Review: Civilization VI on the iPhone is the complete experience

Starting today, Civilization VI is available for iPhones on the Apple App Store. Previously, it was available on iPad but not on iPhone. And of course, it has long been a staple of PC and Mac games.

The new port faces a daunting task – compressing an extremely complex game on a small screen – and asking players to fix their problems. Although you can play a short free trial when you download it for the first time, unlocking all the features and being able to play in the long run will ultimately cost $ 60 in advance; it's the same price as the desktop version. Port developer Aspyr Media is selling the game at 60% off since today's launch until October 16th.

If you're ready to spend, you'll have the full, real, office Civilization VI experience in your pocket.

If you are not familiar with Civilization, it's probably the grandfather of epic strategy games, a classic among PC gamers. In this document, you are responsible for "building an empire to withstand the test of time". You pick a civilization and a leader – Queen Victoria from England or Gilgamesh from Sumeria, for example – and start with some errant settlers. In hundreds of towers, you build a sprawling civilization and advance in technology until you have many cities, planes, diplomacy, tourism, a space program and nuclear weapons. Players can win the game either through conquest, or through peaceful victories focused on, among other things, science or culture.

Over the years, I've spent thousands of hours in different games in the Civilization series, and I've played a bit of the iPhone version over the past week. I found the whole civilization experience, which iPhone owners longed for a long time. There are sacrifices in the presentation, especially in the city and the diplomatic views, but under the hood, it's the Civilization VI this has led so many players to pamper themselves on personal computers and the iPad.

We have already examined the full game before. It is therefore more of a miniature review or an overview of the quality of the port than a complete review. The game itself is excellent, as can be expected from civilization. This is probably not the best entry in the history of the series (some say it's Civilization II, tell others like me Civilization IV). But an open-minded player could happily lose dozens or hundreds of hours of happiness in his various challenges.

L & # 39; s interface

There have been some attempts of civilization type games on iPhone before. There was Revolution of civilizations (and a sequel), which was closely modeled after the adaptation of the series to the latest generation console. It was a good game and the use of these platforms was reduced, but that was also the problem. There is no reason why console or mobile players do not get the full experience of desktop players. And then there is the hit indie cult Polytopiewhich is as sparse but as elegant as possible.

But this is the first time the complete experience has arrived in your pocket. The previously released iPad version was pretty good and it is only a modified version of this version. All parts of the game, except the online multiplayer mode, have made the transition. The only sacrifices are in the presentation to accommodate the small screen.

Below: Images of the menus and screenshots of the game Civilization VI running on an iPhone XS Max.

And let's talk about the size of the screen. I've tried the game on an iPhone XS, an iPhone XS Max and an iPhone 7. It worked well on all three, but there is a lot of information to present and the bigger the screen is , the better is the experience. I found Civ6 comfortable enough to play on the XS Max and a little tight but handy on the XS. On the iPhone 7, I felt tight enough to press the wrong buttons because they were so small. But the game was absolutely playable anyway. And Aspyr did a good job with the layout, for the most part.

As expected, you hold your finger on the screen and drag to move your view. You pinch to zoom in and out. If you tap the mini-map, you will get the full screen. You can then tap anywhere on the larger map to go directly. The UI elements are scattered along the edges and many are reducible to allow you to get the most out of your relatively small display window. Panels that were once simply side panels or small pop-up windows, such as technology breakthrough announcements, now occupy much or all of the screen. (Do not worry, Sean Bean's voice is back.)

Only two interface compromises really upset me. The first is that you move units by pressing their move control button and then pressing a space. The problem is that moving units all over the map is a challenge because once you are in this mode, it is impossible to use your finger to drag the view. I've tried using the map instead, but typing on a new location on the map has further confused the game.

You have two options: you can select a unit, drag a location on the map, then touch the move button and choose where to go, or you can move in small increments in your field of view. Neither one nor the other seems natural to me. It's entirely possible to do everything you would otherwise, so this is not a problem for the game. But the result is less elegant than on the desktop.

The second irritating is that the view of the city is mainly divided into several full-screen menu panels. You no longer operate a city and get a close-up view the same way you used to do it. This removes a bit of charm, but again, this change does not affect the gameplay.

Other than that, though, everything is there, and everything works.

Other thoughts

Every game mode, every civilization and every scenario of the basic game comes back, but as far as I know in my draft, there was no way to access the content of the site. Ascension and fall expansion. The port also supports two local multiplayer modes: the active seat and the local mode. Local is like a LAN part on WiFi with other iOS devices. Hot seat allows you to spend the iPhone with your friends. Both are great.

Unfortunately, there is no online multiplayer mode. This is probably the biggest reduction compared to the Windows desktop version.

As far as I know, music and sound effects have all come back from the desktop version, with one exception: leaders do not animate in this version. It's a shame, because the leader animation on the desktop is excellent.

The game usefully includes a battery indicator at the top right, and this is welcome because it can result in a real battery drain, especially on older iPhones. Civ6 is very expensive in calculation at the end of the game. And at this point, the waiting times between rounds can be very long an iPhone 7, especially at the end of the game on larger cards – so there's even a warning about it when you try to select huge card sizes in the iPhone port. And as you progress, the drumming becomes more difficult and this game can really suck the battery on old iPhones.

I found it Civ6 It was possible to play with solid pieces of several hours on the all new XS Max, but my iPhone 7 could not really handle a real session of excessive consumption of style Civilization without being connected.

A surprisingly good port

Yes, this small screen is synonymous with concessions, but the fact that all the major elements and features of the game, with the exception of the online multiplayer mode, is one thing that fans of the series have long been waiting on the mobile , is a pleasure for the eyes.

If you have a device that supports it and you're a fan of Civilization, it's worth it for your next long flight or daily train ride. Here are the supported devices, according to Aspyr's press release about the launch:

Civilization VI requires iOS 11 on an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus, an iPhone X, an iPad Air 2, an iPad 2017 or any other iPad Pro. Please note, Civilization VI on iPad includes only the basic game and does not include the contents of the extension.

Even though it's not quite the best of the series, Civilization VI It's a great game, and it's easily one of the deepest iOS strategy games at the moment. It's just a pity for the price; I can not think of another mobile game that costs $ 60 in advance. Of course, you could spend a lot more easily in microtransactions in free titles such as Clash of clans or Star Wars: Heroes galaxy, but even the most expensive premium games I've seen (like some of JRPG's full-fledged Square-Enix) are capping at around $ 15 or $ 20.

But if the gameplay is the same, maybe $ 60 is reasonable. And you must not support any microtransactions, except for DLC content. There is no compromise in the gameplay here, so there is no compromise on the price. This price is hard to swallow when most games purchased on mobile cost $ 1.99, but these games are not Civilization, is not it?

Good

• It is the complete experience of the desktop civilization on your mobile device, without really significant compromises.
• On this note, it's a very good game.
• For the most part, the interface surprisingly reflects the latest iPhones.
• Both local multiplayer modes are very fun.

The bad

• To play on iPhones smaller than the iPhone X or XS, you must absolutely squint and press precisely on tiny buttons.
• The battery life can be bad at the end of the game, which requires a lot of calculation, and many old iPhone batteries are not up to the marathon sessions.
• There is no online multiplayer.
• the Ascension and fall expansion is not included.

The ugly one

• Not many iPhone games cost $ 60 in advance.