14 DAY TRIAL // Firaxis Games, as the developer, and 2K Games, as the publisher, have announced that they are creating and will release Civilization V, a new installment in the long running turn-based strategy series. The game will only arrive on the PC and the developers are promising a wide array of improvements to the formula, which has already made Civilization IV and its expansions among the best in their category.
Civilization V will introduce fresh hexagonal tiles on the map and improve the looks of the series, making the landscapes more attractive and introducing an all-new diplomacy screen that will feature fully animated leaders who will interact with the players while also speaking their native language, for the first time in the series. The combat system is also set to be reworked, with bombardment options allowing for a bigger number of war strategies and making actual combat tactics more important.
Firaxis is also promising full support for multiplayer matches, modding tools that will allow fans to develop mods similar to those that extended the life of Civilization IV and community involvement in the development process. There is no word on the changes that will be made to technology, victory options or the spying system.
Sid Meier, the man who has been involved in the franchise since its initial release, said that “Each new version of Civilization presents exciting challenges for our team. Thankfully, ideas on how to bring new and fun experiences to Civ players never seem to stop flowing. From fully animated leaders and realistic landscapes, new combat tactics, expanded diplomacy and shared mods, we’re excited for players to see the new vision our team at Firaxis has brought to the series.”
It's nice to know that Firaxis and Sid Meier were not completely captured by the magic of the social platform Facebook, for which Civilization Network is also being created. Firaxis and 2K Games are not talking about a release window, but we can safely expect the game to arrive in 2011.