For most of history, civs have barely
any impact on the climate. It’s not
until resources like coal and oil start
being exploited that CO2 emissions
start to increase and transform the
map, mostly through rising sea levels.
Bad weather,
earthquakes, and
volcanic eruptions,
however, can interfere
with your empire-
building plans
whenever, so nature is
a persistent adversary.
The very first choice
you make after picking
a civ—there are eight new ones, and
nine new leaders—is finding a hex to
settle on, typically on your first turn.
Straight away, Gathering Storm flings
a few more decisions into the mix.
If you’re playing as the Maori, for
instance, you start at sea and get
bonuses for every turn you choose to
forgo putting down roots, though that
also leaves you incredibly vulnerable
to barbarian attacks.
The Phoenicians get more
flexibility later on, thanks to theirability to move their capital to any
other city with their unique harbor,
the cothon.
There are some unusual twists
among the expanded roster that
make them stand out even as the list
grows massive. If
you’ve got a hankering
for conquest, Hungary
is a particularly
interesting choice. It’s a
civ built for war, but it
only reaches its full
potential when it’s
surrounded by friends.
It can get enhanced
levy troops from city-state buddies,
while one of its unique units gets
stronger the more allies you have.
Diplomacy is one of the most
important weapons in its arsenal, and
Gathering Storm conveniently gives
you more ways to wield it.WHERE TO SETTLE
No matter the civ you’re playing,
you’ll still need to spend a bit more
time considering where to establish
your first city. Plonking your capitalright on a flood plain puts all of the
improvements and districts at risk of
destruction, while making your home
near a volcano is just asking for
trouble. There are rewards for taking
those risks, though, notably the
increased fertility of the nearby
hexes. Despite being random events,
you can still plan; you can still build
the potential risks and rewards into
your strategy.GROUP EFFORT
While climate change is complicated,
Gathering Storm keeps it easy to
parse, focusing on a few specific
sources. Strategic resources like coal
can be burned for fuel to enhance
certain modern and later buildings,
while some units require a constant
supply or you won’t be able to use
them. They’re important resources,
then, but they’re also the reason CO2
levels rise. So you have some pretty
big, but thankfully clear, choices to
make. Swearing off oil might cost you
some units and force you to spend
time switching your cities to a new
power source, but it will also slow
down the changes.
It’s a very different kind of threat
from an aggressive neighbor. Disaster
can strike anywhere on the map,
though some places are at greater
risk than others. From the modern
age onward, buildings and projects
appear that can mitigate things like
flooding or rising sea levels, but that’s
time and resources you might not be
able to afford. But that’s when your
aggressive neighbor might save you.
Gathering Storm doesn’t treat
natural disasters or climate change as
the concerns of individual civs.
Through the World Congress,
motions can be put to the other civs,
creating an emergency event where
everyone is called on to send aid to
the victim of the disaster.
Like other emergencies, they’re
framed as competitions, which each
civ attempts to excel in, whether it’s
at being very charitable or stopping
Katherine of Sweden from converting
another city to Taoism. Using theNEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
A 4X expansion full of
natural disasters and
and politicking
EXPECT TO PAY
$40
DEVELOPER
Firaxis Games
PUBLISHER
2K
REVIEWED ON
GTX 1080Ti, Intel
i7-8086K, 16GB RAM
MULTIPLAYER
Yes
LINK
http://www.civilization.comGathering
Storm flings a
few more
decisions into
the mixC
ivilization VI: Gathering Storm turns climate change into an
end boss. After thousands of years of progress and expansion,
the surviving civilizations have another hurdle to jump over,
one that’s ostensibly greater and more complex than any
they’ve encountered before. It throws plans into disarray,
transforms the map and can’t be overcome by armies or culture. It’s the
most exciting Civilization has been in ages.HEATING UP
CIVILIZATION VI: GATHERING STORM is a great expansion full of disasters
and politicking that stumbles at the end. By Fraser Brown
HURT FEELINGS The war of reputations
PEOPLE MATTER
You should care about
your enemy’s people. If
you capture a city, it’s
going to be difficult to hold
onto it if everyone thinks
you’re a monster.GOSSIP CAN BE
FATAL
The allies of the civ you’ve
wronged might also turn
against you, hearing from
their mate that you’re not
to be trusted.SHORT MEMORIES
Anger another civ enough
and you’ll annoy the whole
world. Don’t worry, they’re
a forgiving bunch, and all
of their beefs are forgotten
over time.OUT WITH THE OLD
The warmonger system
has gone and is replaced
by grievances. The more
you upset other leaders,
the more grievances they’ll
have with you.REVIEW