Ultimately, I liked the strong narrative arc that ran through the tiered victory conditions, which read to me like a sci-fi novel similar to that of Contact or Childhood's End, and I enjoyed the wildness of the planets I was trying to settle, but it hasn't held up as well as I would have liked. I just haven't felt the motivation to go back to Beyond Earth, where I practically had to be torn from Civilization V, and I know I'm not alone. I think there are a number of reasons for that. The Affinities, interesting as they might be, aren't sufficiently differentiated from one another, and ultimately boil down to three basic factions. There aren't enough units on either the land or the sea, so even combat feels more limited than it should. And when it comes down to it, the art just isn't that great. That's the tough thing about reviewing a game - strengths can get buried under weaknesses that become glaring with the passage of time. It's what makes reviewing sports games every year such a pain.

While I appreciated Beyond Earth's more esoteric design decisions at launch, the tide of public opinion seems to have turned against it, hurting its long-term value. To their credit, though, Firaxis seems to have recognized that changes need to be made. The studio put out a rather large patch a few months ago that addressed many of the balance issues that players had and going forward, they plan to integrate it with Sid Meier's Starships, bringing it closer to something akin to Galactic Civilizations III. #Ign civilization beyond earth review rising tide Patch# In the nearer term, Rising Tide will try to bring Beyond Earth up to the level that fans expect. It'll have to given its hefty $30 price tag.

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