And for the record, I'm not slamming BE because I'm anti-Firaxis and want it to be bad.  I'm slamming it because I really wanted it to be good, and it's just not.  And now I'm angry at what could've been (and should've been, given the pedigree).

Quit phoning it in, Firaxis, you're better than that.

I have been a huge fan of the Civilization series since 1992. I played the original Civ to death and I even bought Rome on 640 K a day. I put in many hours playing Civ II, Civ Net and all the expansions like Fantastic Worlds. Civ II was awesome since it had those fantastic wonder movies and great advisers. To be totally honest, I didn't like Civ III quite as much but I still played it a lot. Naturally I bought all the expansions.

Alpha Centauri was fantastic, as well! Wonderfully done with a great story! I even played the two Call to Power games and enjoyed them as well as the Empire Earth games.

cIV! Now there was a game. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely loved it! I put more hours into that game than any other. The two expansions were great and for the first time I used mods and I tried everything with Fall from Heaven, Fall from Heaven II and Fall Further being my favourites. This was the height of greatness for the Civ franchise. It was immersive, highly modabble and just plain fun with massive replayability.

Civilization 5 was just plain bad. I preordered and have regretted that decision to this day. That game was rushed out far, far, far too early. The very worst part was 1UPT. It flat out didn't work as the AI couldn't handle it and it destroyed the pacing for the game. The game became tedious to play and for the first time in my life, I found myself forcing myself to try and play a Civ game. I put in about 130 hours to try to make myself love it but I just couldn't. I absolutely hated the diplomacy. The AI were incompetent psychopaths. It just wasn't fun to play at all.

So, when Civilization 5: Beyond Dearth came out, I was skeptical. It looked suspiciously like a mod of Civilization 5 or a quite elaborate re-skin. Although it introduces some new things, it is quite obvious that it is Civilization 5 under the hood with all of its problems including 1UPT and the horrific diplomacy which appears to be cut and pasted directly from Civilization 5. The code is practically unchanged! They really just mailed this one in and at least the fans of the franchise are letting them know about it. Even ardent Civilization 5 fans aren't pleased.

You'd think that I should just give up on the franchise but I still hold out hope (maybe unreasonably so) that Civ VI will be excellent. If it's another clunker then I truly am done with this franchise. If only, if only, if only some game company would make a Civ like game that is on earth and isn't fantasy or space based. Gal Civ and Elemental are really fun but my heart truly lies with a historical civ like game. Still hoping but Civilization 5: Beyond Dearth wasn't encouraging.

Anyway, really disappointed in Firaxis. I am not a hater but I really do expect more from a AAA company. They can and should do better. If not, where is the white knight that will ride in and make an awesome historical civ game? Firaxis seems to have grown fat and lazy through no competition.

Sid has been rubber stamping the games for years. He is laughing all the way to the bank.

If he cared at all about the franchise that he built, he will take charge of Civ VI and make it an absolute masterpiece.

A guy can dream, can't he?

But isn't that how it works now? Release an infinished or broken game and then fix it with two or expantions that you charge the fans $30 or more each. Its a scam and I'm surprised the majority keep on falling for it.

And dont get me started about companies that release content lite games and then charge $5 for a series of anemic DLCs.

Alpha isn't alpha, beta isn't beta, and gold release...  bah.  I'm done. 

Where does it feel unfinished? I'm curious to know if you feel the same way I do...

Quoting Trojasmic,

reply 35

Since this thread is full of comments against Civ 5: BE, let me be the first to say that I really like it.  Let me first say that I agree that CivIV is prolly the best strategy game ever made.  Let me also say that I did not like Civ V when it first came out.  I've since changed my tune.  I think of Civ V as a game of Chess rather than a game of Civ.  Now let me say that I am surprised at the poor UI choices in Civ 5: BE ( I guess Jon Shafer wasn't such a bad designer after all ).  And I'm surprised that the game has a lot of bugs and seems unfinished in a bunch of places.  Having said that, I'm absolutely loving the game and believe it's far from a reskinning project.  Now it's your turn.  Rip me apart.  

Well, I am glad you are enjoying it. It does have some novel things in it, I'll admit.

I just can't get past 1UPT (it really does ruin everything as it effects so much and the AI is utterly incapable of using it well) and terrible diplomacy. The UI is really annoying as well. (Jon Shafer knew what he was doing UI wise. )

I play games to tell a story and not necessarily to win. I find it very hard to do in Civilization 5 and I think it'd be the same for Beyond Dearth. The AI should be a challenge, certainly, but ultimately it should be a partner in telling a grand and epic tale. Soren Johnson understood that and that's why cIV remains the best in the series and IMHO, the best and funnest strategy game of all time.

Maybe Civ VI will be different.

I too am in the 'Civ IV is the best' camp.

I tried Civ V and was very disappointed. However, in playing Civ BE, I am finding it to be a huge improvement over its base version.

PROS

- I really like the explorer unit in this game. Finally it's done correct. For so long, 4x games did not know how to make a useful scout/explorer. Civ BE is the first successful attempt.

- Trade Routes is very well done. As this is very similar to the Civ V system, I would argue that this was well worth porting over.

- The Aliens presence is a welcomed distraction. While I prefer the monsters of FE:LH, the aliens of Civ BE do keep the player occupied and help fill out the map in the early game.

- The Virtue system is amazing. Way better that Civ V's Social Policy system. If there was one thing I wish Civ IV would include, this would be it. Having culture simply expand your cities boundaries is a little dry.

CONS

- Expansion is HEAVILY penalized. This is a major wiff towards the game's success, in my opinion. 4x games centralize around queue production, and if you can't get cities, you don't get queue production. Some of my favorite 4x games played consist of 9-12 cities; not too many and not too few. In Civ IV, 6 cities was attainable by mid game and by end game could get up to 12. Was a lot of fun. However, in Civ BE, I've at most had 3 cities so far. I'd love to build more but two things prevent me from doing so: First, the colonist cost is WAY too high. Second, the overall health indicator results in significant impact if you expand too quickly. (thankfully, I've fixed the first part and reduced colonist production cost to 120. It's WAY better now, but still not perfect with the second problem existing.)

- The load times are so lllllllooooonnnnnggggg.

- Single tile units. The inability to stack units in this game makes it very frustrating to go up against the AI in the congested environment. In my opinion, the creators of this game would have gone a long way if there were tech or virtues available that would allow limited stacking (for example, max 3 units, or something like that). Units become obsolete as a result, and they're only saving grace is that the list of available units is short, so each unit type does receive a fair amount of time to be serviced.

OVERALL

I would give this game a 6/10.

It's different enough from the previous Civ games to capture my attention as I explore the new environment and build the new units and find the new resources, etc. However, once the novelty wears off it really doesn't amount to much of a strategy game, and as a result, will be shelved.

Firaxis has gone downhill ever since 2K Games came on the scene.

I was a bit hyped for this (like Civ V) before release, but I have managed to hold off and see. I will wait until I get Beyond Earth on a good sale I guess. Still waiting for the ultimate CIV V sale with everything at 80% off

This once again reaffirms my belief to never buy a civ game on release, though I admit I was tempted, but I am glad I held off. What a disappointment. Is it due to the digital distribution that we have now that devs feel its OK to release sub par games because they can "patch them up" and add DLC down the line?

I mean Civ V is amazing, BUT, BUT only after Gods and Kings and a Brave New World were released.

I am sure Civ:BE will become great once at least two major expansions are released, but until then, Im not buying.

Par for the course. Civilization 5 lowered the bar and Civilization 5: Beyond Dearth went underneath it.

It's like the old adage. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.