“It takes more than that to kill a bull moose,” Theodore Roosevelt famously said after being shot just as he was about to give a speech to an adoring crowd. If you’re Gandhi in the Civilization series, a couple hundred nukes might be enough, but everyone else has a lot fear in America’s 26th president: He’ll kill you with culture.
America has two special abilities in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: one based specifically on the country’s leader, and the other on more general American history. The “Founding Fathers” ability lets you take less time to earn “government legacy” bonuses.
“As a leader, Teddy Roosevelt can provide the Americans with a combat bonus for fighting on their home continent,” the narrator says in a new “first look” developer video. “He also has the Rough Riders as a unique unit. These mounted troops are effective in hills, gain culture from kills on their home continent, and have a low maintenance cost.”
What’s unclear is whether Roosevelt himself will participate in the fighting. He didn’t just organize the Rough Riders; during the Spanish American war, he resigned from his position as assistant secretary of the Navy and led the unit into battle in Cuba.
If you plan to win in a more peaceful fashion, America can do that as well. A special “film studio” building gives a bonus to tourism, as does Teddy Roosevelt’s influence on the country’s national parks. Of course, sending a spy into Yellowstone to feed the bears processed food could probably bring that bonus back down.
“With these advantages, the other ‘civs’ will be wearing blue jeans and listening to your pop music as America cruises toward a cultural victory,” the narrator adds.
Civilizaton VI is out on October 21. During our time with the game, we said it looks like “a worthy successor to its revered predecessor.” Read our hands-on review here.
