Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
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Civilization VI: Gathering Storm

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm introduces more than just bad weather and new civilizations. It also comes with a new reason to stop sleeping.

The Civilization series has been around for such a long time that it’s most likely one of the standards that all similar games are being judged. That doesn’t mean that all Civilization games were or are perfect, just that the recipe has been getting better over the years.

And let’s be completely honest about one thing. I still love Civilization V more than Civilization VI, but I also remember that I love Civilization IV more than V for a very long time. Somehow, these games have a way of growing on you, in a way that no other game can.

Gathering Storm introduces so much stuff that it’s difficult to keep track of everything, and most likely players won’t be able to experience the entirety of the expansion in one sitting. While the new environment disasters are in front and center of Gathering Storm (hence the name), it’s just a small chunk of what’s possible.

What to expect

I went in blind into Gathering Storm, mostly because I wanted to experience the new things as they happened. I played a Civilization VI (and all the others, including the first one that was released back in 1991) so I know what to expect.

But I have to say that I was surprised at the number of new features that were added to the game. And that’s not all. Some stuff that was added in the previous expansion, Rise and Fall, was replaced or upgraded in this one. I can’t speak for anyone, but I quite like the new changes, with a few exceptions.

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
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One of the most obvious changes to the gameplay is the addition of environmental disasters, whether they are natural or man-made. You get to choose how often they happen and leaving them on a medium setting seems to be the best-case scenario. You’re going to be confronted by many problems, and disasters are going to be among them.

From what I could gather, floods, droughts, and volcanic eruptions seem to be among the most common, at least when I played, but I also saw hurricanes and powerful land storms. Unfortunately, not all of them are all that well represented.

For example, I kept on getting droughts in weird places, and never in the surrounding areas near the deserts I controlled. Also, I had a city very close to an active volcano that only erupted once and slightly damaged one structure near it. In fact, the land becomes more fertile, and I even got an achievement for using it after that.

By far, the most common disaster seems to be flooding, and they usually cause a lot of havoc. When you’re first settling the land, you tent to prefer areas near rivers. They are more productive, but they are also prone to floods. Until you get the ability to build dams, you’re going to be fixing a lot of stuff.

I never settled in arctic regions, but I imagine that different disasters are planned for those territories, and the same must be true for civilizations in desert areas. This is not the extent of environmental problems.

The ones I just described are the natural ones, but when civilizations get into the modern era, they begin to exploit the land, pollute the waters and the air, and the climate becomes more unstable. Players start to get messages about increasing temperatures around the world, and they are told measures are going to be needed.

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
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One of the ways to mitigate these problems is to drop coal and old plants and move to more green solutions, like nuclear and solar power. Not to mention that the expansion adds several strategic resources which are consumed all the time. For example, building an oil power plant in a city will increase the overall consumption by one unit, and the same happens for military units. Switching the cities to other power sources is a must.

In any case, if Gathering Storm had only the environment stuff, it would have been more than enough, but all of this content it tied into other parts of the game, some of which are necessary.

Diplomacy, be damned!

Finding common ground with other nations, on things like climate change, is now a necessary part of the game. We get to use the World Congress to influence the world, our neighbors, and the entire course of the game.

This is done in a few ways, but it’s mostly related to the style of each player. For example, I never enjoyed being a warlike leader, and I usually aim to finish the game with a Scientific victory. In past games, this was much easier. In Civilization V you only had to send the first people to colonize another planet.

To achieve my goals, I usually employ a very sneaky approach. I avoid any type of conflict, I establish as many colonies as I can at the beginning of the game, I set up trade routes, and I bribe my way. In Civilization VI, you can gain a lot by sucking up to independent states and other parties with envoys.

Also, grating the wishes of other nations is incredibly important. When that World Congress comes around, you’ll find that most people will vote your proposals. Bribing, whether it economic or through favors, was always the Achilles heel of the series. The AI is simply not smart enough to figure out what you’re doing.

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
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The problems with Diplomacy is that it’s a necessary part of the game, even if you’re not interested in it and you want to destroy your opponents. I know that the developers want to emulate the real world somehow, but it’s taking the concept a little too far for a game.

New leaders and civilizations

Besides all that I’ve mentioned until now, the expansion adds a few new leaders and a few new exciting civilizations like Mali, Canada, Inca, Sweden, Hungary, Phoenicia, Maori, and The Ottoman Empire. Interestingly enough, the French and the English are also present as a unit, but with a single leader, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Of course, a couple of new scenarios, engineering projects, and scientific discoveries were also added, which means that now you have the same span of time to build more as if the extra stress was needed.


The Good

  • New elements are fun
  • The World Congress is a powerful tool
  • New leaders and civilizations

The Bad

  • The AI is too easy to bribe, still
  • Barbarians with tanks, really?

Conclusion

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is the only game in existence that can keep me awake all night. I’ve been playing games for more than two decades, and very few games managed to rob me of my sleep. Civilization is definitely one of them.

While I do love the game and I enjoyed the expansion, I also must be fair and critique the fact that Civilization VI now feels more cluttered than ever. The religion aspect is way out of proportion, barbarians spawning tanks are annoying, and some of the environmental disasters seem out of place or triggered randomly.

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is not perfect, but it made Civilization VI better overall, and that’s pretty much what people want from an expansion.  

story 0
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 8
multiplayer 7
final rating 8.5
Editor's review
very good
 
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Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
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