I appreciated this review. SMAC thrived because it had soul, and the characterization, writing, and atmosphere are some of the cheaper things to do. With PFC, the slapdash writing, largely generic visuals, and deceptively shallow tech pool hold it back. It’s frustrating because some of the game’s mechanics and contributions are amazing. I appreciate how they handle pooled resources and pooled growth/overcrowding to create a more organic expansion system without arbitrary penalties.

I deeply respect the developer for providing their source code to a community modder, then incorporating his AI mod into an expansion release patch. The modder went on to continue the AI patches unofficially until 2018. The AI is genuinely good and competitive. That openness and emphasis on competitive AI are worthwhile. If they had better stylization of factions/characters and managed to incorporate their personalities into the strong AI play, the game would have such potential. Add some tier-specific, unique techs at each era, and you’d have something special.

Now, university and research lab ARE basically the same building in different eras…

You will decide if Firaxis gets another 30$ or not! Feel the responsibility!

(I would have similarly rolled my eyes if they’d said Civ III. There’s Civ, and then there’s Civ. It wasn’t clear which version of Rev they were talking about, but I assumed the core concept of each was very similar – strip it back, make it faster, and that’s not the version of Civ I want to play.)