Civilization 7 live launch coverage: reviews, tips, and the latest news

pcgamer.com:

Civilization 7 simplifies things in some ways, but I definitely wouldn't say it's simple, and if you've been playing Civ 5 and 6 for a long time, some of the changes might throw you at first. We've got more guides coming, but for starters, here are some introductions to Civ 7's systems:

Civilization 7 is launching in two phases:

The launches will happen simultaneously worldwide, so you just have to find out when 9 pm Pacific is in your time zone to determine when you can start playing. Firaxis put together the graphic below with launch times across the globe:

Civ 7 reviews dropped on Monday, and so far there's a mix of high praise and cooler-but-still-optimistic takes (like you'll find in our review), as well as a handful of mostly negative assessments.

I think the conversation's going to get more heated once Civ 7 is available to the public and new and old fans start playing, but for now, here's a sampling of what critics are saying:

Reviewer Robert Zak had plenty of criticism in our Civilization 7 review, but ultimately enjoyed Firaxis' latest 4X game, noting that its flaws exist in comparison to Civ 5 and Civ 6—two exceptionally good strategy games that have both had years of post-launch updates. In his conclusion, he wrote:

Civilization 7 feels like a reaction to the maximalism of its predecessor: sleeker and speedier, colder and less complex. Being the first game in the series to come out on consoles at the same time as PC, I can't help but feel that some of the complexity cutbacks are made with gamepad players in mind. Some of these cuts are positive, and they help the game flow better (especially, I imagine, in multiplayer), but the simplification of systems like religion, diplomacy, city-states, and espionage means that the journey through history doesn't feel quite as rich or rewarding.

It's as if Civ's gone through its own age transition—a few steps forward, a few steps back. While it's addressed some longstanding issues, there's a little too much that's