While Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 launches on February 11, those who bought the Deluxe Edition can already play the game a few days beforehand. This kind of advance access for higher tier versions brings in more earnings, as well as acts as marketing for the game, via reviews and word of mouth. However, it seems to be doing the opposite for Civ 7.
As it currently stands, the game sits on Mostly Negative reviews on Steam, with over 1,200 reviews. The biggest complaints appear to be about the game’s UI feeling unfinished. As you’d imagine, a strategy game like Civ 7 requires an in-depth and intuitive interface and menu options, but many claim it feels like a pre-alpha build.
Civilization 7 Players Are Unhappy With The “Unfinished” UI
“A couple minutes in and it’s just… so blatantly unfinished, especially by Civ standards<” says one user review. “The UI is total slop, everything looks super janky, the resource icons are like stock images from 1998. There is no discernible aspect of care put into the game, and that’s something I never expected from Firaxis. Comparing this unfinished mess to the Civ VI release is night and day.”
Apart from the UI, a lot of the reviews have also been slating the art and the icons. Some have even commented on the lack of maps in the game. While more will probably be added soon, players feel like there are too few at launch. However, the biggest observation many players made was that the game overall feels like it was made for console and then carelessly ported to PC.
This strangely seems in contrast with critical reviews, as Civilization 7 scored 81 on MetaCritic at the time of writing.
In TheGamer’s review for Civilization 7, writer Harry Alston said, “Civilization 7 has completely surprised me. I was ready to hate the new civilization and age system, I was ready to grumble at the sneaking live-service features. Instead, I’ve fallen into a deep obsession with Civilization again. The game fills me with a warm fuzzy feeling that makes me feel like a child rushing home to play Civ 4 on a dusty old beat-up CRT with a packet of biscuits and no responsibilities.”
Grand Strategy
Turn-Based Strategy
4X
- Released
-
February 11, 2025
- ESRB
-
t
- Developer(s)
-
Firaxis Games
- Genres
-