Civilization 7 adds features fans have been begging for with mix-and-match leaders, civs and world wonders

EVER wondered what it would be like if Benjamin Franklin took over the Mayan Empire? How about seeing Harriet Tubman rule over Russia?

Civilization 7 has taken a bold step in the series by mixing up its leaders and civilizations, and we love it.

Firaxis

You can now mix-and-match civs, leaders and world wonders[/caption]

Firaxis

There are three Ages and four Legacy paths you can follow[/caption]

Firaxis

The mix up is both more structured and more flexible[/caption]

The mix-and-match style allows more customisation and personality to your playthrough, and also gives the game even more replayability.

Civilization’s upcoming entry adds a number of new components, like wonders associated with specific civs, that can help boost your production.

That doesn’t mean you can’t build the Pyramids in Rome, you absolutely can, but you will be able to build them as Egypt a lot more quickly.

There are some restrictions to this as Civ 7 has three very distinct ages: the Antiquity Age, the Exploration Age, and the Modern Age.

Leaders can rule any area, but wonders are locked to their Age. This means your ancient Roman wonder can’t be built in modern Mexico.

However, the changes and Attribute Points allow resources to flow more passively into your civ letting you focus on the building and diplomacy.

You can also work towards different legacies allowing for a well-rounded leadership.

On paper the three Ages and four Legacy paths appear to be more restrictive than previous entries, but it actually opens up more avenues

All of the changes will help players tell a completely unique story of their playthrough, that will be different from everyone else you talk to.

People you recruit and the things you build can lead you down multiple Legacy paths, helping you progress towards multiple goals at once.

The new formula provides structure to each playthrough while also giving players more flexibility than ever before.

This new structure also paces the gameplay better, as you have short-term goals as well as the milestones for each Legacy path.

Fulfilling certain conditions in one playthrough unlocks different civs for later attempts, giving more goals you can achieve and further incentive for multiple playthroughs.

Our main gripe is that the UI elements are lacking. HP bars for units are very small and barely readable given the business of the terrain tiles.

Overall, feedback is lacking and you often don’t know if an order has been given successfully until you find it completed the next cycle.

You can read the Civilopedia for more information on each part of your civ you can add, but the information doesn’t come up when you are looking to build.

We also haven’t seen huge advances in how the AI behaves like Firaxis has promised.

Despite these issues, Civilization 7 hugely improves on the last entry, with interesting new mechanics, speedy gameplay and gorgeous visuals.

The gameplay loop is the best yet and that’s what matters the most to the players.

Civilization 7 will be released on February 11, 2025, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

If you want to read more gaming previews, check out our Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii preview.