Unlike previous titles, Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 has condensed the game into three distinct ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Each of these ages offers its own new gameplay mechanic, has players take on a new civilization, and features unique civic and tech trees. While that makes for a unique experience compared to previous games, there is one Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 age that should really be spruced up a bit via post-launch updates or DLC: the Exploration Age.
The Exploration Age tasks players with leaving their homeland behind in search of new lands to colonize and civilizations to conquer. This makes for an exciting middle chapter as the game world is expanded and players must do all they can to turn their civilization into a global superpower. However, some aspects of this age seem to hold it back from being as great as it could be. Luckily, Firaxis seems to be working on it, and if it is able to hit all the right notes, then it can become the best age Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 offers.
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Civilization 7’s Exploration Age Falls Short of Greatness
AI Civs Do Not Seem to Be Operating Like the Player’s Civ
The primary focus of Civilization 7‘s Exploration Age is on its distant lands mechanic. Any continent that the player did not start on is deemed as a distant land, and they are tasked with colonizing it. That plays right into the game’s Legacy Paths and is crucial to getting ahead in this age. However, it does not seem like the civs that exist on those distant lands are doing the same thing.
As of now, all players seemingly start on the same continent, and the continent that unlocks during the Exploration Age is simply filled with AI civs. Additionally, the continent that the player starts on is not considered a distant land for those civs. So, they are not attempting to colonize and conquer the starting continent at the same time that the player is attempting to do that to theirs. Because of this, they are also not competing for any of the victories, making them feel like city-states rather than fully-fledged civilizations.
Firaxis Needs to Make This Age a Bit More Engaging
The fact that the AI civs on the distant lands do not operate like the ones on the starting continent holds this age back from being as good as it could be. It is fun to explore the wide oceans and discover new lands, but those new civilizations should be doing the exact same thing. The age should increase the competition tenfold and give players even more things to worry about. Instead, these civilizations simply serve as rivals that must be conquered or allied with in the player’s quest to obtain one of Civilization 7‘s many victories.
Additionally, players should be able to start on different continents from each other in multiplayer games. Having them spend an entire age colonizing their own continent before discovering their friend’s land could lead to something very special. Not only would it be fun for them to compete to colonize each other’s lands, but having an entire age where they do not really interact could help set this title apart from the rest.
Firaxis has mentioned that it wants to amend this, but as of now, there is no news on when or if that will actually be the case. Additionally, it has not really said what those changes would look like, so it may not be as extensive as it could be. Whatever the studio has planned, players will hopefully not have to wait too long as it could really help make the Exploration Age standout among the three ages.
Grand Strategy
Turn-Based Strategy
4X
- Released
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February 11, 2025