Millennia
MILLENNIA attempts a spirited but messy coup to Civ’s throne
The thing about plagues is that they tend to catch everyone off guard. That was certainly the case when I triggered a plague age in Rome in the early common era. But since these undesirable ages are triggered by the accumulation of chaos and unrest in the first place, it wasn’t as though my Roman empire was in great shape before the coughing started.
I’d been fighting off barbarians for so long, I inadvertently triggered a chaos event: a rebellion, spawning pikemen and cavalry beside every regional capital. Thus I had to commit even further to channelling all my resources into a military offensive on several fronts, which raised unrest even more, until the plague doctors arrived and my population dropped by a third. Brutal? Yes.
Admirable? That too.
Millennia’s a lot like Civilization. Like Amplitude’s recent remix of the classic Sid Meier experience Humankind, it promises an enticing shakeup of the decades-old formula and offers a fresh spin on things.
Fresh blood in this sub-genre can only be a good thing. I must admit that sentiment wasn’t always foremost in my mind during several unilaterally savage campaigns in Millennia, however. It has a way of burying salient menus and mechanics within its UI, and of teaching you new systems by simply springing events on you.
Whereas Civ generally rewards a really concentrated effort towards one of its victory conditions from the outset, Millennia wants you to be a generalist. There are juicy unlocks waiting in its labyrinthine menus, tied to several different currencies – government, exploration, warfare, engineering, diplomacy and arts. Separate to those, you’re amassing research and culture, and founding and spreading a religion. And it really doesn’t pay to neglect any of them. To its credit, that makes for a refreshingly different approach to amassing hex tiles and conquering foreign lands, one that occasionally feels logical and true to the ‘define your people by your actions’ promise. Do loads of battles and you build up plenty of warfare points that make you even more potent in conflict.
Promises an enticing shakeup of the decades-old formula
JOY OF HEX
That’s when it’s working as intended. However, it’s not always that sensible. Government points are very hard to come by until the age of Discovery, when setting Explorers off on expeditions has a chance to net me a massive +30 government points. Which is welcome, don’t get me wrong. But what does sending someone up a mountain have to do with governmental efficacy?
NEED TO KNOW
A Civ-like with a new spin on nations victory conditions
£35
C Prompt Games
Paradox Interactive
Intel Core i7 9700K, 16GB RAM,Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Yes
paradoxinteracti
