Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Maya & Gran Columbia Pack (PC) Review

DLC is nothing new to the series and Maya & Gran Columbia Pack is pretty standard fare as far as additional content to the Civ VI experience. Firstly there are the two new factions to play as. Simon Bolivar leads Gran Columbia. The South American nation also comes with a few new interesting abilities and bonuses including a new general spawning each and every era. Also coming with a new hacienda housing building, there are now additional options for appeasing that never ending quest for keeping populations happy.

Still in the South American continent but from a different era comes Lady Six Sky ruler of the Maya; an interesting faction that marries up the Mayans traditional fascination towards astrology and the stars with a new district, the Observatory, which improves upon the campus, and helps those interested in the science victory. Both additions to the leader roster certainly look and sound rather impressive in their design and charming characteristics. Frankly it is always good to get some new variety, and the South American influence definitely strikes that and scratches an itch from the base game.

In terms of new additions there are also a few new interesting wonders from that part of the world, including the Fountain of Youth with the helpful healing buff that is rather fun to use. Then of course there is the Bermuda Triangle - transporting a naval unit across to another tile. Ultimately if that was all that was included in this new pack it might be fair to say that while they are neat additions, it is rather underwhelming.

Thankfully the standout addition is the new game mode or difficulty. Apocalypse adds a radical new layer on the previously explored climate change mechanic. Previously, this would naturally follow a stable path, until closer to the end game when things would start to, quite literally, heat up and suddenly disasters would become more common. Apocalypse instead basically makes this process much more intense and deadly.

There are new disasters, including solar flares which knock out electronics, and then deadly comets which reduce a huge space of tile to rubble. General disasters like floods and volcanoes are made more deadly and frequent. Alongside this there's a new religious based unit, the Soothsayer, who can command and trigger natural disasters under certain conditions. What this does well, is to allow the player to utilise the many natural dangers around the world map in a way they couldn't do so much before, and definitely adds another strategy. The final endgame in this mode races to the finish, as the world is consumed by a raging climate.

Now, while it certainly switches things up and adds a new challenge, there are also aspects which get in the way, and anyone playing needs to appreciate that having constant forest fires and solar flares disrupting things can get in the way of those trying to race to a finish. Trying to get a science victory, and then having the climate set the space programme back 15 turns is far from ideal.