Firaxis Games needed to move on from Civilization 6 because, its developers
explain, ‘it was getting too big for its britches’
It’s been eight years since Civilization 6 – the most recent in a very
long-running strategy game series that sees you take a nation from the
prehistoric settlement of their first town through centuries of development
until they reach the space age. Since 2016 it has amassed an abundance of
expansions, scenario packs, new nations, modes and systems for players to master
– but series producer Dennis Shirk at Firaxis Games feels that enough it enough.
“It was getting too big for its britches,” he says. “It was time to make
something new.”
“It’s tough to even get through the whole game,” designer Ed Beach says,
singling out the key problem that Firaxis aims to solve with the forthcoming
Civilization 7. While the early turns of a campaign in Civilization 6 can be
swift, when you’re only deciding the actions for the population of a single
town, “the number of systems, units, and entities you must manage explodes after
a while,” Beach says. From turn one to victory, a single campaign can take more
than 20 hours, and if you start falling behind other nations, it can be tempting
to restart long before you see the endgame.
Civilization 7 will be released on PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation 4/5 and Nintendo
Switch on 11 February 2025.
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Tag - PlayStation 4
The creators of the Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter games bring similar
energy and humour to this gentle action-adventure
Ever since they first clambered into shops in 2010, Funko Pop figures have been
an unavoidable part of pop culture fandom, lending their black-eyed large-headed
charm to everything from Ms Marvel to Mr Bean. After a couple of minor
smartphone releases it was inevitable they’d eventually make it into a major
video game. But what could have been a lazy cash-in looks to be a lot more
promising. Funko Fusion is the first title from Warrington-based studio 10:10,
formed by Jon Burton and Arthur Parsons, the directors on most of the vastly
successful Lego titles such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter. Their aim
is to bring the same energy and humour to the Funko universe.
Funko Fusion, then, is a classic cartoon-style action adventure, beholden to the
Lego titles naturally, but also to PlayStation favourites Ratchet & Clank and
Jak and Daxter. Players get to explore seven themed worlds based around Funko
Pop figures and key licensor NBC Universal. As Parsons recalls: “I remember we
got sent a spreadsheet, which listed everything that NBC Universal owns from
back in the 1920s all the way to current day. And it was like, ‘wow, where do we
start?’ That was the fun bit.”
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PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, PC; Hollow Ponds/Annapurna Interactive
Filling a field guide is the simple goal of this endearingly strange game, in
which you float on a giant bird, collect gently surreal sea life, and shave
sheep
You might expect from the name that this would be a game about herding sheep,
but it is significantly weirder than that. There are sheep, but they are fluffy
flying sheep that float around after you as you ride the back of a giant,
colourful bird. Now and then you shear them for wool with which to knit new
jumpers and hats with pompoms, making the sheep look like naked purple
hover-sausages with eyes. But the bulk of your flock is actually made up of sky
fish. Or are they fish? Some are sinuous like eels, others squawk like chickens,
others are feathered whales. As mentioned, it’s quite weird.
Your job in Flock is to fill out a field guide full of these wide-eyed flying
fishlike creatures, spotting them in the wild and then identifying them from
short, variably obvious written clues (“floppy proboscis”, “vertical stripes”,
“often mistaken for a loud radish”). They all resemble sea life through a gently
surreal pop-art filter, but they’re so well-drawn that I developed a sense for
the differences between a Cosmet and a Bewl, Thrips and Rustics. Some camouflage
themselves among weeds or leaves, some flee your approach, some just sit there
basking on rocks and clucking at you. You find whistles that teach your bird a
song, and then you can collect them Pied-Piper-style into a cloud of creatures
that trails in your wake.
Flock is out on Wednesday; £15.99
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