplayer. However, for games on a large map with many civilizations, you will be entitled to slowdowns at the end of the game, knowing that the initial loading can also be quite long. Likewise, in view of their age, we would have appreciated being able to benefit from an edition comprising the two extensions, which it is necessary to buy separately. This port, however, offers a very pleasant experience that shouldn't be ashamed of its older PC release.
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